Difference between revisions of "Agent"

From Glottopedia
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
Line 10: Line 10:
 
#  Miguel gave Pedro some water.
 
#  Miguel gave Pedro some water.
 
#  Pedro was hit by Miguel. (passive voice)
 
#  Pedro was hit by Miguel. (passive voice)
 +
 +
===Other languages===
 +
*German [[Agens]]
 +
*Russian [[агенс]]
  
 
=== Link ===
 
=== Link ===
 
+
[http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Agent&lemmacode=1003 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics] <br>
[http://www2.let.uu.nl/UiL-OTS/Lexicon/zoek.pl?lemma=Agent&lemmacode=1003 Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics]
 
  
 
=== References ===
 
=== References ===
Line 20: Line 23:
 
* Jackendoff, R. 1990. ''Semantic Structures,'' Cambridge, MIT-Press.
 
* Jackendoff, R. 1990. ''Semantic Structures,'' Cambridge, MIT-Press.
 
* Jackendoff, R. 1972. ''Semantic interpretation in generative grammar,'' MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
 
* Jackendoff, R. 1972. ''Semantic interpretation in generative grammar,'' MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.
 
 
===Other languages===
 
*German [[Agens]]
 
*Russian [[агенс]]
 
  
 
{{dc}}
 
{{dc}}
 
[[Category:Semantics]]
 
[[Category:Semantics]]
 
[[Category:Semantic role]]
 
[[Category:Semantic role]]

Latest revision as of 09:47, 14 June 2014

Agent is a generalized semantic or thematic role. The agent of an event is the entity that brings about an event and has control over it.

The Agent role has a 'privileged' status in many languages. In accusative languages, it is typically encoded as a subject (in the nominative case); in ergative languages, it is associated with a special case, the ergative. Irrespective of the alignment system of a language, the Agent role is plays a crucial role in various syntactic constructions, e.g. specific types of control structures and imperatives.

Example

In the following examples Miguel is the Agent:

  1. Miguel chased Gianni.
  2. Miguel gave Pedro some water.
  3. Pedro was hit by Miguel. (passive voice)

Other languages

Link

Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics

References

  • Grimshaw, J. 1990. Argument Structure, MIT-press, Cambridge, Mass.
  • Gruber, J. 1965. Studies in lexical relations, doctoral dissertation, MIT
  • Jackendoff, R. 1990. Semantic Structures, Cambridge, MIT-Press.
  • Jackendoff, R. 1972. Semantic interpretation in generative grammar, MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass.