frame (n.)

A term used in some MODELS of GRAMMATICAL DESCRIPTION to refer to the STRUCTURAL CONTEXT within which a CLASS OF ITEMS can be used. For example, the frame She saw – box provides an ENVIRONMENT for the use of DETERMINERS (the, a, my, etc.). The terms syntactic frame and substitution frame are also used. In GENERATIVE grammar, sub-categorization frames are used to specify the range of SISTER CONSTITUENTS which a LEXICAL item takes. In CASE grammar, the array of cases which specifies the structural context for VERBS is known as a case frame. In LEXICAL entries for verbs, in this theory, abbreviated statements called frame features indicate the set of case frames into which the various verbs may be inserted. In SEMANTIC theory, frames are structures that encode knowledge about STEREOTYPED kinds of objects or situations, with special provision for the roles played by their parts or participants.