Participant Roles and how they are Expressed Grammatically

Linguistics 5430

Spring 2007

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What does a Verb Need?• An early approach based upon grammatical

frames, which fails to deal with semantics.

• An alternative approach based on the relationship between semantic roles and grammatical roles.

• Linking theory.

• A recent attempt to extend linking theory to deal with flexibility in verb meanings.

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Subcategorization• Chomsky (1965) proposed to divide up all

verbs into subcategories based on their grammatical frames.

• put _NP PP (put the shoes under the desk)• eat _(NP) (ate lunch, ate at noon)• give _NP PP (give the account to Pat)

_NP NP (give Pat the account)• contribute _(NP) (PP) (contribute some

money; contribute to the Red Cross)

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What about Semantics?• Alternations: The form of the frame can be

invariable while its content changes.

• Examples involving the frame V NP PP:

Moe loaded the truck with lobsters.Moe loaded the lobsters into the truck.

She drained the cash from the account.She drained the account of cash.

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What about Semantics?

• The form of the frame might vary,while its content stays the same.

She asked me what time it was.She asked me the time.

I can’t believe how much noise they make.I can’t believe the noise they make.

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What about Semantics?

• A single NP in a verb’s grammatical frame may express several different types of roles:

She risked his hostility

a swim in the ocean

her life

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A New Theory: Semantic Frames

• Words highlight some parts of a scene and background others.

Figure 1. Hypotenuse.

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Semantic Frames

• Verbs denote aspects of scenes.• Scenes have participants.• Verbs highlight some participants in a scene

and background others.• Converses: buy/sell; own/belong to;

lend/borrow.• How exactly do converses work?

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Different Participants are Foregrounded by each Verb

• What makes us say that a given participant is foregrounded?

It is necessarily expressed in the sentence.*She put the peanut butter.

It is expressed by the core grammatical

roles: subject and object.She filled the bathtub. She poured the gin.

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Examples of Foregrounding: The Commercial Event Scenario

• There are two levels at which we can describe participant roles:

Frame-specific roles.

Schematic roles.

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Examples of Foregrounding: The Commercial Event Scenario

• The Commercial Event Scenario

buyer seller goods currency

• The Transfer (or Removal) Scenario

agent goal/recipient theme source

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The Alignment of Roles from the Two Levels

buy buyer seller currency goodsagent source theme

sell buyer seller currency goodsgoal agent theme

pay buyer seller currency goods

agent goal theme

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Another Two Levels: Action and Thematic Tiers (6.3)

• When we are identifying thematic roles, there are levels at which we can do that:

– The thematic tier (movement and location)

– The action tier (causation and change of state) • Try to invent a sentence in which an argument is

both:– Agent and goal

– Patient and theme

– Agent and theme

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From Semantic Roles to Grammatical Roles

• Linking theory proposes two proto-roles:

• Proto-agent: has volition, is an energy source, moves.

• Proto-patient: acted upon, undergoes change of state.

• An intransitive clause may have either an proto-patient or a proto-agent, but not both.

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Semantic Role Hierarchy

• Proto-agent will be linked to the subject role when it is present.

• Proto-patient will be linked to the object role when it is present.

agent instrument location themeProto-agent Proto-

patient

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How does Linking Work?

• Think about these sentences:

Sue broke our window (with a rock).

A rock broke our window.

Our window broke.

*A rock broke our window by Sue.

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Exceptional Linkings

• Which sentence in each pair violates the predictions of the semantic-role hierarchy?

She loaded lobsters onto the truck.She loaded the truck with lobsters.

Harry hit the wall with a hammer.Harry hit the hammer against the wall.

That couch is crawling with fleas.Fleas are crawling on that couch.

She gave the account to Pat.She gave Pat the account.

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Linking Alternations in Two Other Languages

• Latin

Populus Ciceroni immortalitatem donavit.

People:NOM Cicero:DAT immortality:ACC gave:3pl

‘The people gave immortality to Cicero.’

Populus Ciceronem immortalitate donavit.

People:NOM Cicero:ACC immortality:ABL gave:3pl

‘The people endowed Cicero with immortality.’

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Latin Linking: Passive• Two possibilities for passive in Latin

Immortalitas est donatus Ciceroni Immortality:NOM is given:masc:sg Cicero: DAT ab populo.by people:ABL‘Immortality was given to Cicero by the people.’

Cicero est donatus immortalitate Cicero:NOM is given:masc:sg immortality:ABL

ab populo.by people:ABL‘Cicero was endowed with immortality by the people.’

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German Linking

• ActiveWir befüllten die Flaschen mit Bier.‘We filled the bottles with beer.’

Wir füllten Bier in die Flaschen.‘We filled (poured) beer into the bottles.’

• Two possibilities for passiveBier wurde in die Flaschen gefüllt.‘Beer was filled into the bottles.’

Die Flaschen wurden mit bier befüllt.‘The bottles were filled with beer.’

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Recent Inquiries into the Flexibility of Verb Meaning

• Does the number of semantic roles assigned by a given verb always remain the same?

• Can speakers use constructions to add semantic roles to the verb?

• We can answer these questions by looking at naturally occurring language data.

• In many genres, we find nonce uses of words.

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More Examples of Flexible Verb Meanings

The Presentational Construction• On the ground lay a shoe.• Near the clubhouse sparkles the community pool.

The Caused Motion construction• She pushed the glass off the counter.• A gruff ‘police monk’ barked them back to work.

The Directed Motion construction• She walked through the gate.• She squirmed through the fence posts.

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Even more Examples of Flexibility in Verb Meanings

The Ditransitive construction • I gave them a gift.• We adopted her a sister.• I hailed them a cab.

The Resultative construction• I made the table less wobbly.• They cried their eyes red.• I ate myself sick.

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Goldberg’s Construction-Based Proposal

• Linking patterns exist independently of verbs and have meanings similar to those of verbs (transfer, causation)

• The patterns can modify verb meanings by adding semantic roles.

• These patterns can make verbs from nouns:I spread the bread with butter.I buttered the bread.