(Thematic Role in different Languages (English, Urdu, Rangri & Jhangwi) and detailed structural Analysis (Grammar & Syntax)
- Musleh Saadi
- Aug 7
- 26 min read
Updated: Aug 9
1. Introduction:
The main purpose of language is to communicate, to express information, perception and feelings. We can never acquire language instinctively because it required to be learned. Moreover, in syntax, we have picked up thematic roles as they are used to highlight the role of specific participant in particular event or situation. The main purpose of our research is to analyze agent as a deliberate performer, theme as a recipient of action, goal and source as location markers defined with the help of “to and from” prepositions in sentence. In this research, we have mentioned that how thematic roles are marked by prepositions, how subject plays the role of agent and experiencer in a sentence
Thematic roles highlight central relationship of participator in the sentence. In real or imaginary situations the role played by participant in a sentence is usually a thematic role apart from linguistics interpretation of those situations. We also elaborated on that each argument are the participants and carry one thematic role. Apart from Agent and patient, we have other thematic roles such as Theme (The entity moved by action denoted by predicate), Experiencer (The living entity that experiences the action denoted by predicate), Beneficiary (The entity that benefits from the action), Source (The location or entity from which something moves) Goal (he location or entity in the direction of which something moves) and Instrument (The medium by which action denoted by the predicate is carried out). For example, John fell from the stairs so in this case John is the Experiencer.
Furthermore, we will investigate in our research that how thematic roles function in different languages? Which thematic roles occurs concurrently? Why it is difficult to determine the thematic role of a particular phrase. Our research paper is useful for those who wants to explore the true definition of thematic roles in syntax.
2. Literature Review:
Literature review will focus on thematic roles with respect to language comprehension, compound words, semantic interpretation, sentence structure and narration.
Greg N. Carlson and Michael K. Tanenhaus wrote in their article “Thematic role and language comprehension” that the ideology of the thematic roles has always played an important role in linguistics since last 20 years. There has been a diverse variety of different point of views about thematic roles as compare to the previous researches done by Gruber, 1965 and Fillmore, 1968, despite of all the researches the status related to theory of thematic roles is still unresolved so as the important fundamental questions about individuation and identification are also unresolved. In fact, questions have not been even considered regarding that either the thematic roles semantic, syntactic or conceptual. The purpose of the paper is to throw light on other perspectives on some questions. The ideology in this paper basically explores the thematic role in language comprehension. It is suggested that thematic roles actually provide a mechanism for interaction terminologies between syntactic processor, discourse model and real world knowledge. The basic ideologies that were extracted from this paper are as followed:
1. Only the most contextually appropriate sense of verb with its thematic grid remains active.
2. Lexical access makes the availability of all the sense of ambiguous verbs in parallel manner as well as it makes sets of the thematic roles that are associated with each senses. For example, “a thematic grid” is a set of such roles (Stowell, 1981).
3. These roles are assigned to the arguments related to verb and any in compatible active thematic role becomes in active.
4. The inactive thematic roles that have not been assigned to any of the argument remains open thematic roles in the model such as a free variable.
Anthony R. Davis wrote research paper in 2019 whose topic of research was “Thematic roles”. This paper comprehensively describes thematic roles, their nature in theories and how they act specifically or generally to their exclusive predicates. Further, this article brings light on the relationship of thematic roles with object, event aspect and plurality. Moreover, it particularly focuses on the properties, inventories and relationships of thematic roles across the other domains speculated by thematic relationship hypothesis. The writer of this paper along with other researchers who worked within the same domain (thematic roles) had adeptly developed the idea of thematic role uniqueness (Davis, 2019). The thematic uniqueness speculates on the idea that if a role is given to any participant in a particular situation it will be beard by only that participant”. This constraint was discussed at lexical level as well by Carlson and Parsons. Carlson stated thematic uniqueness as the most fundamental constraint (Carlson, 1984). This constraint put limitation on verbs, as then no verb can allocate similar thematic roles to two or more of its contentions whereas Parson defined thematic roles with regard to participants and events (Davis 2019). He stated that in one of these relations no event can stand for more than one thing (Parsons, 1990). This interpretation somehow subverts few models of lexical representations (Davis, 2019) because according to those models sub events can be there to which numerous roles can be associated. That is why motivations are varied for uniqueness of roles. Moreover, this paper discusses application of thematic roles in detail along highlighting the significance of thematic roles in theory of linguistics.
