[Introduction to Linguistics] (OLD) Thematic Roles

31 thoughts on “[Introduction to Linguistics] (OLD) Thematic Roles”

1. Thank you so much! You explained everything really well plus you have that nice voice! I just subscribed to you. 🙂

2. Thematic role主題役割を理解していないと正しくない英語を書いてしまうことがよくあります。例えば、「写真を壁に飾る」という日本語をdecorateを使ってSVOに忠実に逐語訳すると、*I decorate pictures on the wall.と言ってしまいそうになる。間違い！！decorateの目的語は必ずlocation場所が来るから、必ず、I decorate the wall with pictures.と言わなければならない。藤本滋之先生がおっしゃっていましたが、Thematic role主題役割はSVOで習う文法に変わって導入されるべき文法なのではないかと思います。
   「庭で　蜂が　集っていた。」というのを日本語では場所である庭を主語とすることはできないが、英語だと
   The garden was swarming with bees.
   Bees were swarming in the garden.
   というふうにlocation場所も主語になれるというのも大発見ですね。SVOの文法では絶対に学ぶことができない構文です。
   空が爆発しているとは日本語では言えませんが、英語だと、
   The sky is exploding with fireworks.
   Fireworks are exploding in the sky.
   両方とも言えちゃうんですね。
   give 物 to 人
   give 人 物
   ラテン語語源のsupplyやprovideも人も物も目的語に取れるとは思わなかったな。勿論、前置詞の使い方とかは違うけど。
   supply/provide 物 to 人
   supply/provide 人 with 物
   This water plant is supplying water to citizens.
   This water plant is supplying citizens with water.
   openの主語はagentの他にもinstrumentalでもいいから、
   I opened the door with a key.ともいけるけど、
   The key opened the door.も言えるんだよね。

3. thanks. helpfull

4. does a theta role only correspond to one word in the sentence?

5. Very interesting. I have one question. In the Instrument role, isn't " the man who makes up examples" the experiencer as well? Or because he was killed, there is experience? Thanks.

6. Another question, if I may. In the last example, you added "for Bill" to the sentence and marked it as "benefactive", but isn't it considered an adjunct? The reason I'm asking because I am under the impression that adjuncts don't get theta roles. Thank you so much.

7. please what do we mean by arguments in theta roles?

8. Which elements in a sentence assign theta roles? Only verbs?

   In a sentence like "I expect to see results within days after your treatment", which element assigns a theta role to "your treatment"? Is it the preposition?

9. MRS, Can you help me to distinguish THEME and PATIENT ? I'm realy confused : ((

10. what if you're "playing along" with someone?
    does it have a goal then?

11. Is there any chance that you make some more videos about semantics? I am really confused about the Truth Tables and some other things. Or do you know a website or a book that explains it a little "easier", in university our professor only uses one book and even he says it is quite complicated and he isnt so good at explaining either.
    I really appreciate your work. Your videos helped me a lot getting started in Linguistics and Syntax. 🙂

12. Your videos are great ! It helped me a lot already. I found this one sentence (Mary left the concert ) in an old exam and it's supposed to have more than one presupposition but the only ones I can think of are 'Mary went to a concert ' and 'Mary was at a concert' are there any other possibilities or would that be correct ?

13. Haha, I love the little storyline going on in the examples. Poor Steve.
    Also, found some structural ambiguity in one of the sentences! "Steve killed [the man who makes up examples] with an axe" or "Steve killed the man who makes up [examples with an axe]" or "Steve killed the man who [makes up examples with an axe]." Not sure if some of those are entirely grammatical.
    And in "Brian gave the book to Mary for Bill," I originally thought it meant that the book was for Bill, and it was given to Mary so she could give it to Bill… for some reason… although I suppose that would be "Brian gave the book for Bill to Mary." What would the thematic roles be then? Bill is the end goal but the book's actually being given to Mary.

14. Thank you for the help!

15. still confused. what's the role of another noun in a sentence that contain an experiencer?

16. Thank you so much I listen to every single words youre saying because it is understandable and very clear to me.. Like I'm writing it all in my mind

17. I think Carney has an example with instrument and I think it uses an axe as well but not entirely certain

18. so if we said " the girl felt proud when her teacher handed her the certificate in the classroom "
    the.girl is the experiencer / her teacher is the agent / the certificate is the theme / in thr classroom is the location

    this sentence comfused me !

19. What about "I will play on the ground." Is ground the 'goal' or the 'location'. Btw thanks for the knowledge dissemination! Indebted to you!

20. Thanks for your endeavour to clarify the topics.

21. Perfect explanation! Thanks

22. Couldn't all recipients then be considered goals?

23. Dude you made things much more clear! Thank you.

24. Do you have a worksheet that accompanies your lesson?

25. Thank you very much. Sir the question is what is the advantages of studying these complicated concepts?

26. mary is not a benefactive, because there is no goal here….

27. Thank you so much! How to distinguish between a recipient and a beneficiary?

28. It was very useful for me! Thank you so so much!

29. June gave Summer a winter gift

    Summer : recipient

    June : ???

    a winter gift : ???

30. Thank you. This helped me. <thumbsup>

31. Summer’s goal was predicated on her desire to bake a theme based cake for Steav scoring a goal

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