The Semantics of

Sentence Elements
 Agent
◇ John opened the
door

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 Experiencere
◇ John is very happy.
◇ Suddenly his wife heard a terrible
noise.
◇ Isak loves eva.

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 Positioner
◇ Evan is lying in bed.
◇ His wife lying in bed.
◇ A nurse was holding the patient’s
arm during the operation.

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 External Causer
◇ The landslide killed the ten
villagers.

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 Eventive
◇ Everyone likes her dance.

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 Recipient
◇ We gave his brother a new book.

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 Beneficiary
◇ She knitted her husband a pair of
socks.
◇ She knitted a pair of socks for her
husband.

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 Instrument
◇ Isak opened the door with a key.

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 locative
◇ I met your father in Oslo.

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 Goal
◇ They are leaving for London
tomorrow.

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 Sourse
◇ She has come from Oslo.

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 Temporal
◇ Eliot wrote the poem in 1299.

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 The semantics constraint on the
choice of the subject
◇ John opened the door
with a key .
◇ A key opened the door.
◇ The door opened.

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 The semantics of the
sentence
Predicators,Predicates
Arguments

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 Predicators
i) lexical verbs, ex: eat, drink, and smile
ii) the verb be in equative sentences.
iii) adjectives or adjective phrases
operating as subject complements.
iv) non-referring nouns or noun phrases
operating as subject complements.
v) (v) simple or complex prepositions
occurring at the phrases functioning as
subject complements Each of these will
be discussed now in some detail.

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 lexical verbs
Lexical Verbs as Predicators
◇ The guests have arrived.

◇ The baby is smiling .

◇ A period of political unrest

followed.

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 The verb be in equative
sentences
◇ John is very clever.
◇ He is a great scholar.
◇ All her friends are medical
doctors.

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 adjectives or adjective phrases
operating as subject
complements
◇ These books are expensive .
◇ She is extremely beautiful.
◇ His brother is very clever.

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 Non referring Nouns or
Noun Phrases Functioning
as Subject Complements
◇ John's eldest brother is a
medical doctor.
◇ The elderly person sitting
there is Mary's father.

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 Simple or Complex
Prepositions Functioning
as Predicators s
◇ The diamonds are in that
handbag.
◇ The books are on that table.
◇ Those trees are in front of her
house.

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 Arguments
◇ The guests have arrived.
◇ The baby is smiling.
◇ A period of political unrest
followed.

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 The difference between
predicates and
predicators.
◇ John has married a tall and
beautiful woman.
◇ She is tall.
◇ Her elder sister is beautiful .
◇ The president of that party is a
woman.

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 The degree of a
predicate
◇ The sun is shining .
◇ The guests have arrived.
◇ The baby is sneezing.

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 THANK YOU!
ANY
QUESTIONS?

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