Abstract
In this chapter some additional problems about the role Patient are discussed, in particular its delimitation with respect to other traditionally defined roles. It is shown that the Experiencer must be kept distinct from the Patient and that in many cases the elaborate thematic relation “goal” can be derived from the role Patient by elaboration. Some derivations of actual sentences are given, showing how elaborate relations arise from semantic roles: for instance, how the elaborate relation “theme” can, in some cases, be an elaboration of the role Patient. The action of cognitive filters at the elaborate level of ETRs (elaborate thematic relations) is discussed and shown to be necessary.
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Notes
- 1.
Schlesinger (1992) proposed that the Experiencer be analyzed as an Agent, which is untenable on both syntactic and semantic grounds.
- 2.
Let us remember that in [5] the role Patient must be explicitly marked, in order to block the prototype rule.
- 3.
This may sound a bit arbitrary at first, but it is the way the language chose to delimit the role Patient; and who are we to question the language’s decisions?
- 4.
Márcia Cançado, p.c.
- 5.
In writing, and for many speakers in speech as well, the reflexive, here se, is required.
- 6.
For me at least um navio abastece em algumas horas “a ship is provisioned [lit.: provisions] in a few hours” sounds pretty good.
- 7.
There may be semantic factors involved; for instance, unlike encher “fill,” matar “kill” is something that does not occur spontaneously; and there are indications that the ergative always expresses a spontaneous event.
- 8.
Loredo Neta (2014) has found that “goal” complements tend to resist omission; this may be an explanation for this case, but I prefer to leave it open for the moment.
References
Loredo Neta, M. (2014). Objeto direto: condições de omissão no português do Brasil [Direct object: conditions of omission in Brazilian Portuguese]. Belo Horizonte: Doctoral Thesis, UFMG.
Schlesinger, I. M. (1992). The experiencer as an agent. Journal of Memory and Language, 31, 315–332.
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Perini, M.A. (2019). Experiencer, Theme, Goal, and Patient. In: Thematic Relations. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28538-8_12
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28538-8_12
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