Thematic relation
Jump to navigation
Jump to search
The term thematic relation is used (especially in Ray Jackendoff’s work and work influenced by him) for semantic role.
Synonyms
Alongside thematic role, Θ-role, thematic relation is perhaps the most common term in current American linguistics (e.g. Wilkings (ed.) 1988).
- semantic role
- thematic role
- Θ-role (Theta role)
- case: deep case, case role, case relation
- semantic function
- kāraka
Origin
The term thematic relation was introduced by Jackendoff (1972:29) (who attributed it to Richard Stanley), basing his theory on Gruber's (1965) work. According to Jackendoff, the centrality of the Theme in Gruber's analysis justifies this term.
References
- Jackendoff, Ray S. 1972. Semantics and cognition. Cambridge/MA: MIT Press
- Gruber, Jeffrey S. 1965. Studies in lexical relations. Ph.D. dissertation, MIT. (Revised version published in Gruber 1976)
- Wilkins, Wendy (ed.) 1988. Thematic relations. (Syntax and Semantics, xx) New York: Academic Press.
