Uniformity of Theta-Assignment Hypothesis

Definition
The Uniformity of Theta-Assignment Hypothesis (UTAH), proposed in Baker (1988), states that identical thematic relationships between items are represented by identical structural relationships between these items at the level of D-structure.

Example
Assuming that Mary in (ia) is in the same thematic relationship with give as in (ib), Baker proposes that the D-structure of (ia) is identical to that of (ib) and that the S-structure of (ia) is derived as in (ii) (by invisibly incorporating to in the verb and moving Mary to the left of a book).

(i)	a. John gave Mary a book b.	John gave a book to Mary (ii)		John gave+toi Maryj a book ti tj

The UTAH has given rise to analyses in cases where the assumption of a D-structural identity is far from obvious, e.g. the pair in (iii). Cf. Hale and Keyser (2002).

(iii)	a. John saddled the horse b.	John put a saddle on the horse

Links

 * Utrecht Lexicon of Linguistics