In response to my query:
 
> > Why is *playing* more of an action than *enjoys*?
 
Mike Medley wrote:
 
> If my friend is *playing* on the computer, I can observe some actions
> going on.  I may not be able to observe whether he is *enjoying* it,
> for that describes his state of mind, and I'm not a good
> mind-reader.  Perhaps, knowing something about his degree of
> *enjoying* depends on his degree of transparency as a person.
 
OK; sure, I understand that *playing* is more transparently observable than
enjoying, generally, but enjoyment implies active participation in
something, I think.
 
I have studied and played music, and have attended thousands of concerts;
in these contexts, enjoyment was an eminently observable phenomenon.
 
I guess this is simply a question of whether syntax can be altered by the
context of a given statement.  I'm curious how the answer plays out in
other list members' minds.
 
Curiously yours,
 
Paul E. Doniger