Université de Montréal - Thèse sous forme numérique

3. Theoretical frameworkThis chapter presents the theoretical model of Frame Semantics (Fillmore 1976, 1977,1982, 1985; Fillmore and Atkins 1992) as well as its applications to the elaboration ofgeneral and specialized lexical resources. It is organized as follows. Section 3.1 brieflyoutlines the background that led to the elaboration of this theoretical model as well asthe main principles of Frame Semantics. Section 3.2 is divided into two parts: the firstone concerns the application of Frame Semantics to the elaboration of a lexical resourcefor the English language (i.e. FrameNet), and the second one describes the applicationsof Frame Semantics to terminology. Finally, section 3.3 explains the choice of thetheoretical model in the research.3.1. Frame SemanticsIn this subchapter we outline the background that led to the elaboration of FrameSemantics as well as a number of its most relevant theoretical principles. The termFrame Semantics refers to the theory whereas the term semantic frames refers to theobject of study of the theory.3.1.1. The originsUntil the second half of the 20th Century, verbs were considered as a mere syntacticalelement and were consequently left to the research scope of specialists in syntax.However, in the second half of the last century some linguists started to proposeapproaches to the study of verbs (and of the lexicon) that combine both semantic andsyntactical analysis. One of these approaches, Frame Semantics (Fillmore 1976, 1977,1982, 1985; Fillmore and Atkins 1992), has proved to be relevant for generallexicography and we will argue that it may be of relevant for terminography as well.