For motion events, the initial location is where the thing in motion (the figure) starts out. Source also applies to abstract or metaphoric initial locations, including initial states in a dynamic event.

In English, a prototypical Source preposition is from:

• The cat jumped from/out_of the box. 001

• The cat jumped from/off_of/off the ledge. 002

• I got it from/off the internet. 003

• people from France 004

• The temperature is rising from a low of 30 degrees. 005

• I have arrived from work. 006

• We discovered he was French from his attire. [indication] 007

• I made it out_of clay. [material] 008

• She awoke from/came out_of a coma. 009

• We are moving off_of that strategy. 010

The Source use of from can combine with a specific locative PP:

• I took the cat from behind_Locus the couch. 011

Note that away_from is ambiguous between marking a starting point (Source) and a separate orientational reference point (Direction):

• At the sound of the gun, the sprinters ran away_from/from the starting line. (Source) 012

• The bikers ride parallel to the river for several miles, then head east, away_from/#from the river. (Direction: bikers are never at the river) 013

Note, too, that off/off_of and out/out_of can also mark simple states:

• I am off medications/work. (Characteristic↝Locus) 014

• The lights are off/out. (Characteristic↝Locus) 015

• Stay out_of trouble. (Characteristic↝Locus) 016

States are discussed at length under Characteristic. There is also a (negated) possession sense of out/out_of:

• We are out_of toilet paper. (Possession) 017

Sometimes a specific Source is implicit, and the preposition is intransitive. But if no specific referent is implied, another label may be more appropriate:

• The cat was sitting on the ledge, then jumped off. (Source: implicit ‘(of) it’) 018

• He was offered the deal, but walked away. (Source: implicit ‘from it’) 019

• The bird flew away/off. (Direction: vaguely away from the viewpoint) 020

Source is prototypically inanimate, though it can be used to construe animate Participants (especially Originator and Force). Contrasts with Goal.

Agency as giving#

When an Agent’s action to help somebody is conceptualized as giving, and the nominalized action as the thing given, then from can mark the Agent (metaphorical giver). If the from-PP is adnominal, Agent↝Source is used #021. However, if the from-PP is adverbial, and the verb relates to the metaphoric transfer rather than the event described by the action nominal, then the argument linking becomes too complicated for this scheme to express; simple Source is used by default #022:

• The attention from the staff made us feel welcome. (Agent↝Source) 021

• Source:

  • I received great care from this doctor. 022

  • I got a second chance from her. 023

  • I need a favor from you. 024