Participant Role is one of semantics concept in linguistics

1. Outline
• The Definition of Participant Role
• The Type of Participant Role
• The Relationship between The Roles and
Grammatical Positions
• Role Frame of A Verb

2. • The semantic analysis of a simple sentence:
– Referring expressions : Actual things, persons
– Predicate :
• Relationship between the things, persons,
• To describe how the things and/or people
participate
• E.g:
RE REREP
John opened the door with the key

3. John opened the door with the key
S O
Instrument affected
S
affected
The key opened the door
The door opened
S O C
agent affected Instrument

5. PARTICIPANT ROLES
• “Participant roles indicate relationships
between a verb/ predicate (and possibly other
predicators) and the referring expressions in a
sentence.” (Hurford, et.al. 2007, p. 257)
• Participant roles: roles associated with a sense
of a verb/ predicate
• It is the semantic relation between the
arguments of the verb and the situation
described by the verb (Jackendoff 1972)

6. TYPE OF PARTICIPANT ROLES:
AGENT
THEME
INSTRUMENT
BENEFICIARY
LOCATION
EXPERIENCER
AFFECTED

7. 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 bowl was broken by a thief

8. AFFECTED
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
• The AFFECTED participant is THE THING upon which the
action is carried out. (Hurford et al., 2007:245-246)
• Some semantics refer to the affected participant as the
PATIENT (2007:246)

9. INSTRUMENT
“The Instrument is THE THING (hardly ever a person) by means
of which the action is carried out.” (Hurford et al., 2007:246)
“preposition which is typically used to express instrument is
WITH” (2007:250)
E.g.
1. John opened the door with the key
2. Seymour sliced the salami with a knife
3. Hamish used a screwdriver to open the tin

10. Practice...
• Floyd Smashed the glass with the hammer
• The hammer smashed the glass
• Crippen dissolved the body with the acid
• The acid dissolved the body
• The body dissolved
Agent Affected Instrument
Instrument
Instrument
Affected
Affected
Affected
Affected
Agent
Instrument

11. GRAMMATICAL POSITIONS OF REIN THE SENTENCE
a. Subject Position
Preceding main verb
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
b. Object Position
immediately following main verb
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
c. Complement Position
after the verb, but not immediately, often after
preposition.
E.g. 1. John opened the door with the key.
(Hurford et al., 2007:247)

12. Subject Object Complement
Agent
Affected
Instrument
THE POSSIBLE COMBINATION OF ROLE&
GRAMMATICALPOSITION
(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
 The most common combinations : Agent – Subject and
Affected – Object
 The rare combinations : Agent in Object position, and
Instrument in Object position
 The most versatile position : Subject position and
Complement position
 The least versatile : Object position

13. 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

14. BENEFICIARY
• The Beneficiary is the PERSON for whose benefit or to
whose detriment the action described by the sentence is
carried out. (Hurford et al., 2007:249)
• It is not always be positively affected, but could be
negatively affected (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

15. Note
• Prepositions which are typically used in connection
with the expression of Location role are : in, at, on,
under, nearby, above (Hurford et al., 2007:250)
• Prepositions which are typically used to express the
Beneficiary role, with or without paraphrasing, are :
for, to (2007:250)
• E.g:
• Keith gave Gill a replica of the Venus de Milo
• Keith gave a replica of the Venus de Milo for Gill
• Alan was sent a special offer from the Reader’s Digest
• The reader’s Digest sent a special offer to Alan

16. Practice...
• It is windy in Edinburgh
• The Prime Minister was sent a letter bomb from the
terrorists
• Ruth knitted a sweater for Bryan
Location
Agent
Agent
Affected
Affected
Note
Both roles are found correlated with both Subject and
Complement position.
Agent

17. EXPERIENCER
“The Experiencer is typically a PERSON who is mentally aware
of, perceives, or experiences the action or state described by
the sentence”. (Hurford et al., 2007:251)
“Experience means = you experience something, it happens to
you, or you feel it ” (Cambridge Dictionary)
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

18. THEME
“The THEME participant is a THING or PERSON whose
location is described or 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
Note: Experiencer and Theme roles are correlated to
Subject and object position

19. • E.g.
1. OPEN: (AGENT) AFFECTED (INSTRUMENT)
• John opened the door
• The key opened the door
• The door opened
ROLE FRAME OF A VERB

20. ROLE FRAMEOF A VERB
 Participant roles can be included in the
dictionary
 In the dictionary entry for each verb in the
language there will be a ‘role frame’
 The parentheses indicate that the roles are
optional with this verb
 The role not enclosed by parentheses is
obligatory
(Hurford et al., 2007:253).

21. • BLOW UP:
– Vacek blew up the tank with a hand grenade
– The hand grenade blew up the tank
– The tank blew up
BLOW UP: (AGENT) AFFECTED (INSTRUMENT)
• GIVE:
– John gave Mary a book
– Mary was given a book
– A book was given to Mary
GIVE: (AGENT) AFFECTED BENEFICIARY

22. REFERENCE
• Hurford, James R., Heasley, Brendan, and
Smith, Michael B. 2007. Semantics A
Coursebook. Cambridge: Cambridge University
Press.
• Ray Jackendoff. 1972. Semantic interpretation
in generative grammar. The MIT Press,
Cambridge, MA.