1
As background for the description, we draw on the widely accepted grammatical tradition, according to which four classes of verbs are distinguished in Georgian language:
Active verbs (V_act)
Active-Medium verbs (V_m_a)
Passive_Medium verbs (V_m_p)
Stative verbs (V_sta)
Each of them can be represented in three series or tense groups (cf.Kita Tschenkeli. Einführung in die georgische Sprache, Amirani-Verlag, 1958) henceforth referred to as I series, II series, and III series. Each series is defined by bunches of tense, aspect and mode characteristics plus some additional semantic features that do not need to be grammatically marked.
V_act verbs are two and three argument verbs conjugated in "Subject" order (in other words, in the Finite
Verb Form (FVF) the preference is given to Subject marking by specific affixes). The other three classes
(V_m_a, V_m_p, and V_sta) consist of intransitive verbs, which sometimes follow the "Object" order of conjugation giving preference to Object marking in the finite verb. Moreover, in the III series transitive verbs exhibit the phenomenon of "inversion". This means (from the point of view of traditional grammars) that personal markers that denote the Subject in the other series (res. tense groups), denote in the III series the (direct) Object , and vice versa. Therefore, in the case of Georgian, a "Conjugation system" feature should be introduced; for instance, for the "Subject" order the "+" sign, and for the "Object" order the "-" sign can be used.
Due to syntactic valency, Noun Phrases are bound to the verb classes. The finite verb forms "govern" NP arguments (resp. predict the grammatical case of the semantic head of the NPs) that vary according to their grammatical function and type of the series that the FVF represents.
The distribution of the NP arguments through the series can be depicted as follows:
1.1. V_act; 3 valence; Conj_sys: +
I series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj] [I-Obj]
Case: NOM DAT DAT
II series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj] [I-Obj]
Case: NAR NOM DAT
III series
Conj_sys: -
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj] [I-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM GEN + "this"

1.2. V_act; 2 valence; Conj_sys: +
I series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj]
Case: NOM DAT
II series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj]
Case: NAR DAT
III series
Conj_sys: -
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
2.V_m_a; Conj_sys: +
I series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NOM
II series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NAR
III series
Conj_sys: -
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: DAT
3.1. V_m_p; Conj_sys: +
Aux: +
"dgoma" (to stand), "wola" (to lie)
I series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NOM
II series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NOM
III series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NOM
3.2. V_m_p; Conj_sys: -
"Zili" (to sleep)
I series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: DAT
II series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: NAR
III series
Functional role: [Subj]
Case: DAT
2

3
3.3. V_m_p; Conj_sys: -
"dajereba" (to believe)
I series
Functional role: [Subj] [I-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
II series
Functional role: [Subj] [I-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
III series
Functional role: [Subj] [I-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
4. V_sta; Conj_sys: -
I series
Functional role: [Subj] [I-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
II series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
III series
Functional role: [Subj] [D-Obj]
Case: DAT NOM
In relation to the Noun Phrase, the patterns listed above can be summarised as follows:
Grammatical function: [Subj | D_Obj | I_Obj]
Syntactic/Semantic head (N PRON)
Case (NOM, NAR, DAT, GEN + "tvis")
The use of separate syntactic and semantic heads makes no sense as there are no determiners in Georgian.
NP arguments can be realised as noun phrases or a pronoun (PRON).
Since there are no prepositions in Georgian, their function is fulfilled by the postpositional suffixes: "viT" (as), "-Tan" (with), "-ze" (on), "-Si" (in), "-Tvis" (for), "-gan" (from smb.), "-ken" (to), "-dan" (from somewhere), "-mde" (till), "-mdis" (until). The suffixes are 'agglutinated' to the NP.
NP + Post -> PtP
Grammatical function: [Simple-Obj]
Syntactic/Semantic head (N + suff)
Case (STEM, STEM + "i" (i), GEN, GEN + "a", (a))
Actually, the possible syntactic and semantic heads are "linked" in a single word producing syntactically unbound postpositional NPs, except the case of ‘I_Obj of V_act, 3 valence’ in the III series (cf. 1.1.)
"yvela gza [PtP: romisaken] midis" (All roads lead to Rome)

