The participants in states or events, in whatever semantic role, may occupy one of four distinct grammatical roles in the clause:4
a. subject (SUBJ) b. direct object (OBJ) indirect object (IO) d. nominal predicate (PRED)
Grammatical case-roles in English are defined by the following structural criteria:
(a) word-order (b) morphology
(c) grammatical constraints
In addition, one discourse-pragmatic feature is also important for defining grammatical case-roles:
(d) topicality in discourse
As a brief illustration of the four major grammatical roles in simple clauses, consider:
(3) a. The woman gave a book to the child SUBJ OBJ IO b. Mary is a teacher
SUBJ PRED
The semantic roles of participants in simple clauses do not distribute freely and equally in all the grammatical roles. Rather, strong restrictions
govern their distribution:
(4) Range of distribution of semantic roles in grammatical
roles in simple clauses:
a. An agent can only be the subject of a simple clause.
b. A patient can be either the subject, direct object or indi
rect object of a simple clause.
A dative can be either the subject, direct object or indi
rect object in a simple clause.
d. The others — benefactive, instrumental, associative and locative — are found mostly as indirect objects of simple clauses.
Further, the following rules of competition for subjecthood seem to apply in simple clauses with more than one participant:
(5) Competition for subjecthood in the simple clause:
a. If a simple clause has an agent participant, it will occupy the subject position.
b. If a simple clause has no agent but has a dative partici pant, that dative will occupy the subject position. If a simple clause has neither a dative nor an agent but
has a patient participant, that patient will occupy the subject position.
The facts of the competition to subjecthood given in (5) may be sum marized in the following hierarchy of access:
(6) Access to subjecthood in the simple clause:
AGENT > DATIVE > PATIENT > OTHERS
Part of the observed rules-of-access in (5),(6) is due to the definition of what is a simple clause. To illustrate this briefly, consider the following two clauses:
(7) a. Active: The woman bought the book. b. Passive: The book was bought by the woman.
Both clauses (7a) and (7b) have the same participants occupying the same semantic roles — 'the woman' as agent, 'the book' as patient. In the active clause (7a), the agent is the subject. In the passive clause (7b), the patient is the subject. Passive clauses indeed allow patients to occupy the subject
grammatical role. But by definition, passives are complex rather than sim ple clauses. In the active-simple clause, as long as an agent is involved, it has a preemptive claim to the subject grammatical role.
Similarly, consider:
(8) a. Active: Mary heard Joe's voice. b. Passive: Joe's voice was heard by Mary.
'Mary' in (8a,b) is a conscious dative participant, exerting neither intent nor
control nor action in the depicted event. No agent is involved in the event in (8a,b) in addition to the dative participant, only a patient— 'Joe's voice'. In the competition for subjecthood in the active — simple — clause (8a), the dative wins over the patient. Only in the passive — complex — clause (8b) can the patient displace the dative as subject.
Finally, consider:
(9) The bread was in the oven.
The state depicted in clause (9) has neither an agent nor a dative partici pant, only a patient ('the bread') and a locative ('in the oven'). Under such conditions, the patient preempts the subject position, competing success fully with the locative.5
3.1.4.2. The grammatical subject
The grammatical subject in English simple clauses precedes the verb,6
is morphologically unmarked (i.e. appears without a preposition), and requires grammatical agreement with the verb, at least to the limited extent that exists in English, as in:
(10) a. The woman is tall ('is' = 3rd pers sg of 'be') b. They are tall ('are' = pl of 'be')
I am tall ('am' = 1st pers sg of 'be') d. You are tall ('are' — 2nd pers sg of 'be') e. That man sings well (s = 3rd pers sg verb agreement) f. Some men sing well
From a discourse-pragmatic perspective, the subject is the primary topic of the clause. It is the most important participant of the discourse at the point
when the clause is processed. This role of the subject can be demonstrated
independently of grammar, but also explains many of the grammatical properties of subjects.
3.1.4.3. The grammatical (direct) object
The direct object in English simple clauses follows the verb, is mor phologically unmarked (i.e. appears without a preposition), and does not require grammatical agreement with the verb. In discourse pragmatic terms, the direct object tends to be the secondary topic of the clause. That is, it tends to be less important ('topical') in the discourse than the subject, but more important than the indirect object (if present). As noted earlier, the direct object position may be occupied by various semantic roles, as in:
(11) a. They cut the meat (DO = patient) b. He used the knife (DO = instrument) She insulted him (DO = dative) d. He helped her (DO = benefactive)
3.1.4.4. The indirect object
Indirect objects in English simple clauses follow the verb, as well as the direct object (if present). They are morphologically marked by a preposi
tion, one that most typically marks the semantic role of the participant
occupying the indirect object grammatical role. Put another way, preposi tions in English have a strong semantic role. In discourse-pragmatic terms, the indirect object is non-topical.7 Typical indirect objects are:
(12) a. She went to the store (LOC, direction toward) b. They brought her from town (LOC, direction away) c. He walked on the beach (LOC, location on) d. Mary lives in a big house (LOC, location inside) e. John came home with his brother (ASSOC)
f. He told the story to his wife (DAT)
g. She did it for her father (BEN)
i. He cut the meat with a knife (INSTR)
3.1.4.5. Nominal predicate
Nominal predicates in English follow copular verbs such as 'be', are morphologically unmarked (take no preposition), and are pragmatically non-topical. As illustrations, consider:
(13) a. She is a teacher b. John is my brother