semantic role

7.7

The job a noun phrase has with the main verb, like the doer or the one affected

noun
/sɪˈmæntɪk roʊl/

Specialized

: rol semántico

In the sentence 'The dog bit the man,' 'the dog' has the agent semantic role, while 'the man' has the patient role.

Examples

Linguists analyze the semantic role of each noun phrase in a sentence to better understand sentence structure.
Understanding semantic roles helps language learners grasp how meaning is constructed in complex sentences.
The semantic role is important.
The semantic roles help clarify meaning!
In the sentence 'The dog chased the ball,' 'the dog' fulfills the agent semantic role while 'the ball' takes on the patient role.
Linguists often illustrate the concept of semantic role by identifying the relationships of noun phrases in various sentences.
By identifying the semantic role of words in a sentence, students can more easily determine the overall meaning.

Synonyms

participant role

vssemantic role

Specialized

9.4

The part a word has in a sentence, for example doing the action or being affected by it

is an alternative technical label for the same linguistic concept

Surface Forms

semantic role singular

semantic roles plural

Morphology

semantic + role

The phrase is compositionally built: 'semantic' (relating to meaning) modifies 'role' (function), so 'semantic role' literally denotes the function or role in terms of meaning. This is a predictable, cross-linguistically reflected construction (e.g., papel semántico / rôle sémantique), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents could infer the intended linguistic sense.

Etymology

The phrase semantic role comes from thinking about words in a sentence like actors with parts. Here semantic means 'meaning' and role is like an actor's 'part' or 'job'. So a semantic role names the job a word has in a sentence: who does the action, who is affected, or who feels something.