Attribute Namespace
Core Definition#
Attribute frames profile a property or quality inhering in an entity — what something is like along some dimension. The primary semantic content is the attribute value: the entity's position on a scale, its color, shape, degree of some quality, probability of some event, or evaluative assessment. Attribute frames are non-dynamic and non-relational: the property simply holds of the entity at a point in time, without requiring a second participant or any event.
Formal template:
ATTRIBUTE(Entity, Dimension, [Value/Degree])
Key participants:
- Entity — the thing being described (may be a physical object, person, event, or abstract entity)
- Dimension — the property axis being assessed (size, color, temperature, probability, desirability, etc.)
- Value / Degree — the entity's position on the dimension (may be explicit or implied relative to a norm)
Attributes inhere in their entity: they cannot exist independently of something they characterize. Many attributes are gradable — they accept degree modifiers (muito, bastante, pouco, mais, menos) and comparative constructions.
Scope#
Includes:
- Physical dimensions: alto (tall), pesado (heavy), quente (hot), rápido (fast)
- Perceptual qualities: vermelho (red), redondo (round), barulhento (loud), liso (smooth)
- Temporal attributes: longo (long/lasting), frequente (frequent), velho (old/aged)
- Evaluative / social: importante (important), famoso (famous), popular (popular), belo (beautiful)
- Epistemic: provável (probable), possĂvel (possible), Ăłbvio (obvious), exato (accurate)
- Personal / behavioral: inteligente (intelligent), sociável (sociable), rigoroso (strict), sincero (sincere)
- Comparative: similar (similar), diverso (diverse), extremo (extreme)
Excludes — see other namespaces:
- Entity type labels (nouns naming kinds of things) → Entity (médico, carro)
- Static connection between two entities → Relational (João tem X, ser parte de)
- A condition tied to a force, in either tense — actively held now, or produced by a force now spent → Stative (João está sentado, force present now; João está cansado, force spent but on record)
- Dynamic events or changes → Phenomenon / Agentive / Change / Process
Critical boundary — Attribute vs. Stative:
Both are non-dynamic in effect, but for different reasons. Attribute frames foreground a property dimension with no force involved, ever, in either tense — nothing produced it, nothing holds it. Stative frames foreground a condition tied to a force — one actively holding it in place right now (stop the force and the state lapses), or one that once produced it and is now spent (the condition simply persists, unforced, until something changes it). Since the retirement of the separate @condition namespace, this single force/no-force line is the whole boundary — see Stative's merge note for why the resultant reading folded in there rather than staying its own namespace.
- João é alto → Attribute (height dimension, no force ever asserted, in either tense)
- João está sentado → Stative (a force — his own muscular effort — actively holds the posture now)
- João está cansado → Stative (tiredness traces to cansar; nothing is holding it now, but a producing force is on record — the resultant reading, not the active one)
- João é médico → Entity (category label, not a property dimension)
Subtypes#
By attribute domain:
| Domain | Definition | Example frames / LUs |
|---|---|---|
| Scalar / Dimensional | Measurable physical properties with a quantity and unit | DimensĂŁo, Tamanho, Temperatura, NĂvel_de_som, NĂvel_de_luz, Descrição_de_velocidade, FrequĂŞncia, Idade |
| Perceptual | Qualities apprehended through the senses | Cor, Qualidades_de_cor, Padronagens, Formas, Agudeza, NĂvel_de_som, Fase_termodinâmica |
| Evaluative | Judgments of quality, worth, or desirability | Desejabilidade, Louvabilidade, Estética, Importância, Notabilidade, Fama, Popularidade, Exemplaridade |
| Epistemic | Probability, certainty, or evidential status | Probabilidade, Chance, Possibilidade, Ă“bviedade, ExatidĂŁo |
| Personal / Behavioral | Character traits or behavioral dispositions of persons | Traços_de_personalidade, Propriedade_mental, Sociabilidade, Rigor, Frugalidade, Hospitalidade, Entusiasmo |
| Comparative / Relational | Similarity, difference, or relative position | Similaridade, Diversidade, Sem_comparação, Valor_extremo, Distinção |
| Structural | Internal complexity, or completeness on the brute/structural reading (has all its parts, no process implied) | Completude (structural reading only — a process-just-finished reading of the same frame belongs in Stative, on the resultant side), Complexidade_sistêmica |
| Temporal | Duration or temporal rate relative to a norm | Descrição_de_duração, Descrição_de_taxa, Quantificação_de_taxa |
Key internal distinction — absolute vs. relative to norm:
| Type | Features | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Absolute value | Specifies a quantity or measurement explicitly | A mesa tem 2 metros (DimensĂŁo) |
| Relative to norm | Describes deviation from a contextual or type-based standard | JoĂŁo Ă© alto (deviates upward from average height) |
| Evaluative | Positions entity on a scale of desirability or social assessment | O filme Ă© Ăłtimo (Desejabilidade) |
Characteristic signature#
An Entity has a particular Attribute with some Value. This frame was created primarily to structure inheritance relations.
