Theta roles and thematic relations of Tiv verbs

Abstract

The study examines theta roles and thematic relations of Tiv verbs. These describes the semantic roles an argument plays in respect to a verb. These roles include Agent, Theme, Goal, Experiencer, and Instrument. They are assigned by the verb. Theta role is linked to argument positions where theta criterion is put to use. This exploration of theta roles and thematic relation has widely been handled in other languages but scarcely in Tiv grammar. This work, therefore, aims to examine how many argument(s) a verb selects, grammatical roles and functions that a given Tiv verb can assign to its argument(s) and the types of verbs employed for use. Data are collected from adult native speakers who are competent speakers of the language. The researcher employed introspection in the translation of the interview and to ascertain the grammaticality of those sentences made. Theta theory of Government and Binding (GB) of Chomsky (1981) is adopted. The study reveals that Tiv verbs are categorized as transitive, intransitive and ditransitive which require either one or more argument(s) to which thematic role(s) are assigned, Theta grid shows the subcategorization of those verbs given extra explanation to the analysis. The study concludes that Tiv verbs are of three kinds and can selects argument and assign roles base on the type of verb. A piece that adds to the existing works on Tiv grammar as well as create a niche for further studies.