Greg N. Carlson wrote research paper in 1984 whose topic of research was “Thematic roles and their role in semantic interpretation”. This paper sketches a new system of semantic interpretation alternate to the latter models. This system specifically deals with information that is provided by the thematic roles. Instead of taking derived elements from the previous model writer takes in events and objects as a basis of the system that he presents. The type of system considered by him is event-based system (Carlson, 1984). He proposed this system after being inspired from Davidson (1967), Creswell (1973), Kamp (1979) and Whitehead (1920) but major influences were from the works of Perry and Bar Wise’s (Carlson,1984). Though perspective of all these sources was very distinct but the thing that was mutual between them was all took objects and events as basic entities in their models. Further, he brings light on status of thematic roles by creating distinct arguments as well as examples that are highly convincing and considerable in nature. He regards them to be of intermediate status (Carlson, 1984) rather than declaring thematic roles as semantic or syntactic in nature. Moreover, he concludes by providing a comprehensive and speculative account of what it means when he regards status of thematic roles as intermediate and why he considers them as a form of language rather than an element of syntactic vocabulary or semantic phenomenon.
Another Research “Thematic Roles and Compounds” written by Ferenc Kiefer in 2012 encompass the argument with instruments in compound words. He took some examples to illustrate the role of thematic roles in compounding. Use of Compounding with the instrument argument is his main domain in which he chose some examples such as wood cutting and pig killing, in these words cut and kill can be consider as an agent, theme, or instrument but most efficiently it is recognized as a patient but when we add words such as knife for pig killing as he kill the pig with knife or and saw for wood cutting then these compound words involve instrument argument. Again if he has taken a verb heat so it can be an agent, instrument and theme in a compound word “coal heating” but this head “heating” from the word heat and this whole procedure with the example of compounding are considered as an instrument argument. He emphasized on the difference between typical agent and actor agent with the help of compounds. In addition, there is no specific compounding in actor agents' argument and typical agents are associated with intransitive verbs. For instance, falling of leaves, opening of buds, now in these sentences leaves and buds are patients and in this example “heads" incorporates intransitive verbs. Similarly, laughing of a child and crying of a child, laughing and crying are also not conventional intentions to act therefore it is a typical agent as this action is not intentionally performed. On the other hand, street sweeping, car repairing, these swapping and repairing are actions performed intentionally so they can be considered as actor agents. (Kiefer, 2012) said in his paper that actor agents can never be demonstrated in the realm of compounding.
Another research on narration including thematic roles by Ririn Marlina “The analysis of thematic role in narrative texts of senior high school textbooks” published in 2012 reveals about the whole phenomenon that how in a narrative text we can see the use of preposition, action verbs, intensive verb, emotion and sensation within the thematic roles. (O’ Grady et al, 1991). Accentuates that thematic roles are important for grammatical function because to understand the message or meaning it is essential to understand detailed information for which thematic roles are important. He also said with the help of verbs we can identify agents and experiencers. Therefore, (Marlin, 2012) associated verbs and numerous phrases with thematic roles. By specifying agent with use of action verbs, role of experiencer is determined by the use of emotion and intensive verbs here. Meanwhile, by keeping beneficiary as a simple thematic function he focused more on goal, source and instrument. Accentuated on prepositions while depiction of source and goal. He has demonstrated stupendous examples incorporating prepositions in them such as with, by, to and from within this paper. “He went to Clinic to take medicines from his doctor”. As doctor is the source marked by the preposition and its use in goal too as he went to the Clinic so this example is also marked by preposition. In addition, for the experiencer he has demonstrated the narrative technique with the addition of possession and feelings by an illustrating specific example “They had no children in this example “they” refers to people and as an experienced “they” shows possession. Moreover, It is necessary for language comprehension to use verbs through which we can we express our feelings within the thematic roles. On the whole, according to Gruber (1965), Fillmore (1968), Jackendoff (1987) “Thematic role is a most important persona of the meaning of the word”.
3. Methodology:
We have analyzed our data qualitatively as well as quantitatively on the basis of examples that we took from different languages. We have gathered data that is primary in nature. Predominantly, we have assembled several examples from English, Urdu and Jhangwi language. After that we have extracted thematic roles from these examples. In other words, we have passed our research through different phases that are: Assembling, identification and classification of different thematic roles. We added thematic information about predicates as well.
4. Data Discussion:
Our data is based on syntactic structure of thematic roles. We have gathered data by extracting thematic roles from 4 major languages English, Urdu, Jhangwi, and Rangri. We have 40 sentences of English language consisting 98 different thematic roles. Out of 98, 29 are agents, 13 are themes, 3 are instrument, 10 are patient, 8 are source, 6 are time, 3 are goal, 3 are beneficiary, 9 are experiencer, and 14 perform the role of location. Moreover, In Urdu language there are 24 sentences of Urdu language. Out of which 22 plays the role of agent, 16 are playing the role of theme, 5 are recipient, 5 are instruments, 4 are beneficiary, 4 are playing the role goal. 4 are sources and 2 act as experiencer. Proceeding towards jhangwi language, there are 10 sentences in jhangwi and in each sentence the subject is acting as an agent whereas there is only one experiencer, 2 beneficiaries are also highlighted in jhangwi sentences, 4 are theme and 2 words are classified as patient. Lastly, the fourth language is Rangri comprising 20 sentences, 17 are agents, 9 are patients, 1 is instrument, 10 are themes, 4 are goals, 6 are beneficiaries, 2 are experiencers and 3 are sources.
