Manner is used as the scene role for several kinds of descriptors which typically license some sort of How? question:

1. The style in which an action is performed or an event unfolds, expressed adverbially (canonical use of the term “manner”):#

• He reacted with anger/in anger/angrily.¹ 001

• He reacted with nervous laughter. [contrast: Means] 002

• I wrote the book/They chatted in French. 012

• I made the decision by myself/without anyone else/on_ my _own. [see PP Idioms] 003

• We talked in person. 013

• Manner↝ComparisonRef:

  • You eat like a pig (eats). 004

  • You smell like a pig. 005

• Your father smells/The soup tastes of elderberries. (Manner↝Stuff) [also ComparisonRef#028] 006

• She loves teaching, and it shows in her smile. (Manner↝Locus) 015

By contrast, depictives characterizing a participant of an event have a scene role of Characteristic:

• She entered the room in a stupor/drunk. (= she was in a stupor when she entered) (Characteristic↝Locus) [also Characteristic#024] 007

2. What + like (what he looks like, etc.)#

See ComparisonRef#025 under ComparisonRef.

3. on a(n)... basis#

There seems to be a construction on a(n) MODIFIER basis where the modifier phrase reflects the scene role being filled. We use Manner as the function:

• The legislation was passed on_a_ bipartisan _basis. (Manner) 032

• I see them on_a_ daily _basis. (Frequency↝Manner) [also Frequency#004] 033

See also: Means, Characteristic, ComparisonRef.