Part of
Dependency Linguistics: Recent advances in linguistic theory using dependency structuresEdited by Kim Gerdes, Eva Hajičová and Leo Wanner
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 215] 2014
► pp. 1–32
Edited by Kim Gerdes, Eva Hajičová and Leo Wanner
[Linguistik Aktuell/Linguistics Today 215] 2014
► pp. 1–32
Dependency in Language
This paper presents a general overview of the notion of linguistic dependency and of its application in formal modeling of Language. Three major types of dependency are distinguished: semantic, syntactic and morphological dependencies; all cases of their 14 possible combinations in a sentence are examined and illustrated. Each type of dependency is characterized in some detail. For syntactic dependency, three sets of formal criteria are introduced; for morphological dependency, its two major subtypes – agreement and government – are described. The main advantages of syntactic dependency are shown, as well as a case of its insufficiency (in coordination). The place and the role of phrases within dependency framework are touched upon. The so-called Bracketing Paradox is briefly discussed.
References (30)
Gerdes, K. & Kahane, S. 2007. Phrasing it differently. In Selected Lexical and Grammatical Issues in the Meaning-Text Theory, L. Wanner (ed.), 297–335. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. 
Hays, D. 1964. Dependency theory: A formalism and some observations. Language 40(4): 511–525.
Iomdin, L. (2010). O modeli russkogo sintaksisa [Modelling Russian syntax]. In Apresjan, Ju., Boguslavskij, I., Iomdin, L. & Sannikov, V., Teoretičeskie problemy russkogo sintaksisa [
Theoretical Problems of Russian Syntax
], pp. 21–43. Jazyki slavjanskix kul’tur, Moskva.
Iordanskaja, L. & Mel’čuk, I. 2009. Establishing an inventory of surface-syntactic relations: Valence-controlled surface-syntactic dependents of the verb in French. In Dependency in Linguistic Description, A. Polguère & I. Mel’čuk (eds), 151–234. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Kahane, S. 2003. The Meaning-Text theory. In Dependency and Valency. An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, Vol. 1, V. Agel, L. Eichinger, H.-W. Eroms, P. Hellwig, H.J. Heringer & H. Lobin (eds), 546–570. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
Mel’čuk, I. 1957. O nekotoryx voprosax MP s vengerskogo jazyka na russkij [On some problems of automatic translation from Hungarian into Russian], Bjulleten¢ ob“edinenija po problemam MP, Vol. 4, 1–75. A more detailed version of this article appeared in Problemy kibernetiki, 1958, 1: 222–264.
. 1963. Avtomatičeskij analiz tekstov (na materiale russkogo jazyka) [Automatic text analysis (based on Russian data)]. In Slavjanskoe jazykoznanie, 477–509. Moskva: Nauka.
. 1974. Opyt teorii lingvističeskix modelej «Smysl ⇔ Tekst» [Outline of a theory of Meaning-Text linguistic models]. Moskva: Nauka. (1999: Škola ‘Jazyki russkoj kul¢tury’, Moskva).
. 1979. Studies in Dependency Syntax. Ann Arbor MI: Karoma.
. 1981. Meaning-Text models: A recent trend in Soviet linguistics. Annual Review of Anthropology 10: 27–62.
. 1988. Dependency Syntax: Theory and Practice. Albany NY: The SUNY Press.
. 1992. Paraphrase et lexique: La théorie Sens-Texte et le Dictionnaire explicatif et combinatoire. In Dictionnaire explicatif et combinatoire du français contemporain. Recherches lexico-sémantiques III, I. Mel’čuk et al., 9–58. Montreal: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal.
. 1993. Cours de morphologie générale, Vol. 1: Introduction + Le mot. Montreal & Paris: Les Presses de l’Université de Montréal & CNRS Éditions.
. 1997. Vers une linguistique Sens-Texte. Leçon inaugurale. Paris: Collège de France.
. 2002. Language: Dependency. In International Encyclopedia of the Social and Behavioral Sciences, N. Smelser & P. Baltes (eds), 8336–8344. Oxford: Pergamon.
. 2003. Levels of dependency in linguistic description: Concepts and problems. In Dependency and Valency. An International Handbook of Contemporary Research, Vol. 1, V. Agel, L. Eichinger, H.-W. Eroms, P. Hellwig, H.J. Herringer & H. Lobin (eds), 188–229. Berlin: Walter de Gruyter.
. 2004. Actants in semantics and syntax, I: Actants in semantics. Linguistics 42(1): 1–66; Actants in semantics and syntax, II: Actants in syntax
Linguistics
42(2): 247–291.
. 2006. Aspects of the Theory of Morphology. Berlin/New York: Walter de Gruyter.
. 2009. Dependency in natural language. In Dependency in Linguistic Description, A. Polguère & I. Mel’čuk (eds), 1–110. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
. 2012. Semantics: From Meaning to Text. Amsterdam: John Benjamins
. 2013. Semantics: From Meaning to Text, Vol. 2. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mel’čuk, I. & Pertsov, N. 1987. Surface Syntax of English. A Formal Model within the Meaning-Text Framework [Linguistic and Literary Studies in Eastern Europe 13]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Mel’čuk, I. & Wanner, L. 2001. Towards a lexicographic approach to lexical transfer in machine translation (illustrated by the German-Russian language pair). Machine Translation 16(1): 21–87.
. 2006. Syntactic mismatches in machine translation. Machine Translation 20(2): 81–138.
. 2008. Morphological mismatches in machine translation. Machine Translation 22(3): 101–152.
Milićević, J. 2007. La paraphrase. Modélisation de la paraphrase langagière. Bern: Peter Lang.
O’Grady, W. 1998. The syntax of idioms. Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 16: 279–312.
Polguère, A. & Mel’čuk, I. (eds). 2009. Dependency in Linguistic Description [Studies in Language Companion Series 111]. Amsterdam: John Benjamins.
Robinson, J. 1970. Dependency structures and transformational rules. Language 46(2): 259–285.
Zwicky, A. 1993. Heads, bases and functors. In Heads in Grammatical Theory, G. Corbett, N. Fraser & S. McGlashan (eds), 292–315. Cambridge: CUP.