[1] Sentences in the English Language:
Below presented table below encompasses English sentences and extricated thematic roles.
Examples | Extracted Thematic Roles |
1. Spiderman (A) jumped into the window (L).
| Agent, Location |
2. Share (A) kicked the sand (T) near the fire (L). | Agent, Theme, Location |
3. She (A) bought two roses (T) from the market (L).
| Agent, Theme, Location |
4. Chocolate (T) is in the fridge (L). | Theme, Location |
5. He (A) bought me (B) a cupcake.
| Agent, Beneficiary |
6. John’s Uncle (A) inherited all his wealth (T) to his eldest son. (B)
| Agent, Theme, Beneficiary |
7. She (A) has been hiding under the table (L) since morning (L).
| Agent, Location, Location |
8. He lost his watch at the beach (L). | Location |
9. Mick only uses his favorite brushes (I) to paint pictures.
| Instrument |
10. David (A) cut the rope (P) with an old knife (I). | Agent, Patient, Instrument |
11. The boat came back from Thailand (S). | Source |
12. He (A) gave a tremendous idea (TI) to his friend from a Pakistani magazine (S). | Agent, Time, Source |
13. George didn’t like the hot air (ST). | Stimulus |
14. The sound (ST) scared the travelers.
| Stimulus |
15. Lilly (A) trimmed these shrubs (p).
| Agent, patient |
16. The sun (A) rays liquefied the iceberg (P).
| Agent, Patient |
17. Daisy (E) felt sick | Experiencer |
18. Edward (E) saw the tsunami. | Experiencer |
19. First I(A) firmly hold him then I(A) went up to the stairs(L) | Agent, Location, Agent
|
20. When she (A) played in the playground (L), she felt extremely happy.
| Agent, Location. |
21. We (A) could not meet our family in military school (L) after 6pm (TI).
| Agent, Location, Time |
22. I and my family (A) went to New York (L) last year (TI). | Agent, Location, Time. |
23. After they (A) woke up on Monday morning (TI), they (A) turned up their laptops (P) and watched cartoons (P).
| Agent, Time, Patient, Patient.
|
24. They (A) watched cartoons (P) for 6 hours (TI).
| Agent, Patient, Time. |
25. Then they (A) went to shopping (L) to buy some new clothes.
| Agent, Location |
26. Mostly, I (A) don’t have anything to perform around 10pm (TI). | Agent, Time |
27. She (A) rode my purple car (P).
| Agent, Patient.
|
28. In cafeteria (T) She (A) opened her phone (p) and disconnected the hotspot that was provided by her friend. | Theme, Agent, Patient. |
29. When I (E) heard that. I ran away from Corinth (S). | Experience, Source |
30. I have come from Corinth (S) to other lands (G). | Source, Goal |
31. The child (T) was born in Laius house (L). | Theme, Location |
32. We (E) saw her; she was hanging there, swaying, with twisted cords (I). | Experience, Instrument |
33. She (A) killed herself (T). | Agent, Theme |
34. Freed us (B) from this tribute we were paying to that cruel singer. | Beneficiary |
[2] Sentences in Rangri Language:
Below is the list of sentences that are written in Rangri Language out of which thematic roles will be extracted.
1. Sentence: [Jamil ne Abdullah Te] [maanjay gail marya]
S spc do PP Tv
Gloss: Jamil ERG Abdullah DAT Broomstick with beat.
(A) (P) (I)
Translation: Jamil beat Abdullah with a broomstick.
This sentence has two phrases:
[The main phrase is "Jamil beat Abdullah with a broomstick" which is a subject-verb- direct object-prepositional phrase. The verb "beat" is transitive, and "Abdullah" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "with a broomstick" modifies the verb "beat" by indicating the instrument used to beat Abdullah.
To analyze the given text, we'll break it down into **word, sentence, phrase, clause, and rank scale levels** and then construct a **tree diagram** for structural representation.
