Thematic roles

This file defines the thematic relations of neo-Davidsonian semantics, after Davidson and Parsons. A thematic relation relates an entity to an event of an event domain E.

Main definitions

• ThematicFrame: a model's assignment of the standard role relations.

References

• [Dav67]
• [Par90]

structure ArgumentStructure.ThematicFrame (Entity : Type u_1) (E : Type u_2) : Type (max u_1 u_2)

A thematic frame assigns the role relations of a model, each relating an entity to an event, so that agent j e says that j is the agent of e. The holder role is distinct from the agent: it selects states, where the agent selects actions.

• agent : Entity → E → Prop

  The agent, the volitional causer.

• patient : Entity → E → Prop

  The patient, the affected entity.

• theme : Entity → E → Prop

  The theme, the entity in a state or location.

• experiencer : Entity → E → Prop

  The experiencer, the perceiver or cognizer.

• goal : Entity → E → Prop

  The goal, the recipient or target.

• source : Entity → E → Prop

  The source, the origin.

• instrument : Entity → E → Prop

  The instrument, the means.

• stimulus : Entity → E → Prop

  The stimulus, the cause of an experience.

• holder : Entity → E → Prop

  The holder, the entity in a state.