tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Nov 23 07:44:20 2009
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Re: The topic marker -'e'
Tracy Canfield wrote:
>> On Mon, Nov 23, 2009 at 1:40 AM, Tracy Canfield <[email protected]> wrote:
>>> mIS puq
>>>
>>> "puq" is the subject, but it isn't an agent.
>> Why not?
>>
> Because "agent" is specialized linguistic terminology that means
> something other than "subject". It's part of a classification system
> called thematic roles - often called theta roles - that's used by
> linguists to describe the semantic roles noun phrases play in
> sentences and distinguish them from the syntactic roles. This isn't
> an English-specific system; it's used cross-linguistically.
Tracy is correct. An agent is a noun that carries out an action. An
*experiencer* is a noun that receives sensory or emotional input. I
think {puq} in {mIS puq} is an experiencer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thematic_relations
--
SuStel
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