### Given Text:
**"Jamil ne Abdullah Te [maanjay gail marya] please"**
*(This appears to be a mix of Hindi/Urdu and English, possibly meaning: "Jamil, please tell Abdullah that [the man went and died].")*
---
### 1. **Rank Scale Analysis** (From Highest to Lowest Level):
- **Sentence (Clause Complex):**
`"Jamil ne Abdullah Te [maanjay gail marya] please"`
*(Compound sentence with an embedded clause)*
- **Clauses:**
- Main Clause: **"Jamil ne Abdullah Te [X] please"** *(Jamil, please tell Abdullah [X])*
- Embedded Clause: **"[maanjay gail marya]"** *([the man went and died])*
- **Phrases:**
- **Noun Phrase (NP):** "Jamil", "Abdullah", "maanjay"
- **Verb Phrase (VP):** "ne...Te" (tell), "gail marya" (went and died)
- **Particle/Interjection:** "please"
- **Words:**
- Jamil (Proper Noun), ne (Postposition), Abdullah (Proper Noun), Te (Particle), maanjay (Noun), gail (Verb), marya (Verb), please (Politeness Marker)
---
### 2. **Tree Diagram (Syntax Analysis)**:
Here’s a simplified **constituency-based tree** for the sentence:
```
S (Sentence)
├── NP (Subject)
│ └── "Jamil"
├── VP (Verb Phrase)
│ ├── "ne" (Postposition)
│ ├── NP (Indirect Object)
│ │ └── "Abdullah"
│ ├── "Te" (Particle)
│ ├── Embedded Clause
│ │ ├── NP (Subject)
│ │ │ └── "maanjay" (the man)
│ │ └── VP (Verb Phrase)
│ │ ├── "gail" (went)
│ │ └── "marya" (died)
│ └── "please" (Politeness Marker)
```
---
### 3. **Key Observations**:
- **Clause Level:** The sentence has a **main clause** ("Jamil ne Abdullah Te...") and an **embedded subordinate clause** ("maanjay gail marya").
- **Phrase Level:**
- "Jamil" = Subject NP
- "Abdullah" = Indirect Object NP
- "maanjay" = Subject NP in the embedded clause
- **Word Level:** Mixed Hindi/Urdu ("ne", "Te", "gail") and English ("please").
Would you like a **dependency tree** or further elaboration on a specific part?
2. Sentence: [Ali ne takiya] [sutt diya].
S dop tv
Gloss: Ali ERG pillow threw.
(A) (T)
Translation: Ali threw the pillow.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Ali threw the pillow" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase.The verb "threw" is transitive, and "the pillow" is the direct object of the verb.
3. Sentence: [Zainab ne ] [leeray istri kre].
S dop io tv
Gloss: Zainab ERG clothes pressed.
(A) (P)
Translation: Zainab pressed the clothes.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Zainab press the clothes" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. The verb "press" is transitive, and "the clothes" is the direct object of the verb.
4. Sentence: [Ammi gaddi pa] [daftar maa gai].
S PP IO it
Gloss: mother car on office in went.
(A) (I) (G)
Translation: Mother went to office on a car.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Mother went to office on a car" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase.
The verb "went" is intransitive, and "Mother" is the subject of the verb. The prepositional phrase "on a car" modifies the verb "went" by indicating the means of transportation used by Mother.
5. Sentence: [main katab maiz] [paa dhari aa]
S dop pp tv
Gloss: I book table on put.
(A) (T) (locative)
Translation: I put the book on the table.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "I put the book on the table" which is a subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase.The verb "put" is transitive, and "the book" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "on the table" modifies the verb "put" by indicating the location where the book was placed.
1. Sentence: [Manne [halwa chakhya].
S do intransitive
Gloss: I pudding tasted
(E) (T)
Translation: I tasted pudding.
This sentence has two phrases: The main phrase is "I tasted pudding" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. The verb "tasted" is intransitive, and "pudding" is the direct object of the verb.
2. Sentence: [Waseem ne] [Fatima k-wasta pilcin khreedi aa].
S PP do tv
Gloss: Waseem ERG Fatima for pencil bought.
(A) (B) (P)
Translation: Waseem bought a pencil for Fatima.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Waseem bought a pencil for Fatima" which is a subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase. The verb "bought" is transitive, and "a pencil" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "for Fatima" modifies the verb "bought" by indicating the recipient of the pencil.
3. Sentence: [Bus Pindi te] [saberi nikkarr ga ]
S Io PP It
Gloss: Bus Rawalpindi from morning left
(A) (S) (T)
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Bus left Rawalpindi" which is a subject-verb phrase.The verb "left" is intransitive, and "bus" is the subject of the verb. The prepositional phrase "from morning" modifies the verb "left" by indicating the time when the bus left Rawalpindi.
4. Sentence: Cup almari maa prya.
S Sc PP
Gloss: trophy cupboard in placed
(T) (L)
Translation: Trophy is in the cupboard.
This sentence has two phrases: The main phrase is "Trophy is in the cupboard" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase. The verb "is" is a linking verb, and "trophy" is the subject complement of the verb. The prepositional phrase "in the cupboard" modifies the verb "is" by indicating the location of the trophy.
5. Sentence: [Jaaz Islamabad aal ] [ ja rya.]
S PP V
Gloss: airplane Islamabad to flying.
(A) (G)
Translation: Airplane is flying to Islamabad.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Airplane is flying to Islamabad" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase.The verb "flying" is intransitive, and "airplane" is the subject of the verb. The prepositional phrase "to Islamabad" modifies the verb "flying" by indicating the destination of the airplane.
