The party (usually animate) that is the endpoint of (actual or intended) transfer of a thing or message, becoming the final Possessor or Gestalt.
A “goal” in the broadest sense of an ending point/condition. Contrasts with Originator.
English construals:1
She gave the story/spoke to her editor. (Recipient↝Goal) 001
What title did you give to your essay? [inanimate] (Recipient↝Goal) 002
news for our readers (Recipient↝Direction) 003
He is yelling at me to get ready! (Recipient↝Direction2) 004
The news was not well received by the White House. (Recipient↝Agent) 005
Timmy's piano lesson (Recipient↝Gestalt) 006
I’ll have to check with my supervisor. (Recipient↝Ancillary) 007
Recipient does not apply to events like exchange/talk/chat (with), which involve a back-and-forth between multiple Agents:
See also: Beneficiary
Shalev et al. (2019) propose generalizing SNACS supersenses to include subjects and objects (see also Ancillary fn. 3, Originator fn. 1). If subject position is viewed as an Agent construal, then an active subject of a transfer verb like get or receive is Recipient↝Agent. If direct object position is viewed as a Theme construal, then She informed her editor is Recipient↝Theme. ↩
While yell at often has a connotation of shouting criticism towards somebody, and criticism would suggest Beneficiary, the Recipient aspect of the meaning is more explicit and essential: yelling from a distance at someone does not imply criticism, and criticism about someone who is absent is not yelling at them. ↩
| description | The party (usually animate) that is the endpoint of (actual or intended) transfer of a thing or message, becoming the final Possessor or Gestalt. |
|---|---|
| animacy | animate |
| parent | Participant |
| deprecated | False |
| deprecation_message |