theta role

English

Alternative forms
  • theta-role
  • θ-role

Noun

theta role (plural theta roles)

  1. (grammar, especially transformational grammar) Abbreviation of thematic role.
    • 1988, Andrew Radford, chapter 8, in Transformational grammar: a first course, Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, page 447:
      Such an analysis would provide a natural way of accounting for the fact that (inter alia) transitive Objects and their ergative Subject counterparts are assigned the same theta-roles, and hence are subject to the same Selection Restrictions. For example, in (160) below:
      (160) (a)      John might drown the kittens/his wife/??his goldfish/?!his frying-pan/!his birth
      (160) (b)      The kittens/his wife/??his goldfish/?!his frying-pan/!his birth might drown
      the italicised transitive Object in (160) (a) has the same theta role ( = that of THEME or PATIENT (i.e. victim!) of drown) as the italicised ergative Subject in (160) (b), and accordingly is subject to the same Selection Restrictions.

See also
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