Semantic roles, semantics

1. Semantic roles
1

2. An account of the number of arguments
that a predicate has.
Valency!
2

3. TABLE OF CONTENT
Some changes in
valency
03.
Summary
04.
Valency one
01.
Valency two
02.
3

4. Valency one
01.
4

5. e.g. My brother snores
The verb in this example is ‘snore’ and the subject is
‘my brother’.
Many verbs like snore have subject but no object.
So, they are intransitive verbs or one- argument
predicates.
Note: intransitive verb is defined as a verb that
doesnot take a direct object.
One-argument verbs
Valencyone
5

6. Other one-argument verbs appear in the sentences below
Group one
The dog is sleeping.
Larry laughed.
The earth rotates (on its axis).
Group two
Grandfather died (last week).
A volcano erupted.
The cake fell.
An actor performs an action
without affecting any other
entities.
An event is a change in the condition of the
entity named by the argument, and the entity
named in the argument undergoes this change
Valencyone
6
6

7. One-argument adjectives
e.g.
This soup is cold.
Terry is impatient.
Norah was rather reckless.
The bottle is empty.
• Adjectives like cold, empty, tall, heavy, blond and other
adjectives are objective terms.
• Impatient, careless, clever, thoughtful, pretty, tiresome
and others involve subjective evaluations.
Valencyone
1
7

8. The subject of each sentence is simply the topic or
theme of what is said. The structure:
Note: Theme is the topic of a predicate that does not express an action.
Cont. Valencyone
1
8
Norah

9. Referring expression occurring after a form
of be is a one-argument predicate.
e.g.,
This man is a carpenter.
Dextrose and fructose are sugars.
Eddy Eckstein is the village idiot.
Cora and Willis are the class leaders
Note: The predicate in some way provides an identity for the entity
named by the subject, as one or more of a kind (a carpenter, sugars) or as
the only one or ones of the kind (the village idiot, the class leaders)
Valencyone
9

10. Valency two
02.
10

11. Two-argument verb
Other examples are need and use. We can’t simply say
*Chris is making or *I need or *Ali used. A statement
with make must contain a mention of who makes and
what is made, and likewise with need and use.
Valencytwo
e.g., Chris is making an omelet.
11

12. Cont.
Group one
The cat killed a rat.
I broke the window.
Bert hit Harry.
Group two
The cat dug a hole.
Chris is making an omelet.
Picasso created a masterpiece.
Group three
Jennie crossed the street.
Fiona entered the room.
Simon climbed a tree.
Valencytwo
12

13. Valencytwo
First group
Second group Third group
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14. The following examples show how one
entity affects or fails to affects another
entity
Group one
The decision surprised us all.
You’ re disturbing everybody.
The comedian didn't impress the audience.
Group two
Oliver was envious of his brother.
Oliver envied his brother.
Angie was angry with Algernon.
Valencytwo
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15. The predicate expresses an affect, the first
argument names the entity that affects—that has
the affecting role—and the second argument
names the entity that is affected.
The components of second group have the
same semantic roles but the order in which
they occur in these English sentences is the
reverse.
First group Second group
Valencytwo
15

16. Two-argument adjective
e.g,
I’m afraid of that dog.
We were not aware of the accident.
Aren’t you curious about...?
Valencytwo
16

17. Linking predicate
e.g,
Sheila is like her mother.
This present is for you.
Tom is with Ann.
The book is about fossils.
Note, associate tells the status or identity of another argument.
Valencytwo
17

18. Cont.
1. A relational predicate may indicate the relation of a theme and its
associate in space.
2. Some linking predicates locate events in time.
Valencytwo
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19. Cont.
3. Terms that express kinship and other social relations are linking predicates.
Valencytwo
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20. Note
The term associate is intended in a very general way. It
includes measurements of size, weight, value, and the like.
Valencytwo
20

21. Some changes in valency
e.g., Agnes wrote her mother a letter.
It can be:
Agnes wrote a letter.
Agnes wrote (to) her mother.
Agnes wrote.
The sentence is less informative when it has fewer arguments, but it is still
a legitimate sentence and the meaning of write does not change.
Some predicates can be used in a sentence that has two arguments and in another
sentence that has only one argument, as with Tom broke the window and The
window broke.
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22. Cont.
e.g.,The car needs a new battery.
e.g., a. Maureen bathed the baby (in the tube).
b. Maureen bathed (in the tube).
Certain verbs, need, use, want and others, must have two
arguments.
Certain predicates, like bathe, are reflexive, self-directed, if
they occur without an object.
For more examples go to page 79 in the book.
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23. A sentence is defined as a
composite of inflection and
proposition
A proposition consists of a
subject and a predicate.
Inflection includes
agreement and tense;
agreement is the formal
bond between subject and
predicate
Summary
23

24. Summary
A proposition consists of a predicate and
varying numbers of arguments or referring
expressions.
The number of arguments that accompany a
particular predicate is called its valency
The meaning of a predicate is partly determined by
the valency and by the semantic roles that these
arguments have.
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25. Semantic roles
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26. Thank you
Kreidler, C. W. (1998). Introducing English semantics. Psychology Press.