Sentence Semantics 2: Participants

Sentence Semantics 2: Participants

1. Theta-Criterion

   • Is a central claim of Chomsky’s Principles and Parameters theory, which states that there must be a one-to-one correspondence between noun phrases and thematic roles.

2. Grammatical Relations and Thematic Roles

   • There is a tendency for subjects to be agents, direct objects to be patients and themes, and instruments to occur as prepositional phrases.

3. Problems with Thematic Roles

   • The first problem is about delimiting particular roles, in extreme cases, to identify individual thematic roles for each verb
   • Dowty
     • Proposes a solution where theta- roles are not semantic primitives but are defined in terms of entailments of the predicate.
   • Middle voice.
     • The use of middle voice varies from language to language but a central feature is that middle forms emphasize that: the subject of the verb is affected by the action described by the verb.

4. Verbs and Thematic Role Grids

   • As we saw earlier with the verbs raise, rise and drive, verbs have a particular requirements for their thematic roles.
   • Another way of making the distinction of the adjunct is to distinguish between participant roles and non-participant roles.

5. Affectedness

   • Neuters
     • This type pf middle is where the subject undergoes a non-volitional process or change of state
   • Autobenefactives
     • This type of middle is use to signify that the action of the subject is done for his or her own benefit.
   • Bodily activity and emotions
     • In some languages the verb occurs in a middle voice when the activity involves the body or emotions of the subject. These would seem to be clear cases of affectedness since the subject is so overtly involved.
   • Reflexives
     • This use means that in many languages verbs of grooming occur in the middle voice, with no need for a reflexive pronoun as object