6. Sentence: [Buhsra ne ] [Faiza te machi di.]
S PP do
Gloss: Bushra ERG Faiza DAT candy gave.
(A) (B) (T)
Translation: Bushra gave Faiza a candy.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Bushra gave a candy" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase.The verb "gave" is transitive, and "a candy" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "to Faiza" is missing in the sentence, which should modify the verb "gave" by indicating the recipient of the candy.
7. Sentence: [Talha ne] [apni lugaai te tofa dia].
S PP tv v
Gloss: Talha ERG his wife DAT gift gave
(A) (B) (T)
Translation: Talha gave his wife a present.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Talha gave a present" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase.The verb "gave" is transitive, and "a present" is the direct object of the verb.The prepositional phrase "to his wife" modifies the verb "gave" by indicating the recipient of the present.
8. Sentence: [Yo rail-gaddi] [haryana te dilli jawa.]
S PP It
Gloss: this train Haryana from Delhi goes.
(A) (S) (G)
Translation: This train goes from Haryana to Delhi.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "This train goes from Haryana to Delhi" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase.The verb "goes" is intransitive, and "train" is the subject of the verb.The prepositional phrase "from Haryana to Delhi" modifies the verb "goes" by indicating the route of the train.
9. Sentence: [Waa pheter wastay] [patta lain gya wa.]
S PP V tv
Gloss: He tubewell for belt fetch gone.
(A) (B) (T)
Translation: He has gone to fetch the belt for tubewell.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "He has gone to fetch the belt" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase.The verb "has gone" is transitive, and "to fetch the belt" is the prepositional phrase.The prepositional phrase "for tubewell" is missing in the sentence, which should modify the verb "fetch" by indicating the purpose of the belt.
10. Sentence: [Shahid ne] [cake chaaku gail baadya.]
S do PP V
Gloss: Shahid ERG cake knife with cut
(A) (P) (I)
Translation: Shahid cut the cake with knife.
This sentence has two phrases:
The main phrase is "Shahid cut the cake" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase.The verb "cut" is transitive, and "the cake" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "with a knife" modifies the verb "cut" by indicating the tool that Shahid used to cut the cake.
11. Sentence: Usama ne Ramish te tori gairi.
S O preo V
Gloss: Usama ERG Ramish DAT ball throw.
(A) (B) (P)
Translation: Usama bowled to Ramish.
The phrase level structure of "Usama bowled to Ramish" is Subject-Verb-Object. The word level structure is:
Usama (noun, subject),bowled (verb),to (preposition), Ramish (noun, object).
12. Sentence: Adil ne Amir k-opper kambal dhar-dia
S PP O V
Gloss: Adil ERG Amir on blanket put
(A) (P) (T)
Translation: Adil put the blanket on Amir.
That's a grammatically correct sentence. It is a subject-verb-object sentence, where "Adil" is the subject, "put" is the verb, and "the blanket" is the object. The prepositional phrase "on Amir" modifies the verb by indicating where the blanket was placed.
13. Sentence: Ahsan ne paat bhedh-dia.
S O V
Gloss: Ahsan ERG door shut
(A) (P)
Translation: Ahsan shut the door.
That's a simple sentence with a subject-verb-object structure. "Ahsan" is the subject, "shut" is the verb, and "the door" is the object.
14. Sentence: Nasir ne Adil k boothay pa chaanta marya.
S do PP V
Gloss: Nasir ERG Adil of face on slap hit
(A) (P)
Translation: Nasir slapped Adil on the face.
That sentence is a bit more complex. It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Nasir" is the subject, "slapped" is the verb, and "Adil" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "on the face" modifies the verb "slapped" by indicating where Adil was slapped.
15. Sentence: Umair te chaatti ki lassi pasand aa.
S PP O V
Gloss: Umair DAT clay-pot of butter-milk like.
(E) (T)
Translation: Umair likes buttermilk made in clay-pot/earthen pitcher.
The sentence "Umair likes buttermilk made in clay pot/earthen pitcher" has a subject-verb-object structure. "Umair" is the subject, "likes" is the verb, and "buttermilk made in clay pot/earthen pitcher" is the object. This object is a noun phrase which includes a prepositional phrase "in clay pot/earthen pitcher" that modifies the noun "buttermilk." There is no clause in this sentence.
[3]. Sentences in Jhangwi language:
Below is list of the sentences that are written in the jhangwi language out of which thematic roles will be extricated.
I. Sentence: Ali ne Hamza nu chat too thale dha chadya
S do PP V
Gloss: Ali ERG Hamza DAT from down fall
(A) (E) (L)
Translation: Ali has thrown Hamza from Roof.
It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Ali" is the subject, "has thrown" is the verb, and "Hamza" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "from roof" modifies the verb "thrown" by indicating where Hamza was thrown from.
