{"id":300,"date":"2019-06-11T05:37:07","date_gmt":"2019-06-11T05:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/engp13.epgpbooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/?post_type=chapter&p=300"},"modified":"2019-06-12T07:16:17","modified_gmt":"2019-06-12T07:16:17","slug":"predicate-and-argument-structures","status":"publish","type":"chapter","link":"https:\/\/ebooks.inflibnet.ac.in\/engp13\/chapter\/predicate-and-argument-structures\/","title":{"rendered":"Predicate and Argument Structures"},"content":{"raw":"
\"epgp<\/a>\r\n<\/span><\/div>\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n\r\n \r\n

Objectives<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

The objective of this module is to introduce the key concepts of \u03b8-theory and to show how its emergence is relevant to sentence structure. After the completion of this module the students would be able to understand the thematic structure of English verbs and the proper assignment of theta roles to their arguments which is essential for the formation of a well formed sentence.<\/p>\r\n

Introduction<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

In this module we discuss one of the important principles of grammar i.e. Theta theory and the argument structure of verbs with special reference to English. Theta theory accounts for the relationship between predicates and their arguments in a systematic manner. Predicates are verbs (e.g. to sleep, to go etc) and the arguments are those noun phrases or prepositional\/postpositional<\/p>\r\n

phrases which take part in the completion of a sentence. Theta theory helps us in understanding the nature and roles of a verb and its argument(s). Thematic roles are essential for the formation of a syntactically and semantically correct sentence. It is the verb which decides the number and nature of the arguments in a sentence and assigns ordered thematic roles to them. Theta theory and its components put constraints on the assignment of the role(s) to them.<\/p>\r\n

Theoretical Background<\/strong><\/p>\r\n

Verbs have always been of the greatest importance always. The structure of sentence is decided by verbs. They can be called as nuclei other than objects of the sentence at which the existence\u00a0 of a sentence depends. In traditional grammar, verbs are classified into two subcategories i.e. intransitive verbs and transitive verbs. Intransitive verbs do not need object to complete a sentence (e.g., to sleep) and transitive verbs need one or more object(s) to complete a sentence (e.g., to eat). Transitive verbs are further put into two categories i.e. verbs which take one object i.e. direct object and the verbs which take two objects i.e. direct object and indirect object. The latter is called ditransitive verbs. Consider following examples:<\/p>\r\n \r\n\r\n\"\"\r\n

Such definitions and classifications of verbs in traditional grammar are fit for the verbs which do not take object (intransitive) or take only one object (transitive). However they cannot account for entities which have a different type or relation with the verb. In other words such classifications are not adequate to discuss the nature of all verbs. To clarify, we may look at the following examples:<\/div>\r\n
<\/div>\r\n

\"\"<\/p>\r\n\r\n

In (4b-6b), the third element is \u2018on the desk\u2019, \u2018in the bucket\u2019 and \u2018from Chicago\u2019 respectively but they are not objects. They represent location and specification of the objects i.e. book, water and book respectively. Recent developments in the area answer the nature of such elements in regard to their relation with them. They ask the following questions:<\/div>\r\n