Chapter 6: Sentence Semantics 2: Participants

Chapter 6: Sentence Semantics 2: Participants

1. thematic roles

   • agent: in initiator of some action, capable of acting with volition
   • patient: the entity undergoing the effect of some action, aften undergoing some change in state
   • theme: the entity which us moved by an action, ir whose location is described
   • experiencer: the entity which is aeare of the action or state described by the predicate but which is not in control of the action or state
   • beneficiary: the entity for whose benefit the action was performed
   • instrument: the means by which an action is performed or something come about
   • location: the place in which something is situated or takes place
   • goal: the entity towards which something moves, either literally or metaphorically

2. the theta-criterion, states that there must be a one-to-one correspondence between noun phrases and thematic roles

3. a thematic tier, describes spartial relations, and an action tier, describes ACTOR-PATIENT type relations

4. theta-role grids have been used to describe arguement changing processes like pasive

5. the grammatical category of voice affords apeakers some flexibility in viewing thematic roles

6. we can use the terms figure and ground to describe this kind of linguistic perspective: if we call the situation described a scene, then the entity that the speaker chooses to foreground is the figure, and the background is the ground

7. other languages have a special type of passive, often called the impersonal passive, which does not allow the agent to be mentioned in the sentence

8. the use of middle voices 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