Université de Montréal - Thèse sous forme numérique

138comprehension and structure of specialized discourse. Their findings show that, in theengineering context, certain predicates are activated more frequently than others (Faberet al. 2005: no page number):For example, in coastal engineering there is frequent reference to the concept ofBEACH NOURISHMENT as a soft engineering solution to replenish coastsand beaches. Thus, the verb ―nourish‖, as derived from concordance analysis, isused in a way that is more specific than its usual meaning in general language,where the arguments are considerably less specific.nourish (general language)nourish (coastal engineering)to give sb/sth what is needed in orderto live, grow or stay healthyto give sth [coast, beach, shoreline]what is needed [sediment, sand] inorder for it to stay healthyThe definitions above show that whereas in general language one can ―nourish‖by giving practically any type of sustenance, both concrete and abstract (e.g.food, water, education, affection), in specialized domains things are quitedifferent. The nature of the arguments (beach, sand, etc.) restricts the meaningof general language verbs when used in specialized discourse.The next step is the identification of the FEs. They analyze the contexts in whichthe frame-evoking terms appear and draw a list of the entities that make up thecategorization structure of the frame. They do not distinguish between core and noncoreFEs. So, for instance, the FEs in the frame [Tide] are: SUN, MOON, EARTH, WATER,TIDE, CURRENT, COASTLINE, ATTTRACTION, FREQUENCY, MAREOGRAPHICS andPREDICTION. The FEs are described by means of a sort of thematic role label such asAGENT and PATIENT. By way of an example, the sun and the moon are said to be Agentsthat attract a Patient.Then, they describe the syntactic realizations of the FEs. It is only at thismoment that the authors deal with interlinguistic differences. However, they do not statehow the equivalents are assigned and the only differences between the English and