PRON_indic + Post -> PtP
Grammatical function: [Simple_Obj]
Syntactic/Semantic head (PRON_INDIC + suff)
Case (STEM = {"ima-"(ima-), "im-"(im-)})
"is fiqrobs imaze" (*He thinks that about)
"is cdeba imaSi" (*He is mistaken that in)
1.CP -> PRON_rel ["vinc"] + VP * PRON_rel ["vinc"] = relational pronoun standing for human being
Grammatical function: [Subj]
Syntactic head: PRON_rel
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic complement: semantic head of VP
"[SUBJ: vinc daangria], manve unda aaSenos" (who has destroyed [smth], he has to rebuild)
"uyvarT is, [SUBJ:vinc imsaxurebs]" (he is beloved, who deserves)
2.CP -> C ["rom"] + VP
Grammatical function: [I_Obj]
Syntactic head: C
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic complement: semantic head of VP
"man icis, [I_OBJ: rom is Wkviania]" (He knows, that he is smart)
"[I_OBJ: rom borusia daamarcxos], verderma Zalian unda ecados
(To defeat Borussia Werder has to try much)
3.CP -> PRON_rel ["rac"] + VP * PRON_rel ["rac"] = relational pronoun standing for nonhuman
Grammatical function: [D_Obj]
Syntactic head: PRON_rel
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic complement: semantic head of VP
"moimko, rac daTesa" ([he] has harvested, what had sown)
4.CP -> PRON_int ["Tu", "rogor", "rodis", ...] + vp * PRON_int = interrogative pronoun
Grammatical function: [Evaluer???]
Syntactic head: PRON_Int
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic complement: semantic head of VP
"mas ainteresebs, Tu anaTebs mze" (He is interested whether the sun is shining)
"man mkiTxa me, rogor vimgzavreT" (He asked me how was the journey)
4

5
ADJP -> [ADV_intens = {"Zalian" | "metad" | "uaRresad"}] + ADJ
"ronaldo [ADJP: saukeTeso] fexburTelia" {copula arg}
(Ronaldo the best soccer +is)
"igori [ADJP:Zalian Wkviania]" < [ADJP: Wkviani+a[ris]] {copula arg}
(Igor veri clever + is)
ADVP -> [ADV_intens = {"Zalian" | "metad" | "uaRresad"}] + ADV
"baTumis matarebeli [ADVP: Zalian nela] dadis"
(* The train to Batumi moves very slowly)
"dro [ADVP: isariviT] mihqris" (The time flies as an arrow)
COR + VP "rogorc" + NP * COR stands for correlate = {"ise", "iseve"}
[N + viT] + VP
COR + VP "TiTqos" ... NEG + V
"ise tiris, rogorc bavSvi" (*Cries so, as a child)
"me iseve meSinia, rogorc Sen" (*I am afraid as well, as you are)
"kusaviT moZraobs" (Moves as a turtle)
"ise iqceva, TiTqos mas es ar exeba" ([he] behaves so, as if it does not concern him)
Auxiliary verb = {"yofna"} (to be)
In Georgian the auxiliary verb "yofna" builds finite verb forms as a copula for V_m_p and is no longer considered as an auxiliary verb then. vdga + var (I am standing) dga + xar (You are standing) dga + s (He is standing)
Passive
The general structure of a finite verb form in Georgian is:
prefix_group + root + suffix_group where the prefix_group is composed of proverbs, a Subject prefix and an Object prefix, and a "version vowel". The suffix_group is more complex. It may consist of stem suffixes, suffixes denoting tense, mode, causative, passive, person and number, and indirect speech. All prefix and suffix morphemes are optional, but their order is fixed. There are complex rules for morpheme co-occurrence.
For building passive finite verb forms, there are four different possibilities which depend on the verb type.
There are prefix markers "i"(i) and "e"(e), which are located just before the verb root and derive one argument ("i") and two argument ("e") passive forms from V_act.
"mal-av-s is mas" (Smb hides away smb)
"i-mal-eba is" (Smb is hiding himself)
"e-mal-eb-a is mas" (Smb is hiding himself from smb)
For V_m_a verbs, a suffix "d" (d) that is attached just after the root builds a one argument FVF:

6
"mef-ob-s is" (Smb is ruling as a king)
"mef-d-eb-a is" (Smb is getting a king)
There is a fourth type of passivisation that forms passive by means of a zero marker in combination with other verbal morphemes; cf.:
"a-Tb-ob-s is mas" (Smb is warming smth)
"Tb-eb-a is" (Smb is warming himself)
Taking into consideration ways of passivisation in Georgian, the lexicon entries should be marked as follows:
Pass {i-}
Pass {e-}
Pass {-d-}
Pass {0}
In case of lexical verbs that cannot build passive forms (V_m_p, V_sta), the feature "Pass {no}" must be indicated.
Impersonal clause
In Georgian, impersonal clauses describe events instigated by the "forces of nature". Such clauses are represented by the "bare" third person FVF singular, Conj_sys: +:
IC -> V_3p_sg, Conj_sys: +
Ramdeba ([It is] getting dark) elavs (* lightning) wvims ([It is] raining)
Tovs ([It is] smowing)
But there are parallel forms too, which cannot be considered as Impersonal clauses: wvima modis (* Rain is coming)
Tovli modis (* Snow is coming)
Basic order
As it is usually the case in languages with rich morphology, the word order in Georgian is free and in concrete cases determined by the Thema/Rheme relation. For technical reasons, we prefer to describe syntactic frames in the following order:
SUBJ PRED I_OBJ D_OBJ
1.Seneba
[is] aSenebs [did saxls] [Tavisi ojaxisaTvis]
(He is building a big house for his family).
V_act
Conj_sys

