Scenario Namespace
One of three namespaces that replace the former Situation (
@situation) namespace, together with@domainand@image_schema. Scenario inherits Situation's scenario model (multi-event configurations); domain fields of knowledge go to@domainand spatial primitives to@image_schema.
Core Definition
Scenario frames package recurring complex situation types — configurations that involve multiple participants, phases, or sub-events — into a single named frame. Unlike namespaces that focus on a single semantic primitive (one event, one property, one relation), Scenario frames provide a structural scaffold for a recognized scenario: the combination of roles, setting conditions, and typical event sequences that together constitute a familiar situation type.
Formal template:
SCENARIO(Participants..., [Setting], [Phases / Sub-events])
Key properties of Scenario frames:
- Multi-participant: two or more roles are typically required to instantiate the scenario
- Phase-structured: scenarios unfold through recognizable phases or sub-events
- Type-level: Scenario frames name a kind of situation, not a specific occurrence; they serve as organizing schemas that other frames inherit from or use as a setting
- Non-reducible: the scenario cannot be decomposed into a single event, attribute, or relation without losing the scenario gestalt
Scope
Includes:
- Scenario frames (Cenário_ / _scenario): named situation types covering social, commercial, institutional, and physical domains (Commerce_scenario, Crime_scenario, Employment_scenario, Motion_scenario, Giving_scenario, Receiving_scenario)
- Conditional / logical structure frames: configurations that define the logical or counterfactual relationship between propositions (Cenário_condicional, Alternatividade, Negação)
Note for later completion. The conditional / logical frames (Alternatividade, Negação, Cenário_condicional) are provisionally kept here, but they may be better housed under
@domain(as logical/propositional fields) rather than as scenarios. Their final assignment is open, to be settled on review.
Excludes — see other namespaces:
- A broad field of knowledge grouping frames by domain (Domain:Law, Domain:Health) → Domain
- A spatial primitive / topological schema → Image_schema
- Single occurrence of a bounded event → Eventive
- An occurrence profiled as a whole unfolding token process → Process
- Agent-initiated action or caused change → Agentive
- Ongoing state or property → Stative / Attribute
- Static connection between two entities → Relational
- Discourse-level communicative act → Pragmatic
Critical boundary — Scenario vs. Eventive: An Eventive frame profiles a token of an event type (one instance of selling, arriving, etc.). A Scenario frame profiles the structured scenario type itself — the configuration of roles and phases within which eventive frames are embedded. Venda (a selling event) is Eventive; Commerce_scenario (the commerce scenario bundling buyer, seller, goods, payment, and transfer) is Scenario.
Critical boundary — Scenario vs. Process: A Scenario is a type-level scaffold of roles and phases; a Process is a token-level occurrence unfolding as a whole. Commerce_scenario (the scaffold) is Scenario; este processo de venda (this unfolding sale process) is Process.
Subtypes
| Subtype | Definition | Example frames |
|---|---|---|
| Social interaction scenarios | Multi-party interaction with defined roles and phases | Cenário_de_visita, Cenário_comunicativo, Cenário_de_apresentação |
| Commercial scenarios | Transactions involving exchange of goods, services, or money | Commerce_scenario, Getting_scenario, Giving_scenario, Transfer_scenario, Import_export_scenario |
| Institutional scenarios | Employment, education, and health situations with institutional roles | Employment_scenario, Employee_scenario, Employer_scenario, Education_teaching |
| Legal / Obligation scenarios | Crime, risk, obligation, and legal accountability | Crime_scenario, Risk_scenario, Obligation_scenario, Requirement_scenario |
| Physical / Movement scenarios | Motion, containment, and displacement in physical space | Motion_scenario, Change_of_phase_scenario |
| Causal scenarios | Configurations profiling a causing sub-event and its effect | Causation_scenario |
| Conditional / Logical frames | Propositional configurations: conditionals, alternatives, negation | Cenário_condicional, Alternatividade, Negação, Circunstâncias_contrárias |
Diagnostic Tests
Test 1 — Multi-phase structure
Does the frame require recognizing a sequence of sub-events or phases to be instantiated?
✓ Commerce_scenario: needs offer → negotiation → payment → transfer → SCENARIO
✓ Employment_scenario: needs hiring → employment period → (possible) termination → SCENARIO
✗ João vendeu o carro (single transfer event) → NOT SCENARIO (Agentive/Eventive)
Test 2 — Multi-role requirement
Does the frame require three or more thematically distinct participants or sub-roles?
✓ Crime_scenario: Perpetrator, Victim, Crime_type, [Authority], [Consequence] → SCENARIO
✓ Education_teaching: Student, Teacher, Institution, Content, [Certification] → SCENARIO
✗ João correu (one participant, one event) → NOT SCENARIO (Agentive)
✗ João tem um carro (two participants, one relation) → NOT SCENARIO (Relational)
Test 3 — Type-level framing
Does the frame name a kind of situation rather than a specific token event?
✓ Cenário_de_visita — names the visit scenario type, not a particular visit → SCENARIO
✗ A Maria visitou o João — tokens a specific visit event → NOT SCENARIO (Eventive)
Test 4 — Scaffold test
Does the frame serve primarily as a setting or organizing schema within which other eventive or stative frames are embedded?
✓ Commerce_scenario provides the scaffold; Venda, Pagamento, Transferência are embedded → SCENARIO
✗ Venda (buying event) is the embedded frame itself → NOT SCENARIO (Eventive)
Test 5 — Non-reducibility
Can the frame be replaced by a single Eventive, Stative, Attribute, or Relational frame without semantic loss?
✓ Cenário_de_saúde (health scenario: patient, provider, condition, treatment, outcome) — cannot reduce to one event → SCENARIO
✗ A porta abriu — fully captured as a single change event → NOT SCENARIO (Change)
Comparison with Adjacent Namespaces
| Feature | Scenario | Eventive | Agentive | Stative | Relational |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Primary unit | Scenario type | Token event | Activity / caused change | Held state | Dyadic connection |
| Participants required | ≥ 2 (typically ≥ 3) | Varies | 1–2 | 1 | 2 |
| Phase-structured | Yes | No | No | No | No |
| Dynamic | Varies (scaffold) | Yes | Yes | No | No |
| Type-level | Yes | No | No | No | No |
vs. Eventive / Agentive: Eventive and Agentive frames profile a single token occurrence of an event or activity. Scenario frames profile the type-level scenario within which events occur: Commerce_scenario provides the structural context for Compra, Venda, and Pagamento frames.
vs. Domain: A Domain frame names a broad field of knowledge (Law, Health, Economy) that groups frames thematically; a Scenario frame names a specific configuration of roles and phases. Domain is a classificatory field; Scenario is a structural scaffold.
vs. Image_schema: Image-schema frames define spatial primitives (Trajector Ă— Ground Ă— Region) that ground relational and locative meaning; a Scenario bundles participants and phases of a social or physical situation type.
vs. Pragmatic: Contexto_comunicativo is a Scenario frame that provides the communicative setting scaffold for Pragmatic frames. It is classified as Scenario (not Pragmatic) because it defines a structural configuration — the participants, channel, and setting of a communicative situation — rather than performing a discourse act itself.