Article Review of "Valency and the Structure of Compound Words in Modern Greek- by A.
The present paper examines the article, "Valency and the Structure of Compound Words in Modern Greek- by A. Kakouriotis. Before analysing Modern Greek Compounds, Kakouriotis defines Valency and clarifies the syntactic/semantic roles of Verbs and Modifiers within Valency Theory. After the stage has been set, so to speak, Kakouriotis uses the preceding foundational points to investigate the syntactic/semantic functioning of compound words. His conclusions are derived from the similarities between simple clauses and compound words in Modern Greek.
Valency is a word-based approach to syntax. While Constituency Theory is hierarchically arranged, Valency functions in parallel relations. With regards to subordination in Modern Greek, the Adjective position is syntactically determined by the Noun position; semantically, the Adjective is subordinate to the Noun in that it describes the Noun. However, with Valency theory, Nouns and Adjectives are treated symmetrically rather than subordinately: they have a part-to-part relation.
In the author's section on Verb Centrality, he explores the semantic and syntactic role of the Verb in Valency. Syntactically, the Verb determines its Modifiers, both in English and Modern Greek.
Example: .
"eat- (Mod. Grk. "troo-) takes an optional object;.
"devour- (Mod. Grk. "katavroxthethaizo-) takes an obligatory object;.
"dine- (Mod. Grk. "jevmatizo-) takes no object.
Semantically, the Verb determines the number of argument roles within the semantic structure. .
Example:.
An action Verb determines an AGENT argument role;.
An action Verb with a goal determines an argument role of PATIENT or THEME.
The author parallels the Verb role with the role of Nouns, in that a Noun can have centrality in a genitive clause, i.e. Jill's message to her friends. Thus, both the Verb and the Noun produce similar arguments based on the Valency structure.