+
Pass
{-d} args
[subj(NP[nom]) d_obj((ADJP[stem])(NP[dat])) PtP((PRON_poss[stem+i])(NP[gen+post]))]
2.molodini
[Cven] veliT, [rom male ukeTesi dro mova]
(*We are waiting that the better times come).
V_m_p
Conj_sys
+
Pass
{no} args
[subj(NP[nom]) i_obj(CP([rom] (VP))]
3.[yvela gza] [romSi] midis
(All roads lead to Rome)
V_m_p
Conj_sys
+
Pass
{no} args
[subj((Quant)(NP[nom])) PtP(NP(stem+suff))]
4. [rubensi] [Tavis cols] Zalian xSirad xatavda
(Rubens used to draw his wife very often).
V_act
Conj_sys
+
Pass
{i-, e-} args
[subj(NP[nom]) d_obj((PRON_poss)(NP[dat]))
5. [xuan-karlosi] [espaneTSi] mefobs
(Juan-Carlos reigns in Spain).
V_m_a
Comj_sys
+
Pass
{-d}
[subj(NP[nom]) PtP(NP[stem+suff])]
7

8
In Russian, most of the verbs have two infinitival forms that differ with respect to aspect. From the first infinitival form, imperfect finite verb forms (FVFs) are derived; from the second, the perfect FVFs are derived. Tense forms and aspect are strictly bound. The FVF in Present tense is always of imperfect aspect, while in Past tense and Future tense both forms are available.
Besides, there are reflexive verbs in Russian. Most of them can be derived from ordinary non-reflexive verbs by special suffixes. However, several types of verbs exist that have no reflexives; equally, there are reflexive types of verbs that possess no non-reflexive correlates. Most of the non-reflexive verbs are transitive and build passive by means of the reflexive correlate. The originally reflexive verbs are intransitive and cannot undergo passivization. Hence, the mentioned circumstances should be reflected by the verb features.
As syntactic arguments, NPs can be linked in Russian with verbs in the following way:
Grammatical Function: [Subj]
Syntactic/Semantic head: (N PRO)
Case: (NOM)
Grammatical function: [D-Obj]
Syntactic/Semantic head: (N PRO)
Case: (ACC)
Grammatical function: [I-Obj]
Syntactic/Semantic head (N PRO)
Case: (GEN, DAT, INS)
NP arguments can be realised as phrases that consist of a governor (res. syntactic/semantic head) and its dependants. The governor is first of all a noun or a pronoun.
[NP:
Ñòàðûé ïîëêîâíèê Áóåíäèà] ñîçåðöàë [ NP: Ìèð] (lit. (The) old colonel Buendia contemplated the
World).
As dependants, adjectives, participles and numerals are detected. If nominalised, they may also function as governors, cf.:
[NP:
Çåë¸íûå ] çàùèùàþò [ NP:
îêðóæàþùóþ ñðåäó ] (lit. (The) Greens protect the environment).
[NP: Îòâàæíûå] âñåãäà ïîáåæäàþò (lit. (The) Courageous always win).
[NP: Îäèí ] äðàëñÿ [ PP: çà âñåõ], [NP: âñå] - [PP: ça îäíîãî ].
(lit. One was fighting for all, all - for one).
Besides, the construction 'Noun + "s" + Noun' (Noun + with + Noun) can also be represented as the head of an NP; cf.:
[NP:
Îòåö ñ ñûíîì ] óâëåêàþòñÿ
[NP:
ôóòáîëîì ] (lit. (The) father with the son are interested in soccer).

