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HI-LING

LINGUISTICS IN THE HIGH SCHOOL

UNIT 2: VIOLATION OF MAXIMS

LESSON 3: DEPENDENCY GRAMMAR

Definition:  

The dependency grammar can be described as a series of theories that are based on the relations between the elements of a sentence with a particular focus on the verb.

In other words, it is an alternative descriptive model for the sentence analysis.

Key Concepts

  • The Centrality of the Verb

  • The Valency of the Verb

  • Types of Verbs according to their Valency

  • Arguments and Adverbials

The first and most essential concept of dependency grammar is represented by the centrality of the verb. Differently from traditional grammar, where we tend to dedicate the most of our attention on the central role of the subject, dependency grammar theories have their focus on the verb. In other words, we could imagine the verb as the starting point of the creation of a sentence as well as the nucleus of a cell is the core part for the development of a life form. The verb is thus perceived as the nucleus of a sentence since, on its own, it gives us important basic information on a given event. 

When we think of a verb and its meaning, we logically realise how many elements are necessary for the sentence formation as well as what types of constituents we need. An example will be useful to understand this statement: The verbs “to sleep” and “to give” clearly have two different meanings but there’s also another difference we can find: the verb “to seep” simply needs the subject to form a meaningful sentence. This is not true for the verb “to give”: other than the subject, it requires both a direct and an indirect object to form a sentence.

Verbs have a different number of elements they need. This characteristic is called valency or valence. The verbs are often referred to as predicates while the elements they needs to form a grammatical and meaningful sentence are called arguments. As a matter of fact, there are various types of arguments (ex: the subject, the direct/indirect object etc…). The predicate may also be constituted by the auxiliary verb together with the main verb.

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UNIT 1: THE VERB IS THE STARTING POINT 

Description: in groups, for each sentence identify the subject, the direct object and any other argument if present. Why do some sentences have more than an argument ? Discuss together on the role of the verb in establishing the number of constituents.

Exercise 1

Solutions: . . . 1 She gave the book to John.  Subject: she Direct Object: the book Other Arguments: to John 2 She wrote a letter to her pen pal. Subject: she Direct Object: a letter Other Arguments: to her pen pal 3 The student asked the teacher a question. Subject:​ the students Direct Object: a question Other Arguments: the teacher 4 The chef prepared a delicious meal for the guests. Subject: the chef Direct Object: a delicious meal Other Arguments: --- 5 He handed a bouquet of flowers to his girlfriend. Subject:​ he Object: a bouquet of flowers Other Arguments: to his girlfriend 6 They offered help to the elderly woman. Subject: they Direct Object: help Other Arguments:​​​ to the elderly woman 7 He bought a bottle of wine for the party. Subject: he Direct Object: a bottle of wine Other Arguments:​​​ --- 8 The rain ruined our picnic plans. Subject: the rain Direct Object: our picnic plans Other Arguments:​​​ --- 9 The cat caught the mouse in the kitchen. Subject: the cat Direct Object: the mouse Other Arguments:​​​ --- 10 They played soccer at the park. Subject: they Direct Object: soccer Other Arguments:​​​ ---

  • She gave the book to John. 

    1. Subject:

    2. Direct Object:

    3. Other Arguments:

  • She wrote a letter to her pen pal.

    1. Subject:

    2. Direct Object:

    3. Other Arguments:

  • The student asked the teacher a question.

    1. Subject:​

    2. Direct Object:

    3. Other Arguments:

  • The chef prepared a delicious meal for the guests.

    1. Subject:

    2. Direct Object:

    3. Other Arguments:

  • He handed a bouquet of flowers to his girlfriend.

    1. Subject:​

    2. Direct Object:

    3. Other Arguments:

  • They offered help to the elderly woman.

  1. Subject:

  2. Direct Object:

  3. Other Arguments:​​​

  • He bought a bottle of wine for the party.

  1. Subject:

  2. Direct Object:

  3. Other Arguments:​​​

  • The rain ruined our picnic plans.

  1. Subject:

  2. Direct Object:

  3. Other Arguments:​​​

  • The cat caught the mouse in the kitchen.

