Thematic Relations or Thematic Roles

or Theta Roles
- Theta roles are assigned by the Verb to its argument (and, also certain
adjunct) noun phrases to mark semantic relations.
-

He - eats - rice.
AGENT - V – THEME
He eats rice with a spoon.
Rice is eaten by him.
AGENT: V- THEME
THEME – V- AGENT

- HE: is the eater (performing the action

denoted by the verb, HE is the AGENT:
the doer of the action)
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 - RICE: is the eatee/being eaten (action
being performed on it, THEME: the one
that undergoes the effect of the action)

Ram cuts the trees.

Ram beats Mohan.

He gave her a pen.

Ram enjoys beating Mohan.

Ram feels happy (by ….)

Ram feels cold.

RAM: EXPERIENCER

RAM loves Mohan.

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Ram felt/touched the clothes to confirm
whether it was smooth/wet/dry.

RAM: AGENT

CLOTHES: THEME

AGENT: Volition (deliberate/free will, in

control, etc)

EXPERIENCER: Non-volition

RAM fell from the cycle.

The mango fell from the basket.

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The door opened.

I opened the door.

RAM jumped from the cycle.

FALL: RAM (THEME)

JUMP: (RAM (AGENT)

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Theta Criterion
- Every argument noun phrase must be assigned one (and only one) theta role
by the Verb of the sentence.
- The major theta roles are

o Agent
o Experiencer
o Theme
o Recipient
o Source
o Goal
o Location
o Instrument

Agent

- The thematic role assigned to a noun phrase that is (usually conscious,

voluntary) “doer” of an action denoted by a verb.
o For example in sentence ‘He is talking to his friend’, He is assigned
theta role Agent.

Theme

- Theme theta role is assigned to the (direct) object of a transitive verb or the
non-agentive subject of an intransitive verb.
o He moved the chair. The chair moved.
o He made me happy/cry/angry/furious/upset.

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 o AGENT-V-Theme
o He made me a cup of tea./He made a cup of tea for me.
o AGENT-V-RECIPIENT-THEME

Experiencer

- When the subject noun phrase does not have conscious or volitional control
over the action denoted by the verb but simply undergoes psychological
experience, it is assigned Experiencer theta role.
o He is feeling happy. They have fever.
o

Recipient

- The indirect object noun phrase of a ditransitive verb is usually assigned

recipient theta role.
o He gave her flowers.
o AGENT –V- RECIPIENT – THEME
o I bought her a book.
o AGENT-V-RECIPIENT-THEME

Source

- The noun phrase object of the preposition from is usually assigned Source
theta role.
o The book fell from the table.
o THEME-V-SOURCE
o He came out from the room.
o I bought it from that shop.

Goal

- The indirect object noun phrase of the ditransitive verb such as sell, transfer,
etc is usually assigned Goal theta role.
o He sold his car to Mohan.
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 o I will send this to you.

Location

- The noun phrase that indicates location is assigned location theta role.
o He is in the class.
o This is made in India
o He is playing inside the room.
o He has pain in his back.
o He has some ideas in his mind.
o

Instrument/Means

- The noun phrase that acts as instrument to carry out the action denoted by the
verb is assigned Instrument theta role.
o He cut the apple with a knife.
o AGENT-V-THEME-INSTRUMENT

POSSESOR:

He has courage. He has some books.

He has some beliefs.

He has pain. (Experience)

He killed himself.

AGENT-V-THEME

KILL: Killer-Killee (object of kill)

He saw himself in the mirror.

They cursed/hurt themselves.

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HURT/CURSE: Hurter-hurtee

He drowned.

Theme-V

He sneezed/coughed.

He became/got angry/happy.

Experiencer

You can fly these planes.

Agent-V-Theme

Aeroplanes fly. This aeroplane flies by itself. (Emphatic

particle)

Theme-V Theme-V

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We hurt ourselves with our unwise
actions/behaviours.

The ant hurt itself. (anaphor/reflexive)

Experiencer/Theme

Agent-V-Theme

Birds fly.

Agent

Leaves fall.

Theme

Temperature dropped.

Theme

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The door opened.

Theme

I opened the door.

Agent-V-Theme

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