SYNTANCTIC ROLES

Doctor Chimwemwe Kamanga

(2024)

(Department of Language, Cultural and Creative

Studies- Mzuzu University)
 Definition
 Syntactic roles refer to the grammatical
relationships between constituents within a
syntactic construction.
 Different languages express syntactic roles
differently.
 English uses word order.
 In other languages, phrases are marked with
different endings.
 Definition (Continued)
 The standard examples of grammatical
functions from traditional grammar are:
 Subject- The noun, pronoun and noun phrases that
occur before the verb in a sentence
 Direct object- The part of a sentence that gives
meaning to the verb by identifying the doer or
experiencer (answering the question whom or what)
 Indirect object- The part of a sentence that gives
meaning to the verb by identifying the entity to
which action or experience is directed (answering
the question to whom, for whom or for what)
 Agent or Actor
 The noun phrase that identifies the person or
thing that initiates or performs an action in a
sentence
 In the sentence Chippo hit the dog with a
spoon, Chippo is the agent.
 Patient, Target or Undergoer
 A noun phrase that denotes the participant of a
situation upon whom an action is carried out
or a thematic relation that such a participant
has with an action
 In the sentence Zaya hit the ball with her left
foot, the ball is the patient.
 Instrument
 A noun phrase that denotes an entity that an
agent uses to implement an action
 In the sentence Chippo hit the dog with a
spoon, the spoon is the instrument, while in the
sentence Zaya hit the ball with her left foot ,
her left foot is the instrument.
 Theme
 A noun phrase that denotes an entity that
undergoes motion of some sort, including
motion in a metaphorical sense, such as
change of state or an entity that simply has a
property
 In the sentence The glass is on the table, the
glass is the theme.
 Experiencer
 A noun phrase that denotes an animate entity
whose mental faculties are involved in the
psychological state denoted by an emotive
predicate
 In the sentence Unkhankhu heard the noise,
Unkhankhu is the experiencer.
 Source
 A noun phrase that denotes the place of origin,
the entity from which a physical sensation
emanates, or the original owner in a transfer
 In the sentence Sandra fell off the chair, the
chair is the source.
 In the sentence Chimwemwe smelled the
onions, the onions is the source.
 In the sentence Zale obtained an injunction
from the court, the court is the source.