What is the semantic/thematic/theta role of the object in a sentence like "John told Mary to go home."? Is it EXPERIENCER? Or is that only for sentences like "Mary heard what John said."? Is it GOAL? Because it would certainly seem like GOAL or maybe RECIPIENT in a sentence like "John spoke to Mary." But I think different verbs can assign different roles to each element even when they are describing the same scene? I guess if nothing else then Mary is simply a PATIENT?
