Semantic roles and semantic features

NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF LOJAENGLISH LANGUAGE CAREER

Ing. Paola Moreno

SEMANTICNAMES:

Dayra YanangómezAndrea Labanda

Group “A” Module VIILOJA - ECUADOR

What is a semantic role?

A semantic role is the underlying relationship that a participant has with the main verb in a clause.

DEFINITION

Words are not just a “containers” of meanings. They fulfill different “roles” within the situation described by a sentence.

For example: If the situation is a simple event such as

The boy kicked the ball

The verb ‘kicked’ describes an action. The noun phrases ‘The boy’ and ‘the ball’ describe the roles of

entities such as people and things involved in the action.

Agent

Patient or Theme

Instrument

Experiencer

Location

ROLES

The entity that performs the action is technically known as “agent”.

For example: The boy kicked the ball.

o As in the sentence one role is taken by the boy and the boy performs the action, so it is agent.

Although agents are typically human, they can also be non-human forces, machines or creatures.

For example: The wind blew the ball away. The car ran over the ball.

The entity that is involved in or affected by the action is technically known as “theme”.

For example: The boy kicked the ball.o In this sentence “ball” is the theme because it is affected by

the action performed by the ‘agent’.

The theme can also be an entity that is simply being described.

For example: The ball was red. The theme can also be human. Indeed the physical entity can

appear in two semantic roles.For example: The boy kicked himself.

THEME

INSTRUMENT

If an agent uses another entity in performing an action, that other entity fills the role of instrument.

For example:

o She writes a letter.o He have the lunch.

In “writing with a pen” or “eating with a spoon” the phrases “a pen” and “a spoon” have the semantic role of instrument.

EXPERIENCER

When a noun phrase designates an entity as a person who has a feeling, a perception or a state, it fills the role of experiencer.

If we see, know or enjoy something, we do not perform any action. In this way we are in the role of experiencer. For example:Did you hear that noise? The experiencer is “you” and theme is “that noise”.

When an entity is in the description of the event

then it fills the role of Location. (on the table, in the

room etc).

For example: Mary saw a mosquito on the wall.

In this sentence “on the wall” is location.

LOCATION

What is semantic features?

It is a notational method which can be used to express the existence or non-existence of pre-established semantic properties by using plus and minus signs.

Man is [+HUMAN], [+MALE], [+ADULT]

Woman is [+HUMAN], [-MALE], [+ADULT]

Boy is [+HUMAN], [+MALE], [-ADULT]

Girl is [+HUMAN], [-MALE], [-ADULT]

It can be used to describe differences between antonyms, super-ordinates and their hyponyms, and near synonyms.