Giuliano Lancioni

Roma Tre University

The Evolution of Valency Theories in Early
Arabic Grammar
Starting points

Sbawayhi proposes one of the first typologies of
verb classes in the history of the linguistic thinking
Chapters 10-17 of the Kitb implicitly put forth a
mechanism of linking (again, one of the oldest ones)
between semantic arguments and syntactic function
in this respect, the concept of taadd has not
primarily to do with case marking in itself, but rather
with the relation of case marking and adjacency
Some epistemology

Studying the Arabic linguistic tradition is
relevant (I think) under two distinct respects:
to enhance our knowledge and understanding
of the way this specific tradition
conceptualized linguistic categories
more controversially, to give a contribution to
contemporary linguistic research on these
topics
Relevance

Some of Sbawayhis remarks are surprisingly close to
current research on the structure of lexical
semantics, in particular (as far as the verb lexicon is
concerned):
Chuck Fillmores research on argument roles
Beth Levins seminal classification of verb classes
current research projects such as FrameNet and
VerbNet


Taadd in Sbawayhis Kitb

The basic schema:

taadd al-fil (X) il Y*
the action passes
beyond
X towards Y
nominative accusative
Agent/patient: too few roles?
Chuck Fillmore: many roles.
(Abridged) VerbNet list:
Actor
Agent
Asset
Attribute
Beneficiary
Cause
Destination
Experiencer
Extent
Instrument
Location


Material
Oblique
Patient
Predicate
Product
Proposition
Recipient
Source
Stimulus
Theme
Time
Topic
Value

However...

David Dowty:
all roles characterized as
proto-agent vs proto-
patient

A compromise
Current VerbNet Hierarchy
(tied to LIRICS semroles)

Ibn al-Sarrj
An explicit hierarchy of
agent and patient roles
(see PDF...)

Giuliano Lancioni
Roma Tre University
thank you for your attention