semantic roles

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What is a semantic role?

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Page 1: Semantic Roles

What is a semantic role?

Page 2: Semantic Roles

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

Also known as:

Semantic case, thematic role.

Page 3: Semantic Roles

Example:

If, in some real or imagined situation, someone named John purposely hits someone named Bill, then John is the agent and Bill is the patient of the hitting event. Therefore, the semantic role of Bill is the same (patient) in both of the following sentences:

•John hit Bill. •Bill was hit by John.

In both of the above sentences, John has the semantic role of agent.

Page 4: Semantic Roles

Grammatical relations (subject, object, oblique…) are morphosyntactic, whereas semantic roles (agent, patient, instrument…) are conceptual notions. Semantic roles do not correspond directly to grammatical relations. Notice what varying semantic roles a subject can play:

Sentence Grammatical relation

Semantic role

Bob opened the door with a key. Bob = SUBJECT

Bob = AGENT

The key opened the door. The key = SUBJECT

The key = INSTRUMENT

The door opened. The door = SUBJECT

The door = PATIENT

Page 5: Semantic Roles

What is patient as a semantic role?

• Also known as: affected, undergoer • Longacre 1983 defines a patient as the entity • undergoing a change of state or location, or • which is possessed, acquired or exchanged.

• Larson 1984 defines the affected role as the • thing that is affected by an event • person or thing that undergoes a process, or • person who experiences an event.

Page 6: Semantic Roles

Examples • The entity predicated with a state or location:• The door is open. • John is at home. • The entity undergoing a change of state or

location:• He opened the door.• The door swung open. • He threw the ball across the yard.• The ball rolled off the table.

Page 11: Semantic Roles

What is experiencer as a semantic role?

• Definition Experiencer is the semantic role of an entity (or referent) which

• receives • accepts • experiences, or • undergoes the effect of an action. • Normally an experiencer is an entity that receives a sensory

impression, or in some other way is the locus of some event or activity that involves neither volition nor a change of state.

• Examples (English) • Lucretia saw the bicycle. • It was Bill who smelled the bacon first. • The explosion was heard by everyone.

Page 14: Semantic Roles

What is locative as a semantic role?

• Definition Locative is a semantic role which identifies the location or spatial orientation of a state or action. A locative semantic role does not imply motion to, from, or across the location.

• Examples (English)

• The paper is in the folder.

• The ship sank at sea.

Page 18: Semantic Roles

What is source as a semantic role?

• Source is the semantic role of the following referents: • The place of origin (with verbs of motion, locomotion, and

propulsion) • The entity from which a physical sensation emanates (with verbs of

sensation, attention, and speech) • The original owner in a transfer (with verbs of acquisition, transfer,

and grab)

• Examples (English) • As the place of origin:

– John fell off the chair.(with a motion verb)– The baby crawled from the kitchen to the door. (with a locomotion verb)– John picked up the knife from the box. (with a propulsion verb)

Page 23: Semantic Roles

Semantic RolesAgent: The ‘doer’ or instigator of the action denoted by the

predicate. Patient: The ‘undergoer’ of the action or event denoted by the

predicate. Theme: The entity that is moved by the action or event denoted

by the predicate. Experiencer: The living entity that experiences the action or

event denoted by the predicate. Goal: The location or entity in the direction of which something

moves. Benefactive: The entity that benefits from the action or event

denoted by the predicate. Source: The location or entity from which something moves

Instrument: The medium by which the action or event denoted by the predicate is carried out.

Locative: The specification of the place where the action or event denoted by the predicate in situated. (Aarts 1997: 88)

Page 24: Semantic Roles

Examples:Theme (or Patient): Entity undergoing the effect of some action. (Mary is happy)

Agent: Instigator of some action. (John killed Harry)

Experiencer: Entity experiencing some psychological state. (John smelled her perfume)

Goal: Entity towards which something moves. (John went home)