Semantic Macroroles
Rolf Kailuweit · Cambridge University Press eBooks · 2023
This chapter offers an in-depth discussion of semantic macroroles and macrorole assignment in Role and Reference Grammar (RRG). In the first part, the RRG theory of thematic relations is discussed in the context of a brief history of theta roles and generalized semantic roles. The second part turns to the role of Aktionsart, semantic and syntactic transitivity, and causativity in macrorole assignment. Although the focus of the chapter is on standard RRG, the third part of the chapter discusses alternative approaches, concerning the number of macroroles that should be postulated and the semantic features that are relevant to macrorole assignment.