| Introduction |
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Grammatical relations (subject, object, oblique…) are morphosyntactic, whereas semantic roles (agent, patient, instrument…) are conceptual notions. Semantic roles do not correspond directly to grammatical relations. Notice what varying semantic roles a subject can play:
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Sentence
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Grammatical relation
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Semantic role
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Bob opened the door with a key.
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Bob = SUBJECT
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Bob = AGENT
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The key opened the door.
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The key = SUBJECT
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The key = INSTRUMENT
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The door opened.
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The door = SUBJECT
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The door = PATIENT
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In some traditions, the term ‘logical subject’ is used to refer to a participant which is not the grammatical subject, but which has the semantic role of agent in a passive sentence.
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| Example:
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In the following English passive sentence, door is the subject/patient, and Bob is an oblique object. However, Bob has the semantic role of agent. Some theories of linguistics would call Bob the ‘logical subject’.
- This door was opened by Bob.
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