Thematic paraphrase

A thematic paraphrase of clause A is a clause which expresses the same proposition and involves the same θ-roles as clause A, but uses different grammatical functions.

Example


 The shopkeeper sells a toy dog to Alan.

A toy dog is sold by the shopkeeper to Alan.

Alan is sold a toy dog by the shopkeeper.

In all sentences in are thematic paraphrases of each other. All contain the same agent (the shopkeeper), the same theme (a toy dog) and the same recipient (Alan). What changes are their grammatical functions (A, P, S, oblique).