Grammatical and lexical valency. Grammatical and lexical context.

The appearance of words in a certain syntagmatic succession with particular logical, semantic, morphological and syntactic relations is called collocability or valency.

Valency is viewed as an aptness or potential of a word to have relations with other words in language. Valency can be grammatical and lexical.

Collocability is an actual use of words in particular word-groups in communication.

Lexical valency is the aptness of a word to appear in various collocations, i.e. in combinations with other words. The lexical valency of correlated words in different languages is not identical. Both the E. plant and Ukr. рослина may be combined with a number of words denoting the place where the flowers are grown, e.g. garden plants, hot-house flowers, etc. (cf. Ukr. садові рослини, оранжерейні рослини, etc.). The English word, however, cannot enter into combination with the word room to denote plants growing in the rooms (cf. pot plants — кімнатні рослини).

The interrelation of lexical valency and polysemy:

-the restrictions of lexical valency of words may manifest themselves in the lexical meanings of the polysemantic members of word-groups, e.g. heavy, adj. in the meaning ‘rich and difficult to digest’ is combined with the words food, meals, supper, etc., but one cannot say * heavy cheese or * heavy sausage;

-different meanings of a word may be described through its lexical valency, e.g. the different meanings of heavy, adj. may be described through the word-groups heavy weight / book / table; heavy snow / storm / rain; heavy drinker / eater; heavy sleep / disappointment / sorrow; heavy industry / tanks, and so on.

From this point of view word-groups may be regarded as the characteristic minimal lexical sets that operate as distinguishing clues for each of the multiple meanings of the word.

Grammatical valency is the aptness of a word to appear in specific grammatical (or rather syntactic) structures. Its range is delimited by the part of speech the word belongs to. This is not to imply that grammatical valency of words belonging to the same part of speech is necessarily identical, e.g.

-the verbs suggest and propose can be followed by a noun (to propose or suggest a plan / a resolution); however, it is only propose that can be followed by the infinitive of a verb (to propose to do smth.);

-the adjectives clever and intelligent are seen to possess different grammatical valency as clever can be used in word-groups having the pattern: Adj. + Prep. at +Noun(clever at mathematics), whereas intelligent can never be found in exactly the same word-group pattern.

-The individual meanings of a polysemantic word may be described through its grammatical valency, e.g.

- keen + Nas in keen sight ‘sharp’; keen + on + Nas in keen on sports ‘fond of’; keen + V(inf)as in keen to know ‘eager’.

Lexical context determines lexically bound meaning; collocations with the polysemantic words are of primary importance, e.g. a dramatic change / increase / fall / improvement; dramatic events / scenery; dramatic society; a dramatic gesture.

In grammatical context the grammatical (syntactic) structure of the context serves to determine the meanings of a polysemantic word, e.g. 1) She will make a good teacher. 2) She will make some tea. 3) She will make him obey.

33. Lexical syntagmatics. Free word-groups vs phraseological units.

A word-group is a combination of at least two meaningful words joined together according to the rules of a particular language.

Words in word-groups are not “free” because their syntagmatic relationships are governed, restricted and regulated, on the one hand, by requirements of logic and common sense and, on the other, by the rules of grammar and combinability.

Distribution is the range of positions in which a linguistic unit can occur, e.g. the noun issue can appear in various combinations:

Adj. + issue: burning, central, critical, crucial, key, vital; controversial, difficult, thorny; economic, moral, political, social, technical, theoretical;

V. + issue: raise; debate, discuss; decide, settle; address, consider, deal with, examine; clarify; focus on; highlight; avoid, evade.

Semantic combinability of words is based on the meanings of words. It is conditioned by the nature of the denotata of words, i.e. it reflects the connections, relations and associations between objects, properties or events in reality. Semantic links between the combining words serve as a basis for free word-groups.

Semantic agreement is the presence of common semantic features (semes) and the absence of contradictory semantic features in the combining words; it is the basic law of semantic combinability. Consider the example below:

*The yellow idea cut the tree.

*Colourless green ideas sleep furiously.

Word-groups:

Constructed in speech

Substitution is possible

individual meanings of the components (motivated)

each notional word functions as a separate syntactic unit

unpredictable

Phraseological units:

ready-made

as a rule, no substitution

meaning is non-motivated (idiomatic)

the whole expression functions as a single syntactic unit

predictable

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