Semantic Roles and Verb Classes: A Detailed Analysis

Posted on Mar 1, 2025 in Linguistics and Applied Languages

Tree Diagrams for Semantic Roles

  • Structure: Begin with the verb at the center and branch out to show its arguments (subject, object, etc.).
  • Label each noun phrase based on its semantic role:
  • Agent: The doer (subject of the verb).
  • Patient/Theme: The entity affected by the action or described.
  • Other roles: Beneficiary, Experiencer, etc., depending on the verb’s requirements.

Example Analysis

  • Coffee drinking person:
    • Coffee = Theme (the thing being drunk)
    • Person = Agent (the one who is drinking).
  • Money lender:
    • Money = Theme (the thing being lent)
    • Lender = Agent (the one who lends).

Each verb may have a specific set of semantic roles that it requires. Semantic roles must be clearly identified based on the function each argument serves in the sentence.

Morphology and Semantic Roles

Morphology involves understanding word formation through affixes, compounds, and word shortening techniques. Recognizing how morphemes attach to bases and whether the process is inflectional or derivational is key.

Semantic Roles focus on identifying the roles played by noun phrases in relation to verbs. Each verb selects particular semantic roles, and it’s essential to classify the noun phrases correctly when analyzing sentences.

Grammatical Functions of Verbs

  • Subject (S): NP or clause (They work hard).
  • Direct Object (Od): NP (She read a book).
  • Indirect Object (Oi): NP (She gave him a book).
  • Subject Complement (Cs): NP, AdjP, or PP after copular verbs (He is a teacher).
  • Object Complement (Co): NP or AdjP modifying the object (They made him president).
  • Oblique (Obl): PP required by the verb (She relies on him).
  • Adverbial Complement (AdvC): Obligatory prepositional or adverbial phrase (She put the book on the table).

Verb Classes

  • Intensive (SVCs): Copular verbs (be, seem, appear, become).
  • Extensive (action verbs):
    • Intransitive (SV): No object (He went upstairs).
    • Monotransitive (SVO): One object (I met my husband).
    • Ditransitive (SVOO/SVOObl): Two objects (I bought a present for my niece).
    • Complex Transitive (SVOC/SVOAdvC/SVOX-Compl): Object + complement (His words made me cry).

Subcategorization of Verbs

  • Intransitive (SV): No object (John died).
  • Monotransitive (SVO): One object (The explosion destroyed the house).
  • Ditransitive (SVOO/SVOObl): Two objects (I gave Mary some flowers / I gave some flowers to Mary).
  • Complex Transitive (SVOC/SVOAdvC/SVOX-Compl): Object + complement (I found that course very useful).

Semantic Role Definitions

  • Agent: Initiates the action (John killed the dog).
  • Causer: Inanimate/non-volitional cause (The rain ruined the crop).
  • Patient: Undergoes an action (The ice melted).
  • Theme: Entity that moves or is located (The ball is in the park).
  • Instrument: Tool used by an agent (We used a PC for calculations).
  • Recipient: Receives something (John gave Mary a book).
  • Experiencer: Perceives a stimulus (John understood the problem).
  • Stimulus: Causes perception or emotion (The situation scares me).
  • Location: Where something happens (They stayed at the village).
  • Source: Starting point (Jennifer walked home from the office).
  • Goal: Endpoint (Jennifer walked home from the office).
  • Path: Route taken (The burglar entered through the window).
  • State of Affairs (SOA): Expresses a situation (John saw Liz take the cookie).