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Syntactic model of natural languages developed by Tesnière (1953, 1959), based on structuralism. Important contributions to this theory were made by Gaifman (1961), Hays (1964). For another direction of dependency grammar, cf. ‘daughter dependency grammar’ (Hudson 1976; Schachter 1980) and ‘word grammar’ (Hudson 1984). The main concern of dependency grammar is the description of dependency structures of sentences, i.e. the structure of dependency relations between the elements of a sentence. In this it is assumed that in a syntactic connection between two elements one is the governing and the other the dependent element. When a governing element is dependent on another governing element, a complex hierarchical dependency order results. Dependency grammar represents these structures with tree diagrams whose central node represents the absolute governer of a linguistic structure (in sentences this is the verb). The dependency relationship to an immediately dependent element is shown by a line to a lower node. The dependency structure of the sentence The goat likes the hay very much is represented by the structure below.
The lines symbolize the categorization of linguistic expressions. In this analysis the verb governs two nominal elements and one adverbial element; each noun governs an article; the adverb much governs the adverb very. In addition to the connection, the dependency relation between two elements, the relationship of junction and of translation, is considered as well. Conjunction includes co-ordination as in Philip and Caroline study linguistics; translations describe the case where some particles (translatives) change the syntactic category of an expression and thus allow its connection to the next higher governer: for example, the noun glory in days of glory can become an attribute only with the help of the translative of, when it can be governed by days.
Dependency grammar contributed greatly to the development of valence theory. The valence of a verb (its property of requiring certain elements in a sentence) determines the structure of the sentence it occurs in. Tesnière distinguishes between actants, which are required by the valence of the verb, and circonstants which are optional. In the sentence given above, The goat likes the hay very much, the goat and the hay are two actants and very much is a circonstant of the verb like. Diagrams give no indications of the constituent structure of a sentence. Thus, for example, it cannot be gleaned from the diagram below that the goat or likes the hay very much have been joined into more complex units (subject and complex predicate). Although the relationship between dependency structure and serialization (
word order) was already investigated by Tesnière ( centrifugal vs centripetal), the diagrams do not take the linear order of the sentence elements into account. More recent investigations attempt to explain the constituency (Hudson 1976) as well as the serialization of sentences (Heringer et al. 1980) by introducing additional descriptive tools. The descriptive capacity of dependency grammar can also be enhanced by the addition of transformations (Robinson 1970). Although dependency grammar, in the spirit of structuralism, defends the autonomy of syntax, sentence-semantic considerations are also included in its framework. Tesnière assumes that each syntactic connection corresponds to a semantic relation, and in this context he introduces the term nucleus.
References
Gaifman, H. 1961. Dependency systems and phrase structure systems. Santa Monica, CA.
Hays, D.G. 1964. Dependency theory: a formalism and some observations. Lg 40. 511–25.
Heringer, H.J.
et al. 1980. Syntax: Fragen—Lösun-gen—Alternativen. Munich.
Hudson, R. 1976. Arguments for a non-transformational grammar. Chicago, IL.
——1990. English word grammar. Oxford.
Mel’čuk, J.A. 1988. Dependency syntax: Theory and practice. Albany, NY.
Robinson, J.J. 1970. Dependency structures and transformational rules. Lg 46. 259–85.
Schachter, P. 1980. Daughter-dependency grammar. In E.Moravcsik and J.R.Wirth (eds), Syntax and semantics, vol. 13: Current approaches to syntax. New York. 267–99.
Tarvainen, K. 1981. Einführung in die Dependenzgrammatik. Tübingen.
Tesnière, L. 1953. Esquisse d’une syntaxe structurale. Paris.
——1959. Elements de syntaxe structurale. Paris.
Vennemann, T. 1977. Konstituenz und Dependenz in einigen neueren Grammatiktheorien. Sprachwissenschaft 1. 259–301.
Bibliographies
Hays, D.G. 1965. An annotated bibliography of publications on dependency theory. Santa Monica, CA.
Schumacher, H. and N.Trautz. 1976. Bibliographie zur Valenz und Dependenz. In H.Schumacher (ed.), Untersuchungen zur Verbvalenz. Tübingen. 317–43.
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