Question

For the sentences in (1):

1. Identify each V:

   o Give its subcategorization frame (based on the sentence it appears in).

2. o List the thematic roles it assigns.

For example:

Ex. John hit Bill in the mouth
hit - V [ ___ NP ] (Agent, Theme)
[NP John ] – Agent, [NP Bill ] – Theme, [NP the mouth ] – Goal

(Theta-roles are discussed in the textbook in the semantics chapter, on pages 158-161.)

(1)

a. The torpedo sank the boat
b. The captain sank the boat with a torpedo
c. A brick fell from the sky onto Fred’s big toe
d. Bill heard that John joined the army from Mary

Answer 1

A theta role or θ-role is a part of the generative grammar relating to the arguments generated by a verb. It is a formal instrument for making "syntactic argument structure" meaningful. Specifically, the action of the verb generates arguments of different kinds containing major theta roles, namely Agent, Theme, Source, Goal, and Instrument. In theta-roles, the agent is the entity that deliberately executes the action of the verb and the theme represents the entity who is the direct receiver of the action of the verb. Instrument is the entity which helps in executing the action of the verb. Source is the direction from which the action of the verb generates. Goal is the direction towards which the action of the verb proceeds.  

a. The torpedo sank the boat

Sank- V [ ___ NP ] (Agent, Theme)
[NP Torpedo ] – Agent, [NP Boat] – Theme

b. The captain sank the boat with a torpedo

Sank- V [ ___ NP ] (Agent, Theme)
[NP Captain ] – Agent, [NP Boat] – Theme, [NP-Torpedo]- Instrument

c. A brick fell from the sky onto Fred’s big toe

Fell- V [ ___ NP ] (Agent, Theme)

[NP Brick ] – Agent, [NP Fred] – Theme, [NP-Big Toe]- Goal, [NP Sky]- Source

d. Bill heard that John joined the army from Mary

Heard- V [ ___ NP ] (Agent, Theme)

[NP Bill ] – Agent, [NP John] – Theme, [NP- Mary]- Source.