Thematic Relation - Major Thematic Relations

Major Thematic Relations

Here is a list of the major thematic relations.

• Agent: deliberately performs the action (e.g., Bill ate his soup quietly.).
• Experiencer: the entity that receives sensory or emotional input (e.g. Susan heard the song. I cried.).
• Theme: undergoes the action but does not change its state (e.g., We believe in many gods. I have two children. I put the book on the table. He gave the gun to the police officer.) (Sometimes used interchangeably with patient.)
• Patient: undergoes the action and changes its state (e.g., The falling rocks crushed the car.). (Sometimes used interchangeably with theme.)
• Instrument: used to carry out the action (e.g., Jamie cut the ribbon with a pair of scissors.).
• Force or Natural Cause: mindlessly performs the action (e.g., An avalanche destroyed the ancient temple.).
• Location: where the action occurs (e.g., Johnny and Linda played carelessly in the park. I'll be at Julie's house studying for my test.).
• Direction or Goal: where the action is directed towards (e.g., The caravan continued on toward the distant oasis. He walked to school.).
• Recipient: a special kind of goal associated with verbs expressing a change in ownership, possession. (E.g., I sent John the letter. He gave the book to her.)
• Source or Origin: where the action originated (e.g., The rocket was launched from Central Command. She walked away from him.).
• Time: the time at which the action occurs (e.g., The rocket was launched yesterday.).
• Beneficiary: the entity for whose benefit the action occurs (e.g.. I baked Reggie a cake. He built a car for me. I fight for the king.).
• Manner: the way in which an action is carried out (e.g., With great urgency, Tabitha phoned 911.).
• Purpose: the reason for which an action is performed (e.g., Tabitha phoned 911 right away in order to get some help.).
• Cause: what caused the action to occur in the first place; not for what, rather because of what (e.g., Because Clyde was hungry, he ate the cake.).

There are no clear boundaries between these relations. For example, in "the hammer broke the window", some linguists treat hammer as an agent, some others as instrument, while some others treat it as a special role different from these.