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The KÀnÃngkÓn Noun Phrase
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Okolo (2008:78) says that the function of θ- theory is to explain how
syntactic structure determines the assignment of θ-role to a particular
constituent of a sentence. In other words, θ-theory shows θ-roles as
assigned to the argument of a sentence. A θ-role assigned to a
constituent within the predicate (verb phrase) is called internal θ-role
while a θ-role assigned to the subject of a sentence or outside the
predicate (verb phrase) is called an external θ-role (Cheryl, 1999). The
internal θ-role is an internal argument while the external θ-role is an
external argument. The role assigned to a noun by the verb is the
thematic relation between the noun and the verb. Argument is the noun
phrase in a sentence, the subject noun phrase and the object noun
phrase. The Object Noun Phrase is the Direct and the Indirect object.
For example,
[ róm zá sir mu kà súwá ].
Man buy yam in market.
‘The man bought yam in the market’.
[ róm zá sir mu kà súwá ]
Subject direct object indirect object.
The following are the common theta roles; Agent, Patient, Source,
Instrument, Goal, Locative, Theme, Benefactive and Experiencer (Yusuf,
1998).
A. Agent: the agent θ-role is an actor that performs the action in a sentence eg.
[ aúdù wῦ jÅn ].
Aúdù kill goat.
‘Aúdù killed the goat’.
Aúdù is the actor (agent) in the above sentence.
B. Patient: the patient role suffers the action in the sentence. Eg.
[ bà lá ru ɣwamù ].
Bà lá beat wife.
‘bà lá beats his wife’
[ ɣwamù ] ‘Wife’, suffers the action.
C. Source: this is the entity from which motion takes place.
[bà lá ru ɣwamù pε jɔ∫ɔ ].
Bà lá beat wife at meet.
‘Bà lá beat his wife at the meeting’.
[ jɔ∫ɔ] ‘Meeting’ is the entity from which the motion took place.
D. Instrument: this is the object with which an action is performed.
[ verom wῦ jÅn to zig ]
Boy kill goat with knife.
‘The boy killed the goat with knife’.
[zig] ‘Knife’ is the instrument in the above example.
E. Goal: this is the entity towards which motion takes place.
[ járo tà wáse sεᵑ ].
Yáro give him basket.
‘Yáro gave him the basket’.
[ sεᵑ] ‘Basket’ is the goal in the sentence.
F. Benefactive: benefactive is assigned to an object in whose favour an event takes place.
[ róm zá mi fufum ].
Husband buy me flower.
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