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    Verbs and Thematic Role Grids

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    Mar Crespo
    This document discusses thematic role grids, which list the thematic roles that arguments of a verb can hold. It provides examples of grids for different types of verbs such as "put", "give", and "borrow". The grids specify whether the verb is intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive, and which arguments correspond to thematic roles like Agent, Theme, Recipient, etc. It also discusses how verbs can be classified based on their shared grids and linking of thematic roles to syntactic positions.

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    Verbs and Thematic Role Grids

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    Mar Crespo
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    This document discusses thematic role grids, which list the thematic roles that arguments of a verb can hold. It provides examples of grids for different types of verbs such as "put", "give", and "borrow". The grids specify whether the verb is intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive, and which arguments correspond to thematic roles like Agent, Theme, Recipient, etc. It also discusses how verbs can be classified based on their shared grids and linking of thematic roles to syntactic positions.

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    Apuntes semántica inglesa

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    This document discusses thematic role grids, which list the thematic roles that arguments of a verb can hold. It provides examples of grids for different types of verbs such as "put", "give", and "borrow". The grids specify whether the verb is intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive, and which arguments correspond to thematic roles like Agent, Theme, Recipient, etc. It also discusses how verbs can be classified based on their shared grids and linking of thematic roles to syntactic positions.

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    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
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    1K views2 pages

    Verbs and Thematic Role Grids

    Uploaded by

    Mar Crespo
    This document discusses thematic role grids, which list the thematic roles that arguments of a verb can hold. It provides examples of grids for different types of verbs such as "put", "give", and "borrow". The grids specify whether the verb is intransitive, transitive, or ditransitive, and which arguments correspond to thematic roles like Agent, Theme, Recipient, etc. It also discusses how verbs can be classified based on their shared grids and linking of thematic roles to syntactic positions.

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    6.

    4 Verbs and Thematic Role Grids


    Representing syntactic argument structure
    – Verbs have particular requirements for their thematic roles. Thus
    we need to know not only how many arguments a verb requires
    (i.e. whether it is intransitive, transitive, etc.) but also what
    thematic roles its arguments may hold.
    – In generative grammar, this listing of thematic roles is often called
    a thematic role grid, or theta-grid. A simple example might be:
    put V: <AGENT, THEME, LOCATION>
    – This entry tells us that put is a three-argument, or ditransitive, verb
    and spells out the thematic roles the three arguments may
    carry.The AGENT-role typically occurs as the subject of the verb
    “external argument”. Our thematic grid for put in predicts that this
    verb, when saturated with the correct arguments, might form a
    sentence like:
    JohnAGENT put the bookTHEME on the shelfLOCATION
    – Verbs form classes which share the same grids. For example,
    English has a class of TRANSFER, or GIVING, verbs which in one
    subclass includes the verbs give, lend, supply, pay, donate, contribute.
    These verbs encode a view of the transfer from the perspective of
    the AGENT.
    They have the thematic grid: <AGENT, THEME, RECIPIENT>
    – Another subclass of these TRANSFER verbs encodes the transfer
    from the perspective of the RECIPIENT. These verbs include
    receive, accept, borrow, buy, purchase, rent, hire.
    Their thematic grid is: <RECIPIENT, THEME, SOURCE>
    – a theta-role is a cluster of entailments about an argument
    position, which are shared by some verbs. Examples:
    x murders y, x nominates y, x interrogates y
    – We can identify in English two classes of psychological verbs both
    of which take two arguments (i.e. grammatically the verb feel is
    transitive, taking a subject and direct object), one of which is an
    EXPERIENCER and the other a STIMULUS. The classes differ
    however in their linking between these roles and subject and object
    position.
    – Psychological verbs type 1 a. V: <EXPERIENCER, STIMULUS>
    admire, enjoy, fear, like, love, relish, savor
    – Thus, when we use an English verb like feel in Joan felt the heat, we
    identify a relationship between an EXPERIENCER and a
    PERCEPT (/STIMULUS)..
    – Psychological verbs type 2 a. V:<STIMULUS, EXPERIENCER>
    amuse, entertain, frighten, interest, please, surprise, thrill
    Thus we say Claude liked the result but The result pleased Claude.
    – Theta-roles are defined in terms of entailments
    – (interrelation between semantics and syntax of the predicates) .
    – In this view a theta-role is a cluster of entailments about an
    argument position, which are shared by some verbs. Examples:
    x murders y, x nominates y, x interrogates y
    Thus theta-roles are defined in terms of shared verbal entailments
    about nominal referents.
    – Some arguments might have more of the entailments than others.
    So, for example, John in John cleaned the house would include all
    four of the entailments:
    volition, sentience, causation and movement.

    – The thematic role grid of the verb put is as follows:


    a) put V: <THEME, LOCATION>
    b) put V: <AGENT, LOCATION>
    c) put v: <AGENT, LOCATION, THEME>
    d) put V: <AGENT, THEME, LOCATION>

    The thematic role grid of the verb borrow is as follows:


    a) borrow V: <AGENT, THEME, SOURCE>
    b) borrow V: <RECIPIENT, THEME, SOURCE>
    c) borrow V: <EXPERIENCER, THEME, SOURCE>
    d) borrow V: <THEME, SOURCE>

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