(in valency grammar) a noun phrase functioning as the agent of the main verb of a sentence
Examples of 'actant' in a sentence
actant
The first actant often, but not always, precedes the preposition.
Lennart Lönngren 2007, 'О первом актанте русского предлога (On the First Actant of the Russian Preposition)',Poljarnyj Vestnik: Norwegian Journal of Slavic Studieshttps://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/vestnik/article/view/1308. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
The noun governed by the preposition can be regarded as its second actant.
Lennart Lönngren 2007, 'О первом актанте русского предлога (On the First Actant of the Russian Preposition)',Poljarnyj Vestnik: Norwegian Journal of Slavic Studieshttps://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/vestnik/article/view/1308. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
In our studies, we have used the semiotic square and the actant analysis.
Laine, Terhi, Saurama, Erja 2009, 'Semiotic Analysis in the Study of Social Work', Social Work and Societyhttp://www.socwork.net/2009/2/researchnotes/lainesaurama. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
In the latter case it forms a preposition phrase which fills an actant position of another predicate.
Lennart Lönngren 2004, 'О каламбурном предлоге с (The Witty Russian Preposition s)', Poljarnyj Vestnik: Norwegian Journal of Slavic Studieshttps://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/vestnik/article/view/1334. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
For example, the preposition together with its second actant can function as an attribute of the first actant.
Lennart Lönngren 2007, 'О первом актанте русского предлога (On the First Actant of the Russian Preposition)',Poljarnyj Vestnik: Norwegian Journal of Slavic Studieshttps://septentrio.uit.no/index.php/vestnik/article/view/1308. Retrieved from DOAJ CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)
We conclude that meaning-free speech/silence sequences, reflecting inter-actant synchronization, at least partially encode typical and atypical conversational dynamics.
Alessandro Tavano, Anna Pesarin, Vittorio Murino, Marco Cristani 2014, 'Automatic Conversational Scene Analysis in Children with Asperger Syndrome/High-FunctioningAutism and Typically Developing Peers', PLoS ONE10.1371/journal.pone.0085819. Retrieved from PLOS CC BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/legalcode)