Theta role

Abstract: This paper presents an overview of a larger project in progress on the concepts interface. In part, it is based on the findings in Reinhart (2000), where several of the problems are discussed in greater detail. However, many aspects of the system have been further developed, or changed, since that manuscript. The general picture I assume is that the Theta system (what has been labeled in Chomsky's Principles and Parameters framework 'Theta theory') is the system enabling the interface between the systems of concepts and the computational system (syntax) and, indirectly (via the syntactic representations), with the semantic inference systems.

Abstract: In this study of resultative V-V compounds in Chinese, it is shown that only certain theta-grid patterns are allowed. The restrictions on theta assignment are shown to follow automatically from standard Case theory and three other independently motivated assumptions of current Government-Binding Theory: theta-identification (Higginbotham 1985), a structured theta-grid (Grimshaw 1989) and head-feature percolation. Given the assumption that theta roles are assigned hierarchically, these theoretical devices interact so as to allow all well-formed V-V compounds while excluding all impossible compounds.

Abstract: As is well known, what appears to be the same verb, may often show up in very different syntactic realizations. In addressing such phenomena (or lexical structure in general), two distinct questions have been at times conflated: One is the question of the mapping (linking) from the lexicon (thematic structure) to syntactic structure, namely, which theta role should realize in which argument position. This is addressed by principles like the Theta criterion, Baker's (1988) UTAH, or Grimshaw's (1990) mapping of argument-structure to syntactic structure, as well as many other linking proposals. I will not be concerned here with this question. The other question is the structure of the lexicon itself, e.g. do the verbs in each group above, which appear to have different thematic structure, correspond to one or more lexical entries.