The Role of the Patient and its Grammatical Functions

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Assistant Professor - French University, Arab Republic of Egypt

Abstract

Transformationalists have started their works in linguistics based on the autonomy of syntax. However, they have used semantic relations in later stages of the development of transformational theory. For example, they have introduced thematic roles. The Agent, Patient, Experiencer, Goal, Locative and Instrument are examples of these roles.
Semantically speaking, the sentence in Arabic is divided into two parts: the first is the predicate that indicates the event or activity; and the second is the number of Arguments such as the internal argument and external argument which contribute to the completion of the event of activity. They are syntactically represented by noun phrases that perform different functions and they carry thematic roles necessary for the semantic description.
The Patient is the entity on which the action is executed, affected by, or causes its change. The perfect case for this role is when the internal argument bears it. However, it may be carried out by external arguments.
The most important results of this study are: the perfect role of the Agent is done by the external argument, and the perfect role for the patient is to done by the internal argument. However, the external argument that functions as a subject may also be a Patient. This is related to two verbal patterns in Arabic. The first pattern is (Almusta’ra) verbs and the second is (mutawaa) verbs - literally (obedience) verbs. One of the results is that Arabic dictionaries mention verbs that indicate the meaning of sensory events like (afala) أفعل  or (faala) فعّل or (faalala) فعلل, and , therefore, its external argument carries the patient role.  
 
 
 

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