dativetarget

Dativetarget is a term used in linguistics to designate the recipient-like argument of a ditransitive verb. It refers to the entity that receives or benefits from an action, typically expressed in the dative case in languages with case systems or marked by a dative preposition or clitic in other languages. The concept helps distinguish the recipient or beneficiary from the patient or theme of the transfer.

In syntactic analysis, the dativetarget is often treated as the indirect object or beneficiary of the transfer. Different theoretical approaches label this role in various ways: some treat it as the syntactic iobj (indirect object), while others assign it a semantic role such as recipient or beneficiary. The exact status of the dativetarget can depend on the language and the chosen linguistic framework.

Cross-linguistic variation is common. In languages with a robust dative case, the dativetarget appears as a dative NP. In languages without a case system, it is usually realized by a prepositional phrase (for example, to or for in English) or by a dative construction with clitics or particles. Some languages allow multiple realizations of the dativetarget, with subtle differences in emphasis or discourse focus.

In natural language processing, identifying the dativetarget can improve parsing and semantic role labeling for ditransitive clauses. Annotation schemes may use a dedicated label such as Dativetarget, or map it to more general roles like indirect object, recipient, or beneficiary depending on the framework. This label aids in representing transfer events, benefactive actions, and related semantic relationships.

Examples include sentences like “Ich gebe dem Mann das Buch” (I give the man the book), where “dem Mann” is the dativetarget. In English, the dativetarget often corresponds to the recipient expressed by to or for, or to the indirect object in the double object construction.