Sentiment Analysis based on Appraisal Theory and Functional Local ...

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WordNet gloss classification technique to Martin and White’s [110] attitude types.
2.7 The grammar of evaluation
There have been many different theories of subjectivity or evaluation developed
by linguists, with different classification schemes and different scopes of inclusiveness.
Since my work draws heavily on one of these theories, it is appropriate to discuss
some of important theories here, though this list is not exhaustive. More complete
overviews of different theoretical approaches to subjectivity are presented by Thompson
and Hunston [166] and Bednarek [18]. The first theory that I will discuss, private
states, deals with the general problem of subjectivity of all types, but the others deal
with evaluation specifically. There is a common structure to all of the grammatical
theories of evaluation that I have found: they each have a component dealing with
the approval/disapproval dimension of opinions (most also have schemes for dividing
this up into various types of evaluation), and they also each have a component that
deals with the positioning of different evaluations, or the commitment that an author
makes to an opinion that he mentions.
2.7.1 Private States. One influential framework for studying the general problem
of subjectivity is the concept of a private state. The primary source for the definition
of private states is Quirk et al. [140, §4.29]. In a discussion of stative verbs, they
note that “many stative verbs denote ‘private’ states which can only be subjectively
verified: i.e. states of mind, volition, attitude, etc.” They specifically mention 4 types
of private states expressed through verbs:
intellectual states e.g.
know, believe, think, wonder, suppose, imagine, realize,
understand
states of emotion or attitude e.g. intend, wish, want, like, dislike, disagree, pity
states of perception e.g. see, hear, feel, smell, taste