Thematic Roles

Seminar 4

Roles in an event
Pat pushed the cart into the corner with a stick.
This sentence describes an event, tying together
several participants:

The event is a pushing event Pat is the instigator of the event The cart is affected (moved) during the event The corner marks the endpoint of the path A stick is the instrument used to effect the movement

Arguments
An argument refers to any constituent that
is semantically required by some predicate to combine with that predicate. Arguments are semantically differentiated according to their semantic role.

Thematic roles

Agent: initiator, capable of acting with volition Patient: entity undergoing change Theme: entity moved or located Experiencer: aware of event, but not in control Beneficiary: entity for whose benefit the event occurs Instrument: means by which event comes about Location: place in which event occurs Goal: entity/place toward which something moves Source: Entity/place from which something moves Actor : the doer of an action Percept/ Stimulus : the entity perceived/ experienced

ACTOR VERSUS AGENT

ACTOR: the doer of an Action.
The wind blew down the tree.
? The wind blew down the tree on purpose.

The earthquake destroyed the whole city.

? The earthquake destroyed the whole city on purpose.

ACTOR VERSUS AGENT

When the ACTOR has an INTENTION to ACT, she or he = AGENT. AGENT: the one who intentionally initiates the action expressed by the predicate.

The dog chased the cat. The dog chased the cat on purpose.

Experiencer vs. Stimulus

EXPERIENCER: the entity that experiences
some (psychological) state expressed by the the predicate: John [fears snakes] STATE * John fears snakes on purpose.

John = EXPERIENCER Snakes = STIMULUS

Experiencer vs. Percept

EXPERIENCER: the entity that perceives
an entity: John saw the snake. * John saw the snake on purpose.

John = EXPERIENCER The snake = Percept

q-grids
Among the pieces of information stored in
our mental lexicon about predicates is the qgrid of a predicate. The predicate names a kind of event, and
specifies what entities play a role in the event.

put V: <Agent, Theme, Location>

Pat put the book on the table.

q-grids
put V: <Agent, Theme, Location>
Pat put the book on the table.

Conventionally, only required q-roles are listed in

the q-roles. That is, q-roles that are necessary in specifying the event.
*Pat put on the table. *Pat put the book. Pat put the book on the table with a spatula.

Arguments and adjuncts

An argument is required by the q-grid. An adjunct is superfluous, less connected to the event, freer
in ordering. Can be added to further specify any kind of compatible event.

*Pat put the fork. Pat put the fork on the table. Pat put the fork on the table with gusto at 6pm. Pat put the fork on the table at 6pm with gusto. With gusto, Pat put the fork on the table at 6pm. *Pat put the form at 6pm with gusto on the table. *On the table, Pat put the fork at 6pm with gusto.

Classes of verbs
We can classify verbs by the number of qroles in their q-grids. Intransitive: trip <Theme> Transitive: kick <Agent, Patient> Ditransitive: put <Agent, Theme, Location>

Classes of verbs
Even apart from valency (number of arguments in the qgrid), we can identify lots of classes of verbs that behave alike in terms of q-roles.
give, lend, supply, pay, donate, contribute
V: <Agent, Theme, Recipient> receive, accept, borrow, buy, purchase, rent, hire V:<Recipient, Theme, Source> break, open, sink, collapse V: <Patient> V: <Agent, Patient> eat, drink, read, paint V: <Agent> V: <Agent, Patient>

Can an argument get more than one q-role?

Pat threw the ball to Tracy. Yes. (e.g., Jackendoff) Pat: Agent, Source; the ball:
Patient, Theme; Tracy: Goal.

No.
(e.g., Chomsky) q-roles can contain more than
one q-relation, but it is linguistically one role (bundle of q-relations). Pat [Agent, Source].

Subjects and objects

We can identify parts of sentences as subjects,
predicates, objects. Often these are defined by position and by case. I met her. She met me. Grammatical roles and q-roles are dissociable. Pat closed the door. The door closed.

Linking
Almost any q-role can be a structural
subject. Chris planned the heist. Tracy saw the crime occur. The window broke. The hammer smashed the glass. Chris tripped. Chris got a summons.

Linking
There are tendencies at least. If theres an Agent, it is the subject.
The exam failed Pat.

Otherwise, if theres an instrument, it is the subject.

The hammer broke the vase.

Otherwise, if theres a Theme or Patient, it is the subject.

The vase broke. *The vase broke with the hammer.

Why q-roles?
We are trying to describe generalizations about
language, meaning, the mapping to structure.

We can imagine a lot of different kinds of roles.

E.g., Patient could undergo a lot of different degrees of affectedness
Touch (no change) Squeeze (temporary change) Break (fundamental change)

Why q-roles?
We get some generalization power by considering
q-roles, allowing us to define classes of verbs that share similar behavior. As an example, psychological verbs (admire, enjoy, amuse, frighten), which have an Experiencer and a Stimulus (or Percept).
Two types, differing in the linking of arguments to
syntactic positions. Point here: we need to refer to q-roles to differentiate the two types.

Psych verbs
Type 1 (Subject-experiencer)
admire, enjoy, fear, like, love, relish, savor V: <Experiencer, Stimulus> Type 2 (Object-experiencer) amuse, entertain, frighten, interest, please,
surprise, thrill V: <Stimulus, Experiencer>

Active vs. Passive (Voice)

Pat ate the sandwich The sandwich was eaten (by Pat)

Passive removes/demotes the Agent/Experiencer,

promoting the next q-role to subject.
eat
eaten V: <Agent, Patient> (active) V: <Patient> (passive) (theme) (recipient) (percept) (experiencer) (stimulus)

The book was given to Pat. Pat was given a book. The shot was heard round the world. The kids were frightened. The ghost was feared.

Exercises
Identify the roles play by participants in: John opened the door with the key. The key opened the door. The door opened. A burglar broke into my house. May mothers apartment was broken by a thief.

Exercises
Muriel dealt the cards carefully to each player. The tree was felled by a single blow from Pauls

axe. Seymour sliced the salami with a knife. Harry used a screwdriver to open the tin. Keith gave Gill a replica of the Venus of Milo. It is windy in Edinburgh. Glenn bought a computer for his son. Ruth knitted Bryan a sweater.

Exercises

a. The bus ran over the cat. b. The general inspected the troops. c. The hotel shelters fifty people. d. Your cat is hungry. e. They died. f. Joan fell off the cliff. g. I forgot the address.