TIP OF THE DAY 121: Character semantic roles
I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day
QUESTION: What semantic roles can be filled by characters?
ANSWER: From Thompson, Jeremy. The Lexham Glossary of Semantic Roles. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014.
Agent — The person or thing that instigates an action or causes change in another person or thing; for example, “David (Agent) struck Goliath” or “David (Agent) killed Goliath.”
Benefactive — The person or thing for which an action is performed or for which something exists or happens; for example, “God fought for David (Benefactive)” or “The gifts were for David (Benefactive).”
Cause — The motivation for an action or event; for example, “David left on account of Saul (Cause).”
Comitative — A person or thing associated with or accompanying another person or thing; for example, “David argued with the officials (Comitative).”
Comment — A statement or claim made about a given topic; for example, “David said concerning the census that it was the cause of punishment (Comment).”
Comparative — A person or thing to which another person or thing is compared; for example, “David fought like a shepherd (Comparative).”
Content — The content of a speech act or of a mental activity, such as thought; for example, “David said to Bathsheba, ‘Solomon will be king’ (Content)” or “David thought to himself: Solomon should be king (Content).”
Cost — the amount of money or the object a person gives in exchange for another person or thing; for example, “David bought a servant for 30 shekels of silver (Cost).”
Current — The present state of a person or thing; for example, “David was sick with madness (Current).”
Event — A complete action or event; for example, “David started to fight with the Philistine (Event).”
Experiencer — The person or thing that experiences a state or a mental event or activity; for example, “David (Experiencer) saw Goliath.”
Goal — The place toward which something moves or is moved; for example, “David went to Jerusalem (Goal)” or “David threw the spear to the ground (Goal).”
Instrument — The means by which a person or thing performs an action; for example, “David struck Goliath with a stone (Instrument).”
Locative — The place where a person or thing is situated or where an event occurs; for example, “David was found in the field (Locative).”
Manner — the way in which a person or thing performs an action; for example, “David went about sadly (Manner).”
Null Complement — Brackets indicate that an item a verb normally requires is not present in the text, often because the item is mentioned in the immediate context; for example, “David (Agent) struck Goliath (Patient) first” might be expressed as “David (Agent) struck [Patient] first” where the Patient, Goliath, is assumed. Another example may be where a verb of speaking indicates that some Content (what is said) will follow, but that content is not in the immediate context.
Path — The place through which or in which a person or thing moves; for example, “David walked through the door” or “David walked in the ways of the Lord (Path).”
Patient — The person or thing that is acted upon or caused to change; for example, “David killed Goliath (Patient).”
Result — The outcome of an event or action; for example, “David made Solomon king (Result).”
Resultant — The final state of a person or thing after a change; for example, “David named his son Solomon (Resultant).”
Source — The place from which something moves or is moved; for example, “David departed from Jerusalem (Source)” or “David dropped the spear from his hand (Source).”
Stimulus — The person, thing, or event that brings about a mental change in the person experiencing it; for example, “David saw Goliath (Stimulus).”
Temporal — The time associated with an action or event; for example, “David fasted for the whole night (Temporal)” or “David ate on the seventh day (Temporal).”
Theme — Something that is moved from one place to another or that is located in a place; for example, “David threw the spear (Theme).”
Topic — The focus of an activity or speech act; for example, “David spoke about the census (Topic).”
Topic+Comment — The complex construct of a Topic and a Comment; for example, “David said concerning the census (Topic) that it was the cause of punishment (Comment).”[1]
QUESTION: Give an example of a person (or thing associated with a person) in each applicable role.
SOFTWARE: Use a clause search with a search argument of agent:ANY etc.
ANSWER:
Agent: Genesis 1:1
Benefactive: Genesis 3:6
Cause: Luke 6:22
Comitative: Genesis 2:24
Comment: Genesis 20:13
Comparative: Genesis 2:18
Content: Genesis 1:5
Cost: Genesis 30:28
Event: Genesis 1:5
Experiencer: Genesis 1:28
Goal: Genesis 2:7
Instrument: Genesis 6:11
Locative: Genesis 1:2
Manner: Genesis 15:2
Path: Genesis 15:17
Patient: Genesis 1:4
Result: Genesis 6:14
Resultant: Genesis 21:12
Source: Genesis 2:6
Stimulus: Genesis 1:4
Theme: Genesis 1:9
Topic: Genesis 12:20
[1] Jeremy Thompson, The Lexham Glossary of Semantic Roles (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
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