An entity that facilitates an action by applying intermediate causal force.
Prototypically, an Agent intentionally applies the Instrument with the purpose of achieving a result:
Less prototypically, the action could be unintentional:
The key is that the Instrument is not sufficiently “independently causal” to instigate the event.
However, to downplay the agency of the individual operating the instrument, the instrument can be placed in a passive by-phrase, which construes it as the instigator:
The window was broken by the hammer. (Instrument↝Force) 004
My headache was alleviated by aspirin. (Instrument↝Force) 005
Note that the examples in #004 can be rephrased in active voice with the Instrument as the subject.
A device serving as a mode of transportation or medium of communication counts as an Instrument, but is often construed as a Locus or Path:
Talk on the phone. (Instrument↝Locus) 007
Send it over/via email. (Instrument↝Path) 008
Escape in the getaway car. (Instrument↝Locus) 011
This includes some expressions which incorporate the Instrument in a noun:
ride on horseback (Instrument↝Locus) 012
hold at knifepoint (Instrument↝Locus) 013
Other non-prototypical instruments that can be construed as paths include waypoints from Source to Goal, and people/organizations serving as intermediaries:
We flew to London via Paris. (Instrument↝Path) 014
I found out the news via Sharon. (Instrument↝Path) 015
Joan bought her house through a real estate agent. (SocialRel↝Instrument) 016
For my Honda I always got replacement parts through the dealership. (Org↝Instrument) 017
Conversely, roadways count as Paths but can be construed as Instruments:
Compare Means, which is used for facilitative events rather than entities. See also Topic.
| description | An entity that facilitates an action by applying intermediate causal force. |
|---|---|
| animacy | unspecified |
| parent | Participant |
| deprecated | False |
| deprecation_message |