Marcia,

Verbs work the same as other kinds of words. Group them either by
similar meanings or by occurrence together in typical events. Some
category groupings: for instance, verbs that indicate thinking that
something might be true in the absence of direct evidence: surmise,
assume, presume, presuppose, guess, believe, think (as in "I think
they're at home"). These can then be sorted further for degree of
certainty -- presume is stronger than surmise or guess, for example.

This is a quick, off the cuff example, and I deliberately chose an
abstract one. Concrete cases are easier: verbs for making noises:
squeak, squeal, scream, shout, murmur, whisper, mumble, hiss, cry (out),
whimper, whine, etc.

These aren't sorted, but they can be: quieter vs. louder, high-pitched
vs. low, harsh vs. smooth, etc.

What do you think?

***************************************************
Johanna Rubba, Associate Professor, Linguistics
English Department, Cal Poly State University
San Luis Obispo, CA 93407
Tel. 805-756-2184 ~ Dept. phone 805-756-2596
Dept. fax: 805-756-6374 ~  E-mail: [log in to unmask]
URL: http://www.cla.calpoly.edu/~jrubba
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