(15)
and (16) are ambiguous, the ambiguity arising on account
of different theta roles being assigned by the CM involved.
In one interpretation of (15), tahani is the
Source and in the other it is the Instrument. Similarly,
jahaj, in one interpretation of (16) is the Locative;
in the other it is the Cause (indicating the cause for
which ram loses everything he has). One straight
forward explanation for accounting for the ambiguity
in the above is that the CMs se and par,
in the above, have two different meanings each, as a
result of which the theta roles assigned to the arguments
to which they are attached are different. |
The
CM ka of the ka-na construction, on the
other hand, does not affect theta role of the argument
to which it is attached in the way se and par
do. In that sense, it does not have a "meaning"
of its own. In other words , the arguments receive their
theta role exclusively from the predicate. Consider
: |
| |
| (17) |
|
ram ka ghar jana thik nahi hoga
ram CM home go+Nom proper NEG be+FUTURE
(It will not be proper for Ram to go home)
|
| |
|
|
| (18) |
|
shyam dwara hari ka mara jana thik nahi hoga
Shyam CM hari CM kill go proper NEG be+FUTURE
(It will not be nice for Hari to be killed by
Shyam)
|
| |
|
|
| (19)
|
|
dudh
ka nikalna thik nahi hoga
milk CM come out proper NEG be+FUTURE
+Nom
(It will not be nice for the milk to boil over)
|
|
The
relevant argument is the agent in (17), the recepient
in (18) and the theme in (19) although the CM is ka
in all the three. This shows that the particular theta
role that each of these NPs receives depends on the
verb of the embedded proposition in which these NPs
occur. Ka does not modify the theta role at all;
ja in (17) is a verb that always takes an agent
as one of its arguments. Thus ram in (17) has
the agentive theta role. Similarly, mara ja
in (18) always takes recepient as one of its arguments;
thus hari in (18) is recepient. For the same
reason, that is, because nikal (as used in (19))
is the kind of verb that takes theme as one of its arguments,
dudh in (19) bears the theme theta role. |
| |
| Now,
consider the following sentences in which the CM ne
is attached to one of the arguments. |
| (20) |
|
ram ne khana khaya ram
CM food eat+PAST
(Ram
ate his food)
|
| |
|
|
| (21) |
|
ram
ne kitab pari ram
CM book read+PAST
(Ram
read a book)
|
| |
|
|
| (22) |
|
*ram ne janta tha
ram
CM know+Past
|
| |
|
|
| (23)
|
|
*ram
ne pyar hua
ram CM love be+PAST
|
|
| |