  1. Subject:

  2. Direct Object:

  3. Other Arguments:​​​

  • They played soccer at the park.

  1. Subject:

  2. Direct Object:

  3. Other Arguments:​​​

UNIT 2: THE 5 DIFFERENT TYPES OF VALENCY

Verbs can be grouped according to their valency and the different types of relations they can create. Very simple sentences may only involves one argument but there are much more complex possibilities depending on the valence of a verb.

We have 5 types of valency:

Avalent verbs= this category is represented by verbs that are labelled as “impersonal” an example is the verb “to rain” as in the example:  It rains. This example is much more clear in pro-drop languages like Italian (where the subject is not explicitly expressed): piove

Monovalent verbs= commonly know as the intransitive verbs such as “to sleep” as in the previously mentioned example “Sven sleeps”.

Divalent verbs= also know as transitive verbs. It is the case of “to receive” as in the example “Julia has received a book”.

Trivalent verbs= these are verbs that need three arguments such as the verb “to give” as in the example “Sven gives a present to his brother”.  

Quadrivalent verbs= this is the most complex category of verbs since it requires four arguments. An example is provided by the verb “to translate”. Ex: I translate the poetry from English to Italian. 

It should be clear though that a simple sentence such as “Julia has received a book” can still be expanded adding new elements. We could also write the sentence: “Julia has received a book for her future studies in linguistics at the University of Bern”. As you can see, there is a variety of new elements we have just added. These new elements contribute in the creation of a more detailed sentence but they are not necessary for the creation of a minimum meaningful sentence. These elements are thus called adverbials due to the fact they only add supplementary information to our original sentence.  

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Esercizio 2

Description: for each sentence, indicate the type of valency as in the following example:

It rains.

  1. avalent

  2. divalent

  3. trivalent

  • The sun rises in the east.

  1. Divalent.​

  2. Monovalent.

  3. Trivalent.

  • Cooking is my favourite hobby. 

  1. Avalent.​

  2. Divalent.

  3. None of them.

  • Laura learnt French at school.

  1. Divalent.​

  2. Trivalent.

  3. Quadrivalent.

  • Music evokes strong emotions.

  1. Monovalent.

  2. Avalent.

  3. Divalent.

  • Reading is a good hobby​.

  1. Monovalent.​

  2. Divalent.

  3. Trivalent.

  • A rainbow appeared after the rain.

  1. Avalent.​

  2. Monovalent.

  3. None of them.

  • Flowers bloom in the springtime.

  1. Monovalent​.

  2. Quadrivalent.

  3. None of them

  • It snows. 

  1. Trivalent.​

  2. Quadrivalent.

  3. Avalent.

Solutions: . . . 1 The sun rises in the east. Divalent.​ Monovalent. ✓ Trivalent. 2 Cooking is my favourite hobby.  Avalent.​ Divalent. ✓ None of them. 3 Laura learnt French at school. Divalent.​ ✓ Trivalent. Quadrivalent. 4 Music evokes strong emotions. Monovalent​. Avalent. Divalent. ✓ 5 Reading is a great way to expand your knowledge​ Monovalent.​ Divalent. ✓ Trivalent. 6 A rainbow appeared after the rain. Avalent.​ Monovalent. ✓ None of them. 7 Flowers bloom in the springtime. Monovalent​. ✓ Quadrivalent. None of them 8 It snows.  Trivalent.​ Quadrivalent. Avalent. ✓

Final thought for this lesson

You have learnt that verbs can be distinguished according to their valency, namely the amount of necessary elements they need to create a meaningful sentence. Another important aspect of this lesson is the difference between arguments and adverbials. 

Sources Used: 

  • Di Meola, Claudio, La linguistica tedesca. Un’introduzione con esercizi e bibliografia ragionata, Bulzoni Editore, 2004.

  • La Fauci, Nunzio, Compendio di sintassi italiana, Il Mulino, 2009. 

  • Sabatini, Francesco; Camodeca, Carmela; De Satis Cristina, Sistema e testo. Dalla grammatica valenziale all’esperienza dei testi, Loescher, 2011. 

  • Tallerman, Maggie, Understanding Syntax, Routledge, 1998.

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