The Status of Subjects
The subcategorization notion is similar to the notion of valency, although subcategorization originates with phrase structure grammars in the Chomskyan tradition, whereas valency originates with Lucien Tesnière of the dependency grammar tradition. The primary difference between the two concepts concerns the status of the subject. As it was originally conceived of, subcategorization did not include the subject, that is, a verb subcategorized for its complement(s) (=object and oblique arguments) but not for its subject. Many modern theories now include the subject in the subcategorization frame, however. Valency, in contrast, included the subject from the start. In this regard, subcategorization is moving in the direction of valency, since many phrase structure grammars now see verbs subcategorizing for their subject as well as for their object(s).
Read more about this topic: Subcategorization Frame
Famous quotes containing the words status and/or subjects:
“Knowing how beleaguered working mothers truly are—knowing because I am one of them—I am still amazed at how one need only say “I work” to be forgiven all expectation, to be assigned almost a handicapped status that no decent human being would burden further with demands. “I work” has become the universally accepted excuse, invoked as an all-purpose explanation for bowing out, not participating, letting others down, or otherwise behaving inexcusably.”
—Melinda M. Marshall (20th century)
“It is hard to be finite upon an infinite subject, and all subjects are infinite.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)