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Semantic roles
(0) a. The dog bit the man.b. The man bit the dog.
Thematic (or θ-roles) are semantic rolesthat constituents play
agent theme
agent theme
Thematic (or θ-roles) are semantic rolesthat constituents play
A smattering of θ-roles
(1) a. Mary gave the book to Johnb. Mary gave John the book
themegoal
θ-roles can stay constantwhile subcat frames vary
(1) a. Mary gave the book to Johnb. Mary gave John the book
themegoal
goaltheme
θ-roles can stay constantwhile subcat frames vary
(1) a. Mary gave the book to Johnb. Mary gave John the book
(2) Jenna’s sister is in St. Tropez
location
Other categories beyond V haveθ-role-assigning powers
(3) The spinmeisters are crafty
theme
Theta-criterion:Each obligatory θ-role selected by a predicate must be assigned to some referential expression
(4) a. Julie telephoned the donors.b. ∗ Telephoned the donors.
?
agent
Theta-assignment at deep structure:this question is about the THEME of the taking
CP
NP
which boy
C′
C+Q
will
IP
NP
you
I′
I+Pst
twill
VP
V′
V
take
VP
NP
twh
V′
V
t take
PPto
to the dance
theme
goal
Practice
Human sentence understandingas an algorithm
1.Use the grammar to parse the sentence; determine a syntactic tree
2.Use the tree from step 1 to work out θ-role assignments
3.Return the θ-role assignments (throw away tree)
Pronoun interpretations
spelled with-self
not
Co-indexation notates same-reference
(5) a. Johni hurt himselfib. ∗ Johni hurt himi
“John hurt John”c. Johni hurt himj
“John hurt some other guy”i≠j
Some (sentence,reference) pairingsare unacceptable
(6) a. Clairei knew that Alexisj trusted heri,∗jb. Clairei knew that Alexisj trusted herself∗i,j
Some (sentence,reference) pairingsare unacceptable
(7) a. [John’s sister]i did enjoy herselfib. ∗ [John’s]j sister did enjoy himselfj
Principle A: Only NP1 (not NP2) is in the right configuration to be coindexed with the reflexive.
IP
NP1
NP2
John’s
N′
N
sister
I′
I+Pst
did
VP
V′
V
enjoy
NP
herself∗himself
A relationship between tree nodes
C-commandNode A c-commands node B if A’s sister contains B
Tanya Reinhart RIP
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/world/middleeast/23reinhart.htmlhttp://www.nytimes.com/2007/03/23/world/middleeast/23reinhart.html
IP
NP1
NP2
John’s
N′
N
sister
I′
I+Pst
did
VP
V′
V
enjoy
NP
herself∗himself
A
B
containment
A=NP1 c-commands B
IP
NP1
NP2
John’s
N′
N
sister
I′
I+Pst
did
VP
V′
V
enjoy
NP
herself∗himself
A
B
A’s sistercontainm
ent
A=NP1 c-commands B
IP
NP1
NP2
John’s
N′
N
sister
I′
I+Pst
did
VP
V′
V
enjoy
NP
herself∗himself
A
B
A’s sister
A’s sister Nʹ fails to contain B⇒ NP2 does not c-command “himself”
Principle AA reflexive must have ac-commanding antecedent in its binding domain
(8) a. Johnj should promote [Iron Maiden]ib. ∗ Johnj should promote himselfi
(9) a. Johnj should promote himselfjb. ∗ Himselfj should promote Johnj
Principle BA pronominal must not have ac-commanding antecedent in its binding domain
(10) a. Johnj should promote [Iron Maiden]ib. Johnj should promote themic. ∗ Johnj should promote himjd. Hej should promote Johnj
Licensed by Principle BIP
NP1
NP2j
John’s
N′
N
sister
I′
I+Pst
did
VP
V′
V
enjoy
NPj
him“him” not c-commanded by coindexed antecedent
Homework
In preparation for Thursday, read the Larson chapter posted on the class website.
Be able to answer the question “What are truth conditions?”