Sentence Semantics: Proposition & Thematic

RolesPr epar ed by;

ROSEMARIE B. CARO

EM 204: Structure of English

The study of meaning of words, phrases, and sentences.

• Lexical semantics (words and meaning relationship among words)•Phrasal/ sentential semantics (syntactic units larger than a word)

What is Semantics?

Propositions

• The semantic content of a clause minus any particular syntactic structure as well as its intended communicative force.

(Prop.) Harriet call the doctor.

• Did Harriet call the doctor?• Harriet called the doctor.• Harriet’s calling the doctor.• It was the doctor whom Harriet called.• Will Harriet call the doctor?• For Harriet to call the doctor.• It was Harriet who called the doctor• The one who called the doctor was Harriet.

Divisions of Proposition

• Predicate (Pred.)-typically verbs including prepositions and predicate adjectives

• Argument (Arg.)-is any of the various elements of the sentence that are set in relation to one another by the predicate, typically noun phrases

Predicate and Argument

Diagramming

1-place burn the house

Prop

pred arg

The houseburn

2-placeMary broke the glasses.

argpred arg

Prop

break Mary The glasses

3-placeWe donated the clothes to charity.

Prop

pred argarg arg

Donate to charityThe clotheswe

Thematic Roles/ፀ-Roles

• “grammatically relevant semantic relations between predicates and arguments” (Frawley 1992:201)

• proposed by Charles Fillmore (1968, 1977) and was originally known as case grammar/semantic case

Thematic roles & expression served by

arguments in a sentence

Agent or “actor”

• Animate,initiator,causer,doer, of an action who acts by will or volition, takes responsibility for the action

e.g. The logger felled the tree. The tree was felled by the loggerExpression of thematicsubject of active and by phrase

Force

• Inanimate cause of an action, which does not act by will or volition

e.g. The wind felled the tree. The tree was felled by the wind. The logger felled the tree with a single blow.Expression of thematicsubject of active and by phrase

Instrument or “means”

• Inanimate the means by which an event is caused, an instrument does not act but is acted upon

e.g. The tree was felled with an axe. The sweater was knitted by hand. Expression of thematicoften expressed in a with or by phrase.

Experiencer or “affected”

• The animate being affected inwardly by a state or action

e.g. Marianne feels lonely. I like the book. The news enraged me. Expression of thematicthe subject of a state verb

Source

• the place-from-which or person-from-whom an action emanates

e.g. I got some money out of the bank. The child took the book off the shelf. I borrowed the book from my teacher.Expression of thematictypically with from, out of, or off

Goal

• the place-to-which or person-to-whom an action is directed

e.g. I sent to my grandmother a card. My grandmother was sent a card. She reached the coast.Expression of thematicUsed/With to

Path

• the path taken in moving from one place to another in the course of an action

e.g. Hannibal traveled over the mountains. We walked along the railroad tracks. The package came via London. Expression of thematicUsed/With via, along, or over,

Location or “place”

• the place-at/in-which or the time-at-which an action occurs

e.g. The dog is behind the couch. I will return on Tuesday/at noon. There are many people in the room. Expression of thematicUsed/With on, in,over, behind, or under

Possessor

• the possessor of a thing

Two kinds of possession (connection) 1. Judy’s head (inalienable possession) 2. Judy’s car (alienable possession)

Benefactive

• the person or thing for which an action is performed or the person who derives something from the actions of another

e.g. Jack answered the phone for José. The store special-ordered the book for me.Expression of thematicUsed/With for

Factitive or “result”

• The object resulting from an action or state e.g. They formed a circle. Wren designed St. Paul’s. He baked a cake. Expression of thematicexpressed by the noun phrase immediately

following the verb in an active sentence

Patient • the person or thing affected by an action e.g. I baked the chicken. The chicken was baked by me. The chicken baked in the oven. Expression of thematicexpressed by the noun phrase

Theme

• the person or thing undergoes an action e.g. I put the letter on the table. The letter flew out of the window. We read the letter.Expression of thematicexpressed by the noun phrase immediately

following the verb in an active sentence

Neutral “theme”

• the person or thing which is not changed or even acted upon

e.g.The house costs a lot. The table measures three feet by three feet.Richard saw a tree on the horizon. Expression of thematicexpressed by both subjects and DO

Range or “extent”

• the specification or limitation of an actione.g. The dress costs a hundred dollars. We drove ten miles. He hummed a silly tune. Expression of thematicexpressed by the noun phrase immediately

following the verb in an active sentence

Role

• a person playing a role or part in an action or state

e.g. We made Liz treasurer of the club. Hilda is the principal of the school. Expression of thematicdenoted by subject and object complements

• Note the differences between Patient, Theme, Neutral, and Factitive:

Jane broke the vase. (Patient/changed) Jane moved the vase. (Theme/undergoes

action)

Jane saw the vase. (Neutral/no effect) Jane made a vase. (Factitive/virtue)

Dual Thematic Roles arguments of certain classes of verbs.

Lucille sat down.Lucille = Agent and Theme

They presented an award to Sam. They = Agent and Source Sam = Goal award = Theme

They presented Sam with an award. They = Agent and Source Sam = Theme and Goal award = Neutral

She sprayed paint on the wall. She = Agent paint = Patient wall = Location

She sprayed the wall with paint. She = Agent the wall = Patient and Location paint = Theme

The thief stole her jewels. The thief = Agent and Goal her = Possessor jewels = Theme

The thief stole the jewels from her. The thief = Agent and Goal her = Source jewels = Theme

The thief robbed her of the jewels. The thief = Agent and Goal her = Theme and Source jewels = Neutral

We made Rachel (to be) captain. We = Agent Rachel = Theme and Experiencer captain = Role

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