This is semantic presentation focussing on 'Participant Roles'. It is dealt with under a number of different names in the linguistic literature, including thematic relations, participant roles, deep cases, semantic case/roles and theta roles.The main reference is taken from 'Semantics A Coursebook' written by Hurford et. al. (2007).

1. PARTICIPANT ROLES
Presented by:
YUNALIA ANUGRAHENY
NIM: 137835107
Kemenag Class

2. PARTICIPANT ROLES:
“Participant roles indicate relationships between a verb (and
possibly other predicators) and the referring expressions in a
sentence.”
Hurford, et.al (2007, p. 257)
Participant
roles
Verb
(predicators)
Referring
expression
Definition of PRs
E.g. John opened the door with the key
John
the door
the key
open

3. TYPE OF PARTICIPANT ROLES:
AGENT
THEME
INSTRUMENT
BENEFICIARY
LOCATION
EXPERIENCER
AFFECTED
Types of PRs

4. AGENT
The AGENT of a sentence is the person deliberately carrying out
the action described. (Hurford et al., 2007:245)
E.g.
1. John opened the door with the key
2. A burglar ransacked my house
3. My mother’s Imari bowl was broken by a thief
Agent

5. Affected
AFFECTED
“The AFFECTED participant is the thing (not usually a person,
although it may be) upon which the action is carried out, in
many cases the thing changed by the action in the most obvious
way.” (Hurford et al., 2007:245-246)
E.g.
1. John opened the door with the key
2. Muriel dealt the cards carefully to each player
3. The tree was felled by a single blow from Paul’s axe

6. INSTRUMENT
“The Instrument is the thing (hardly ever a person) by means of
which the action is carried out.” (Hurford et al., 2007:246)
E.g.
1. The key opened
2. Seymour sliced the salami with a knife
3. Hamish used a screwdriver to open the tin
Instrument

7. LOCATION
“The role of Location is played by any expression referring to
the place where the action described by a sentence takes
place.” (Hurford et al., 2007:249)
E.g.
1. Caesar was assassinated in Rome
2. I’m meeting Dick at Waverley Station
3. Tallahassee is humid in summer
Location

8. Beneficiary
BENEFICIARY
“The Beneficiary is the person for whose benefit or to whose
detriment the action described by the sentence is carried out. It
is usually assumed that the Beneficiary, if mentioned, is distinct
from both the Agent and the Affected.” (Hurford et al.,
2007:249)
E.g.
1. Keith gave Gill a replica of the Venus de Milo
2. Alan was sent a special offer from the Reader’s Digest
3. Glenn bought a micro-computer for his son

9. Experiencer
EXPERIENCER
“The Experiencer is typically a person who is mentally aware
of, perceives, or experiences the action or state described by
the sentence, but who is not in control of the situation.
Experiencer characteristics can also sometimes be attributed to
animals.” (Hurford et al., 2007:251)
E.g.
1. The children heard the loud noise
2. Jane saw a movie last night
3. Janice became sick when she heard the news
4. The thunder was heard by everyone.

10. THEME
“The THEME participant is a thing or person whose location is
described, or a thing or person that is perceived by an
Experiencer. “ (Hurford et al., 2007:251)
E.g.
1. The children heard the loud noise
2. Jack saw a play last week
3. The Honda belongs to Jim
Theme

11. GRAMMATICAL POSITIONS IN THE SENTENCE
(Hurford et al., 2007:247)
a. Subject Position
preceding main verb
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
2. The worker moved the beam with a crane.
b. Object Position
immediately following main verb
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
2. The worker moved the beam with a crane.
c. Complement Position
after the verb, but not immediately, often after
preposition.
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
2. The worker moved the beam with a crane.

12. Subject Object Complement
Agent
Affected
Instrument
THE POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF ROLE AND
GRAMMATICAL POSITION
(1) The dynamite blew the safe open.
(2) The hut was set alight by vandals.
(3) Alfred burnt the cakes.
(4) Charles built Emily a mahogany bookcase.
(5) Sidney swatted the fly with his hat.
1
1,2
3, 2
3,
4,
45
5
5

13. ROLE FRAME OF A VERB
E.g.
1. OPEN: (AGENT) AFFECTED (INSTRUMENT)
John opened the door.
The key opened the door.
The door opened.
“Participant roles can be included in the dictionary. Proponents
of the notion of role envisage that in the dictionary entry for
each verb in the language there will be a ‘role frame’, indicating
what roles must be, and what roles may be, mentioned in
connection with the verb” (Hurford et al., 2007:253).

14. MAIN REFERENCE
Hurford, James R., Heasley, Brendan, and Smith, Michael B.
2007. Semantics A Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press.