1. 1. Outline The Definition of Participant Role The Type of Participant Role The Relationship between The Roles and Grammatical Positions Role Frame of A Verb
2. 2. The semantic analysis of a simple sentence: Referring expressions : Actual things, persons Predicate : Relationship between the things, persons, To describe how the things and/or people participate E.g: RE REREP John opened the door with the key
3. 3. John opened the door with the key S O Instrument affected S affected The key opened the door The door opened S O C agent affected Instrument
4. 4. PARTICIPANT ROLES Participant roles indicate relationships between a verb/ predicate (and possibly other predicators) and the referring expressions in a sentence. (Hurford, et.al. 2007, p. 257) Participant roles: roles associated with a sense of a verb/ predicate It is the semantic relation between the arguments of the verb and the situation described by the verb (Jackendoff 1972)
5. 5. TYPE OF PARTICIPANT ROLES: AGENT THEME INSTRUMENT BENEFICIARY LOCATION EXPERIENCER AFFECTED
6. 6. AGENT The AGENT of a sentence is the PERSON deliberately carrying out the action described. (Hurford et al., 2007:245) e.g. 1. John opened the door with the key 2. A burglar ransacked my house 3. My mothers bowl was broken by a thief
7. 7. AFFECTED E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key 2. Muriel dealt the cards carefully to each player 3. The tree was felled by a single blow from Pauls axe The AFFECTED participant is THE THING upon which the action is carried out. (Hurford et al., 2007:245-246) Some semantics refer to the affected participant as the PATIENT (2007:246)
8. 8. INSTRUMENT The Instrument is THE THING (hardly ever a person) by means of which the action is carried out. (Hurford et al., 2007:246) preposition which is typically used to express instrument is WITH (2007:250) E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key 2. Seymour sliced the salami with a knife 3. Hamish used a screwdriver to open the tin
9. 9. Practice... Floyd Smashed the glass with the hammer The hammer smashed the glass Crippen dissolved the body with the acid The acid dissolved the body The body dissolved Agent Affected Instrument Instrument Instrument Affected Affected Affected Affected Agent Instrument
10. 10. GRAMMATICAL POSITIONS OF REIN THE SENTENCE a. Subject Position Preceding main verb E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key. b. Object Position immediately following main verb E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key. c. Complement Position after the verb, but not immediately, often after preposition. E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key. (Hurford et al., 2007:247)
11. 11. Subject Object Complement Agent Affected Instrument THE POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF ROLE& GRAMMATICALPOSITION (1) The dynamite blew the safe open. (2) The hut was set alight by vandals. (3) Alfred burnt the cakes. (4) Charles built Emily a mahogany bookcase. (5) Sidney swatted the y with his hat. 1 1,2 3, 2 3, 4, 45 5 5 The most common combinations : Agent Subject and Affected Object The rare combinations : Agent in Object position, and Instrument in Object position The most versatile position : Subject position and Complement position The least versatile : Object position
12. 12. LOCATION The role of Location is played by any expression referring to the PLACE where the action described by a sentence takes place. (Hurford et al., 2007:249) E.g. 1. Caesar was assassinated in Rome 2. Im meeting Dick at Waverley Station 3. Tallahassee is humid in summer
13. 13. BENEFICIARY The Beneficiary is the PERSON for whose benet or to whose detriment the action described by the sentence is carried out. (Hurford et al., 2007:249) It is not always be positively affected, but could be negatively affected (2007:249) E.g. 1. Keith gave Gill a replica of the Venus de Milo 2. Alan was sent a special offer from the Readers Digest 3. Glenn bought a micro-computer for his son
14. 14. Note Prepositions which are typically used in connection with the expression of Location role are : in, at, on, under, nearby, above (Hurford et al., 2007:250) Prepositions which are typically used to express the Beneficiary role, with or without paraphrasing, are : for, to (2007:250) E.g: Keith gave Gill a replica of the Venus de Milo Keith gave a replica of the Venus de Milo for Gill Alan was sent a special offer from the Readers Digest The readers Digest sent a special offer to Alan
15. 15. Practice... It is windy in Edinburgh The Prime Minister was sent a letter bomb from the terrorists Ruth knitted a sweater for Bryan Location Agent Agent Affected Affected Note Both roles are found correlated with both Subject and Complement position. Agent
16. 16. EXPERIENCER The Experiencer is typically a PERSON who is mentally aware of, perceives, or experiences the action or state described by the sentence. (Hurford et al., 2007:251) Experience means = you experience something, it happens to you, or you feel it (Cambridge Dictionary) E.g. 1. The children heard the loud noise 2. Jane saw a movie last night 3. Janice became sick when she heard the news
17. 17. THEME The THEME participant is a THING or PERSON whose location is described or that is perceived by an Experiencer. (Hurford et al., 2007:251) E.g. 1. The children heard the loud noise 2. Jack saw a play last week 3. The Honda belongs to Jim Note: Experiencer and Theme roles are correlated to Subject and object position
18. 18. E.g. 1. OPEN: (AGENT) AFFECTED (INSTRUMENT) John opened the door The key opened the door The door opened ROLE FRAME OF A VERB
19. 19. ROLE FRAMEOF A VERB Participant roles can be included in the dictionary In the dictionary entry for each verb in the language there will be a role frame The parentheses indicate that the roles are optional with this verb The role not enclosed by parentheses is obligatory (Hurford et al., 2007:253).
20. 20. BLOW UP: Vacek blew up the tank with a hand grenade The hand grenade blew up the tank The tank blew up BLOW UP: (AGENT) AFFECTED (INSTRUMENT) GIVE: John gave Mary a book Mary was given a book A book was given to Mary GIVE: (AGENT) AFFECTED BENEFICIARY
21. 21. REFERENCE Hurford, James R., Heasley, Brendan, and Smith, Michael B. 2007. Semantics A Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Ray Jackendoff. 1972. Semantic interpretation in generative grammar. The MIT Press, Cambridge, MA.