II. Sentence: Huria apni ama noo khat kalya
S PP do V
Gloss: Huria ERG her Mother DAT Letter Written
A (B) (T)
Translation: Huria has written letter to her mother.
It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Huria" is the subject, "has written" is the verb, and "letter" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "to her mother" modifies the verb "written" by indicating the recipient of the letter.
III. Sentence: Mesum kad too chalang patya
S PP V
Gloss: Mesum ERG Wall from Jump
(A) (S)
Translation: Mesum jump from the wall.
It is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase sentence. "Mesum" is the subject, "jump" is the verb, and "from the wall" is a prepositional phrase that modifies the verb "jump" by indicating where Mesum jumped from.
IV. Sentence: Umair sarkari library choo kitabaa chori kitya
S pp do V
Gloss: Umair ERG government Library from Books stole
(T) (S)
Translation: Umair steal books from government library
It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Umair" is the subject, "steal" is the verb, and "books" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "from government library" modifies the verb "steal" by indicating where Umair stole the books from.
V. Sentence: Kulsoon Nauman de waal pate.
S PP do V
Gloss: Kulsoom ERG Nauman hair pull
(A) (P)
Translation: Kulsoom pull hair of Nauman.
It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Kulsoom" is the subject, "pull" is the verb, and "hair" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "of Nauman" modifies the noun "hair" by indicating whose hair Kulsoom pulled.
VI. Sentence: Faiza dhare mar mar kar roii
S adv V
(A) (V)
Gloss: Faiza bitterly cry
Translation: Faiza cried bitterly
It is a subject-adverb-verb sentence. "Faiza" is the subject, "bitterly" is the adverb, and "cry" is the verb. The adverb "bitterly" modifies the verb "cry" by indicating the manner in which Faiza cried.
VII. Sentence: Imran ne Naqwi nu Chand Mari
S do V
Gloss: Imran ERG Naqwi DAT Slap
(A) (P)
Translation: Imran Slap Naqvi
It is a subject-verb-object sentence. "Imran" is the subject, "slap" is the verb, and "Naqvi" is the direct object. The sentence implies that Imran hit Naqvi.
VIII. Sentence: Ali ka warach mobile panya.
S PP do V
Gloss: Ali ERG anger in phone break.
(A) (T)
Translation: Ali broke the phone in anger
That's not good. It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Ali" is the subject, "broke" is the verb, and "the phone" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "in anger" modifies the verb "broke" by indicating the manner in which Ali broke the phone.
IX. Sentence: Muqudas ne sari paii.
S do V
Gloss: Muqudas ERG sari putt off
(A) (V)
Translation: Muqudass putt on sari
It is a subject-verb-object sentence. "Muqadas" is the subject, "put on" is the verb, and "sari" is the direct object. The sentence implies that Muqadas wore a sari.
X. Sentence: Zohaib apni sawai noo tohfa diya
S pp do V
Gloss: Zohaib ERG his wife Dative gift given
(B) (B) (T)
Translation: Zohaib gave gift to his wife.
It is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase sentence. "Zohaib" is the subject, "gave" is the verb, and "gift" is the direct object. The prepositional phrase "to his wife" modifies the verb "gave" by indicating who received the gift.
[4]. Sentences in the Urdu Language:
Below is the list of sentences that are written in the Urdu language out of which thematic roles will be extracted.
1. Sentence: [Us ne mujhe] khat [baijha]
Gloss: He ERG me letter send
(A) ……..(R).....(T)........(V)
Translation: He send me a letter
[Us ne mujhe] khat [baijha]
(S) VP np (do) Verb
Gloss: He ERG me letter send
This sentence consists of a subject noun phrase "He", a verb phrase "send me", and a direct object noun phrase "a letter". This sentence is in the simple past tense and is in the active voice. The subject is "He" and the verb is "send". The direct object is "me a letter".
He send me a letter
2. Sentence: Us ne churi se pyaz kata
Gloss: She ERG knife with onion cut
(A)............(Ins)............. (T)..... (V)
Translation: She cut an onion with knife
Us ne churi se pyaz kata
S spc V prep o vp
Gloss: She ERG knife with onion cut
This sentence's word structure is subject-verb-object-preposition-noun.
3.Sentence: Arslan ne Sara ko pizza khilaya
S spc IO PP O V
Gloss: Arslan ERG Sara DAT pizza eat
(A).................(B)..............(T).......(V)
Translation: Arslan fed pizza to Sara.
This sentence has only one clause and its structure is a subject-verb-object-prepositional phrase.
4.Sentence: Ali Lahore se Karachi ja raha hai
S prep PP V adv
Gloss: Ali Lahore to Karachi going
(A).....(S)...............(G).........(V)
Translation: Ali is going from Lahore to Karach
This sentence has only one clause and its structure is subject-verb-prepositional phrase-preposition-proper noun.
