Theme (semantic role)

Definition
Theme is the object that is located or relocated in space.

Example
the glass is a theme both in (i)a (location) and (i)b (relocation).

(i) a	The glass is on the table b	The glass fell from the table (ii) a	The glass is mine b	John gave the glass away

The interpretation of thematic roles has been generalized in terms of 'abstract space'; then, a theme is what is in a state or in a change of state, and the notion applies to the glass in (ii)a (state) and (ii)b (change of state) as well.

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics