Each topic that participates in an association plays a role in that association called the association role. In the case of the relationship “Puccini was born in Lucca”, expressed by the association between Puccini and Lucca, those roles might be “person” and “place”; for “Tosca was composed by Puccini” they might be “opera” and “composer”. It will come as no surprise now to learn that association roles can also be typed and that the type of an association role is also a topic!