1. Sentence: Aslam Ne hathori se keel thoka
S Spc DO pp P V
Gloss: Aslam ERG hammer with nail knock
(A)...................(Ins)................(T).....(V)
Translation: Aslam knock the nail with hammer
This sentence has only one clause and its structure is subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase.
2. Sentence: Zain kalam se likh raha hai
S DO PP V adv
Gloss: Zain pen with the writing
(A)………….(T)...........(V)
Translation: Zain is writing with the pen
This sentence's word-level structure is proper noun-verb-gerund-preposition-article-noun. This sentence has only one clause and its structure is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase.
3. Sentence: Kiran ne kursi ke nechay billi dekhi
S Do adv Op V
Gloss: Kiran ERG chair under cat see
(Exp)...........(Loc).......................(P).........(V)
Translation: Kiran saw a cat under the chair
This sentence's word level structure is proper noun-verb-article-noun-preposition-article-noun.
This sentence has only one clause and its structure is subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase "under the chair" acts as an adverb modifying the verb "saw".
4. Sentence: Afaq uper se neche a raha hai
S adv article V
Gloss: Afaq Up To down coming
(A)......(S)..........(G).............(V)
Translation: Afaq is coming from up to down
The main phrase is "Afaq is coming" which is a subject-verb phrase.
- The prepositional phrase "from up to down" acts as an adverb modifying the verb "coming".
5. Sentence: [Faiza ne Huria ] ko [ paisy diyai]
S IO Spc DO V
Gloss: Faiza ERG Huria DAT money give
(A)...................(B).....................(T)..........(V)
Translation: Faiza give the money to huria
This sentence has two phrases:
- The main phrase is "Fiza give the money to Huria" which is a subject-verb-direct object-indirect object phrase. The noun phrase "the money" acts as the direct object of the verb "give".- The prepositional phrase "to Huria" acts as an indirect object, indicating the recipient of the money.
6. Sentence: [Muqudas ne mujhe] [chaku mara]
S spc adv verb
Gloss: Muqudas ERG me knife hit
(A)........................(Rec)........(T)......(V)
Translation: Muqadas hit me with a knife.
This sentence has two phrases:- The main phrase is "Muqadas hit me" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. The prepositional phrase "with a knife" acts as an adverb modifying the verb "hit".
7. Sentence: Humza ne zavar churaya
S Spc DO V
Gloss: Humza ERG jewelry steal
(A)...................(T)..............(V)
Translation: Hamza steal the jewelry
This sentence has two phrases:
- The main phrase is "Hamza steal the jewelry" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. There are no other phrases in this sentence.
8. Sentence: Umer ne aam kata
S DO V
Gloss: Umer ERG mango cut
(A)................(T).........(V)
Translation: Umer cut the mango.
This sentence has two phrases: The main phrase is "Umer cut the mango" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. There are no other phrases in this sentence.
9. Sentence: Hina ne bhai ko khat diya
S IO dop V
Gloss: Hina ERG brother DAT letter give
(A)................(Rec)..................(T)..........(V)
Translation: Hina gave a letter to brother.
- The main phrase is "Hina gave a letter to brother" which is a subject-verb-direct object-indirect object phrase. The noun phrase "a letter" acts as the direct object of the verb "gave".The noun phrase "brother" acts as the indirect object, indicating the recipient of the letter.
10. Sentence: Mujhe sona hai
S V dop
Gloss: Me sleep
(A) (V)
Translation: I want to sleep.
The main phrase is "I want to sleep" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. There are no other phrases in this sentence.
11. Sentence: Rehman ne mujhe 10 rupay diye
S IOp do v
Gloss: Rehman ERG me 10 rupy give
(A).................... (B).........(T)..........(V)
Translation: Rehman gave me ten rupees.
This sentence has two phrases:
- The main phrase is "Rehman gave me ten rupees" which is a subject-verb-direct object-indirect object phrase. The noun phrase "ten rupees" acts as the direct object of the verb "gave"The pronoun "me" acts as the indirect object, indicating the recipient of the ten rupees.
12. Sentence: Sunny Lahore se Dubai geya
S PP adv V
Gloss: Sunny Lahore to Dubai go
(A).......(S)..........(G).....(V)
Translation: Sunny went to Dubai from Lahore
The main phrase is "Sunny went to Dubai from Lahore" which is a subject-verb-prepositional phrase. The prepositional phrase "from Lahore" modifies the verb "went" by indicating where Sunny started his journey. The prepositional phrase "to Dubai" modifies the verb "went" by indicating where Sunny went.
13. Sentence: [ Dua ne mujhe ] [bandook se mara]
S do V PP Tv
Gloss: Dua ERG me gun with hit
(A)...............(Rec).......(Inst)...............(V)
Translation: Dua fired me with a gun.
