Thoughts on valency

This paper employs semantic network - nodes united by dependency arrows - to represent valency relations. These relations obtain not only between words, as is generally held, but between all kinds of linguistic signs, including flexional morphemes, suprasegmental signs expressed by intonation and word order and also totally implicit signs. Not all signs occupy nodes in the network; certain signs are empty or superfluous, for instance the preposition on in the phrase depend (on) something. An important tool to establish the status of each sign is graphic isomorphy holding between representations of equivalent structures. On the expression plane, signs may be incorporated into other signs. This is indicated by means of angular brackets, for example er, rich. Every sign is regarded as an atomic unit. Semantically, reader is not composed by the morphemes read and -er; the two signs read and reader occupy separate nodes. Special attention is paid to the valency frame of verbs. Some derived structures are regarded as a result of widening the valency frame by transforming adjuncts into complements. Other fields elaborated at some length are the process of substantivation and isomorphy of expressions belonging to different languages.