verbs of communication

[svetlana14]

Is it true to say that verbs like shout, frown, aim when they are used with "at" can be referred to the class of verbs of communication? At least, it follows from the context of Cambridge Grammar of English (section 21C), by Ronald Carter. Thank you.

 

[5jj]

Is it true to say that verbs like "shout, frown, aim" when they are used with "at" can be referred to as the class of verbs of communication? At least, it follows from the context of Cambridge Grammar of English (section 21C), by Ronald Carter and Michael McCarthy. Thank you.

Note the changes I have made to your question. Distinguish words you are asking about from the actual question. I have used quotation marks; you could use italic font if you prefer. I have used italic font for the title of the book.

Carter and McCarthy have used "verbs of communication" as an umbrella term for the type of verbs they are talking about. It seems useful to me.

 

[jutfrank]

I don't know that book. Could you tell us what use the authors have for classifying verbs in that way? What distinguishes the class of communication verbs? What teaching point are they trying to make?

 

[5jj]

They don't classify verbs in that way when they are talking about verbs.

The first chapter of the book discusses common words that can cause problems for learners. At is one of those words. In section 21c. At after verbs and nouns, they note:

At is used after a number of verbs in order to underline actions towards somebody or something. It is common after verbs of perception and communication:
I shouted at him, but he took no notice. [...]
My comments weren't aimed at you.

 

[svetlana14]

They don't classify verbs in that way when they are talking about verbs.

The first chapter of the book discusses common words that can cause problems for learners. At is one of those words. In section 21c. At after verbs and nouns, they note:

At is used after a number of verbs in order to underline actions towards somebody or something. It is common after verbs of perception and communication:
I shouted at him, but he took no notice. [...]
My comments weren't aimed at you.

I am asking my question because it seems difficult to classify such verbs for the purposes of application of the mentioned grammar rule. For instance, it appears a little bit superfluous for me to refer the verb "frown" to the class of communicating verbs.

 

[5jj]

The example that you are referring to is She frowned at the suggestion and went rather pale. Frown is not a verb that I would think of as a verb of perception or communication, but C & M were trying to come up with a brief description of the types of verbs followed by 'at'. Including frown did not jump out at me as a blunder.

By the way, superfluous is not an appropriate choice of word in your sentence.

 

[jutfrank]

It seems very reasonable to me to class frown as a verb of communication since communication is precisely what frowning is.

Communication is the directed transmission of a signal from one mind to another. The prepositions at and to both work, in slightly different ways, to express this directedness.

 

[Tdol]

Ngrams frowned at me- I see nothing wrong with adding it to the list, though I don't see it as much more than an observation rather than what the OP seems to want here.