The main phrase is "Due fired me with a gun" which is a subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase. The verb "fired" is transitive, and "me" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "with a gun" modifies the verb "fired" by indicating the instrument used to fire.
14. Sentence: [Umer ne] [phool soonga]
S Do V
Gloss: Umer ERG flower smell
(A).................(T)..........(V)
Translation: Umer smell a flower.
This sentence is in Hindi and it means "Umer smelled a flower". It has two phrases. The main phrase is "Umer ne phool soongha" which is a subject-verb-direct object phrase. The verb "soongha" means "smelled" and "phool" means "flower", which is the direct object of the verb.
15. Sentence: [Riaz ne ] [kal’am se khat likha ]
S PP do V
Gloss: Riaz ERG pen with Letter Write
(A)................(Ins)....................(T).........(V)
Translation: Riaz writes a letter with a pen.
This sentence has two phrases: The main phrase is "Riaz writes a letter with the pen" which is a subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase. The verb "writes" is transitive, and "a letter" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "with the pen" modifies the verb "writes" by indicating the instrument used to write.
16. Sentence: [ Usama ne] [Noor ko tohfa dia].
S spc PP do tv
Gloss: Usama ERG Noor DAT gift give
(A)....................(R).............(T)…..(V)
Translation: Usama gave a gift to Noor.
This sentence has two phrases:- The main phrase is "Usama gave a gift to Noor" which is a subject-verb-direct object-prepositional phrase. The verb "gave" is transitive, and "a gift" is the direct object of the verb. The prepositional phrase "to Noor" modifies the verb "gave" by indicating the recipient of the gift.
17. Sentence: [Iqra ne] [mujhe kulfi khilai]
S spc IO dp tv
Gloss: Iqra (ERG) me ice cream eat
(A)....................(B)..........(T)...............(V)
Translation: Iqra fed me ice cream.
18. Sentence: [ Neha seeriyon ] [se gir gye]
S PP tv V
Gloss: Neha stairs fell down
(EXP)......(T).................(V)
Translation: Neha fell down from stairs.
19. Sentence: [ Ali bahir se] [andr aya]
S PP tv V
Gloss: Ali out to in come
(A)......(S).............(G).....(V)
Translation: Ali came in from outside
20. Sentence: [Usne danday se] [ saanp ko mara]
S PP do tv
Gloss: He stick ERG snake kill
(A).......(Ins)...........................(P)...........(V)
Translation: He killed a snake with a stick.
Note:
TI: Time S: source
P: Patient G: Goal
I: Instrument E: Experiencer
A: Agent T: Theme
L: Location B: Beneficiary
ST: Stimulus
Findings:
Findings are presented with the help of pie charts. Agent is the most recurrently occurring thematic role according to the gathered sentences in English, Urdu, Jhagwi and Rangri. In each language thematic role functions exactly in the same way, no difference in function is supported in gathered data that accentuated on four languages. Thirdly, it is quite difficult to find or determine the thematic role of particular phrase like for example [John] comes [from London]; which theta role should be assigned to NP John. None of the roles on our list is quite appropriate. Two possible solutions are there to this like to marginally say it has the role of Theme or we invent a new role altogether.
Conclusion:
Conclusively, semantics is a subtype of linguistics and is considered as the massive source to understand thematic roles. In this narrative text we have differentiated each thematic role from the other one with the help of grammatical functions such as semantic roles are highlighted for having a central relationship with verbs and prepositions. Our paper has solved the major issues of overlapping between thematic roles with the help of two specific discourses incorporating general examples and specific dialogues of Oedipus Rex too. Apart from linguistic interpretation, we have founded that thematic roles can be interpreted in real life situations or conversations played by numerous participants. In addition to express the feelings, we have chosen experiencer and for some deliberate action we have selected agent from thematic roles therefore we can say that the main purpose of thematic roles is to express thoughts with the help of semantic language. Furthermore, out of five senses of human beings “hearing, smelling, tasting, watching are mentioned as experiencers in our paper. On the whole, this is how we have associate semantic roles with the context of daily life communications and experiences.
References:
· Carlson, G. N., & Tanenhaus, M. K. (1988). Thematic roles and language comprehension. Syntax and semantics, 21, 263-288.
· CARLSON, G. N. (1984). Thematic roles and their role in semantic interpretation. Linguistics, 22(3).
· Chierchia, G. (1989). Structured meanings, thematic roles and control. In Properties, types and meaning (pp. 131-166). Springer, Dordrecht.
· Davis, A. R. (2019). 3. Thematic roles. Semantics - Lexical Structures and Adjectives, 99–125.
· Keifer, F. (2012). Thematic roles and compounds.
· Marlina, r. (2012). The analysis of thematic role in narrative texts of senior high school textbooks.
Fantastic 😊
Good job 👏