| FE | Status | Qualia role | Semantic type | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Entity | Core | CONSTITUTIVE | Entity (entity-attribute) / State_of_affairs (modal-attribute) |
the bearer the property applies to |
| Attribute | Core-unexpressed | FORMAL | — | the Dimension — DUL Quality (the characteristic in discussion) |
| Value | Core-unexpressed | FORMAL | — | the Value — DUL Region (the bearer's position on the Attribute) |
This anchor is where the DUL Quality / Region distinction lives:
Attribute = Quality (the dimension), Value = Region (the value). This is the
concrete reason the ontological type stays the coarse .attribute rather than
splitting (event doc §4) — the dimension/value refinement is carried here, by
the anchor's FEs. The bearer's semantic type is the only thing separating the
entity-attribute sub-kind (Entity) from the modal-attribute sub-kind
(State_of_affairs: Possibility, Probability; event doc §6.8). Already
inherited by Gradable_attributes, Measurable_attributes, Importance,
Shapes, and many others.
Diagnostic Tests#
Test 1 — Gradability#
Does the attribute accept degree modifiers (muito, bastante, pouco, mais, menos, extremamente)?
✓ João é muito alto / mais alto que Maria → ATTRIBUTE (gradable)
✓ A situação é muito grave / mais grave do que ontem → ATTRIBUTE (gradable)
✗ João está em casa (*muito em casa — ungrammatical) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Stative locational)
✗ A porta abriu (*muito abriu — ungrammatical) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Change)
Test 2 — Comparison test#
Can the attribute be compared across instances with mais … do que or tão … quanto?
✓ João é mais alto do que Maria → ATTRIBUTE
✓ O projeto é mais importante do que o prazo → ATTRIBUTE
✗ João foi para casa (*João foi mais para casa do que Maria — unnatural) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Change, motion subtype)
Test 3 — Inherence test#
Does the attribute inhere in an entity — can it be expressed as X tem [atributo] or X é [atributo]?
✓ A temperatura da sala está alta (temperature inheres in the room) → ATTRIBUTE
✓ João tem talento / João é talentoso (talent inheres in João) → ATTRIBUTE
✗ João tem um carro (possession relation, not an attribute of João) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Relational)
Test 4 — No force on record, in either tense#
Is the attribute a static description with no force implied, ever — not one holding it now, and not one that produced it and is now spent?
✓ João é alto (no change implied — he simply has this property) → ATTRIBUTE
✓ A cor da casa é verde (static color description) → ATTRIBUTE
✗ O vaso está quebrado (implies a prior breaking event, still on record) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Stative, resultant reading)
✗ João está sentado (a force is holding this now) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Stative, active reading)
Test 5 — Scale / dimension test#
Does the attribute position the entity on some dimension — physical, evaluative, epistemic, or behavioral?
✓ provável (epistemic scale: impossible → inevitable) → ATTRIBUTE
✓ famoso (social scale: unknown → famous) → ATTRIBUTE
✓ vermelho (color space / perceptual dimension) → ATTRIBUTE
✗ médico (category label, no scale) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Entity)
✗ está em casa (location state, no evaluative/scalar dimension) → NOT ATTRIBUTE (Stative)