Recent from talks
Theta criterion
Knowledge base stats:
Talk channels stats:
Members stats:
Theta criterion
The theta-criterion (also named θ-criterion) is a constraint on x-bar theory that was first proposed by Noam Chomsky (1981) as a rule within the system of principles of the government and binding theory, called theta-theory (θ-theory). As theta-theory is concerned with the distribution and assignment of theta-roles (a.k.a. thematic roles), the theta-criterion describes the specific match between arguments and theta-roles (θ-roles) in logical form (LF):
Being a constraint on x-bar theory, the criterion aims to filter out ill-formed sentences. Thus, if the number or categories of arguments in a sentence does not meet the theta-role assigner's requirement in any given sentence, that sentence will be deemed ungrammatical. (Carnie 2007, p. 224). In other words, theta-criterion sorts sentences into grammatical and ungrammatical bins based on c-selection and s-selection.
A theta-role is a status of thematic relation (Chomsky 1981, p. 35). In other words, a theta-role describes the connection of meaning between a predicate or a verb and a constituent selected by this predicate. The number, types and positions of theta-roles that a lexicon assigns is encoded in its lexical entry (Chomsky 1981, p. 38) and must be satisfied in syntactic structure following Projection Principle. The selection of a constituent by a head based on meaning is called s-selection (semantic-selection) and those based on grammatical categories are called c-selection. (Sportiche, Koopman & Stabler 2014, p. 141) Such information can be expressed with a theta grid.
In the example below the verb 'love' has two theta-roles to assign: agent (the entity who loves) and theme (the entity being loved). In accordance with the theta-criterion, each theta-role must have its argument counterpart.
In Example 1a, Megan and Kevin are the arguments that the verb assigns the agent and theme theta-roles to, respectively. Because there is a one-to-one mapping of argument to theta-role, the theta-criterion is satisfied and the sentence is deemed grammatical (Carnie 2007, p. 225). Below are two examples where the theta-criterion has not been fulfilled and are thus ungrammatical.
Example 1b is ungrammatical (marked with *) because there are more theta-roles available than there are arguments. The theta-role theme does not have an argument matched to it. On the other hand, in example (1c), there are more arguments than theta-roles. Both theta-roles are matched to arguments (Megan with Agent and Jason with theme), but there is an argument left without a corresponding theta-role (Kevin has no theta-role) (Carnie 2007). Thus for reasons of inequality in number between theta-roles and arguments, with either having more than the other, the result will be ungrammatical.
Since trace transmits theta-role, movements resulting in non-local relations between theta-role assigners and receivers in surface structure don't violate theta-criterion. This allows us to generate sentences with DP-raising, head movement, wh-movement, etc. However, if a phrase occupies a theta-position (complement or selected subject) in D-structure, it can no longer move to another theta-position or it will receive two theta-roles (Chomsky 1981, p. 46).
Verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive at the first glance could present a problem for the theta-criterion. For a transitive verb, such as "hit," we assign the theta-roles agent and theme to the arguments, as shown in (2b), (2c), and (2d):
Hub AI
Theta criterion AI simulator
(@Theta criterion_simulator)
Theta criterion
The theta-criterion (also named θ-criterion) is a constraint on x-bar theory that was first proposed by Noam Chomsky (1981) as a rule within the system of principles of the government and binding theory, called theta-theory (θ-theory). As theta-theory is concerned with the distribution and assignment of theta-roles (a.k.a. thematic roles), the theta-criterion describes the specific match between arguments and theta-roles (θ-roles) in logical form (LF):
Being a constraint on x-bar theory, the criterion aims to filter out ill-formed sentences. Thus, if the number or categories of arguments in a sentence does not meet the theta-role assigner's requirement in any given sentence, that sentence will be deemed ungrammatical. (Carnie 2007, p. 224). In other words, theta-criterion sorts sentences into grammatical and ungrammatical bins based on c-selection and s-selection.
A theta-role is a status of thematic relation (Chomsky 1981, p. 35). In other words, a theta-role describes the connection of meaning between a predicate or a verb and a constituent selected by this predicate. The number, types and positions of theta-roles that a lexicon assigns is encoded in its lexical entry (Chomsky 1981, p. 38) and must be satisfied in syntactic structure following Projection Principle. The selection of a constituent by a head based on meaning is called s-selection (semantic-selection) and those based on grammatical categories are called c-selection. (Sportiche, Koopman & Stabler 2014, p. 141) Such information can be expressed with a theta grid.
In the example below the verb 'love' has two theta-roles to assign: agent (the entity who loves) and theme (the entity being loved). In accordance with the theta-criterion, each theta-role must have its argument counterpart.
In Example 1a, Megan and Kevin are the arguments that the verb assigns the agent and theme theta-roles to, respectively. Because there is a one-to-one mapping of argument to theta-role, the theta-criterion is satisfied and the sentence is deemed grammatical (Carnie 2007, p. 225). Below are two examples where the theta-criterion has not been fulfilled and are thus ungrammatical.
Example 1b is ungrammatical (marked with *) because there are more theta-roles available than there are arguments. The theta-role theme does not have an argument matched to it. On the other hand, in example (1c), there are more arguments than theta-roles. Both theta-roles are matched to arguments (Megan with Agent and Jason with theme), but there is an argument left without a corresponding theta-role (Kevin has no theta-role) (Carnie 2007). Thus for reasons of inequality in number between theta-roles and arguments, with either having more than the other, the result will be ungrammatical.
Since trace transmits theta-role, movements resulting in non-local relations between theta-role assigners and receivers in surface structure don't violate theta-criterion. This allows us to generate sentences with DP-raising, head movement, wh-movement, etc. However, if a phrase occupies a theta-position (complement or selected subject) in D-structure, it can no longer move to another theta-position or it will receive two theta-roles (Chomsky 1981, p. 46).
Verbs that can be either transitive or intransitive at the first glance could present a problem for the theta-criterion. For a transitive verb, such as "hit," we assign the theta-roles agent and theme to the arguments, as shown in (2b), (2c), and (2d):