Kāraka

The term kāraka was used by Panini for semantic roles. It is not really used as a technical term in modern linguistics, but many works refer to Panini's kāraka concept as an early precursor of modern semantic roles.

Synonyms

• semantic role
• thematic relation
• thematic role
• Θ-role (Theta role)
• case: deep case, case role, case relation
• semantic function

Origin

Coined by Panini (cf. Singh 1974, Rauh 1988:139-150).

References

• Rauh, Gisa. 1988. Tiefenkasus, thematische Relationen und Thetarollen. (TBL, 309.) Tübingen: Narr.
• Singh, J.D. 1974. Panini's theory of kārakas. International Journal of Dravidian Linguistics 3:287-320.