9
PREP + NP -> PP
Grammatical function: [I-Obj]
Syntactic head: PREP
Syntactic complement: NP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic head: semantic head of NP
Case (GEN, DAT, ACC, INS, PREP)
Ñïèëáåðã ïîëó÷èëà ïðåìèþ
[PP_GEN: îò æþðè ] (lit. Spilberg received a prize from the jury).
Äèññåðòàöèþ ïîñëàëè [PP_DAT: ê îïïîíåíòó ] (lit. The dissertation was sent to the opponent).
Îí ïåðåæèâàåò
[PP_ACC:
çà âñåõ]
(lit. He is worried about everybody).
Îí èçâèíèëñÿ [ PP_INS: ïåðåä íèì ] (lit. He apologised before him).
Îí ÷àñòî äóìàåò
[PP_PREP:
î äåòÿõ ] (lit. He often thinks about (the) children).
3.1.CP -> C [" ÷òî", "÷òîáû", "êàê áóäòî", "êîãäà " ] + VP
Grammatical function: [D_OBJ | I_OBJ]
Syntactic head: C
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Case: all possible values with and without prepositions (except NOM and ACC)
Îí çíàåò , [D_OBJ (CP: ( ÷òî âèíîâåí ))] (He knows that [he] is guilty)
Áàâàðèÿ ïîâåðèëà, [I_OBJ CP: (÷òî ôèíàë âûèãðàí ))] ( lit. Bavaria believed that the finals are won).
Ãàçåòû ïèñàëè,
[I_OBJ CP: ( êàê áóäòî â Àôðèêå ïîøåë ñíåã ))] (lit. The newspapers reported as if in Africa it was snowing).
Îí õîòåë,
[D_OBJ CP: ( ÷òîáû âñå åãî ïîíèìàëè ))] (lit. He wanted that everybody understands him).
ß âûÿñíèë [D_OBJ CP: ( êîãäà îòõîäèò ïîåçä ))] (lit. I found out when the train departs).
In the main clause, an indicative pronoun PRO_ind " òî" (that) can appear in different cases. Its number correlates with the number of the sentential arguments; cf.:
Îíè çíàþò òî, ÷òî íåçíàþò äðóãèå (lit. They know that, what the others don’t know).
Âñå ïåðåæèâàëè çà òî, ÷òî ø¸ë äîæäü (lit. Everybody worried about that that it was raining).
In such cases, "÷òî" (what/that) should be considered as a Conjunction that complements PRO_ind of the main clause. If the correlate is dropped in the main clause, the following VP with "÷òî" is, as syntactic head, a sentential argument. The same can be observed in the case of the Conjunction "êòî" (who); cf.:
Áàíê îãðàáèëè òå, êòî çíàë ãäå êëþ÷ ëåæàë (lit. The bank robbed those who knew where the key was).
In the case of omitted correlates, embedded clause is a sentential argument; cf.:
Äîì ïîñòðîèë,
[SUBJ (CP: ( êòî áûë ãîðàçä ))] (lit. The house has built [the one] who was mighty).
Êóáîê âûèãðàë , [SUBJ (CP: ( êòî çàñëóæèë ))] (lit. The cup has won [the one] who has deserved (it)).
However, to emphasise the Subject, the order may also be reversed:
[SUBJ (CP: ( Êòî áûë ãîðàçä))], äîì ïîñòðîèë
[SUBJ (CP: ( Êòî çàñëóæèëâàë))], êóáîê âûèãðàë
Therefore, for Russian an additional type of CP should be specified:
3.2.CP -> CW ["êòî", "÷òî"] + VP
Grammatical function: [SUBJ | OBJ]
Syntactic head: CW

10
Syntactic complement: VP
Complement status: obligatory
Semantic head: semantic head of VP
Case: all possible values
VP_inf -> INF [+ NP_CASE]
Grammatical function: [D_OBJ]
Syntactic/Semantic head: Inf
Syntactic complement: optional
Case: -
In the case of certain verbs (ïîñîâåòîâàòü, îáåùàòü, çàäóìàòü, ðåøèòü, âîçíàìåðèòüñÿ, ïîêëÿñòüñÿ, etc.), an infinitive verb form with an NP can function as sentential argument; cf.:
Îí ïîñîâåòîâàë åìó
[D_OBJ: (VP_inf: ( íàïèñàòü êíèãó ))] (lit. He suggested him to write a book).
Ñûí îáåùàë îòöó [D_OBJ: (VP_inf: ( ïîñàäèòü äåðåâî ))] (The son promised the father to plant a tree).
Ìû çàäóìàëè
[D_OBJ: (VP_inf: ( ïîñòðîèòü ðûíî÷íóþ ýêîíîìèêó ))] (lit. We planned to build a market economy)
Âàðóñ ïîêëÿëñÿ [D_OBJ: (VP_inf: ( îòîìñòèòü Àðìèíèþ )] (lit. Varus sworn revenge upon Arminius)
ADJP -> [ADV_int +] ADJ * ADV_int = {î÷åíü, ÷åðåç÷óð,etc}
Íàøè îòíîøåíèÿ áûëè [ADJP: íàïðÿæåííûìè] (lit. Our relations were tense).
Êîíåö ïüåñû ïîêàçàëñÿ [ADJP: î÷åíü ðàñòÿíóò ] (lit. The end part of the play appeared to be very strained).
6.1. ADVP -> [ADV_int +] ADV
Íîðèåãà â¸ë ñåáÿ
[ADVP:
âûçûâàþùå ] (Noriega behaved provocatively).
Âîéñêà íàñòóïàþò [ADVP: áûñòðûìè òåìïàìè ] (The military forces attack with rapid pace).
6.2. ADVP -> ADV {"êóäà", "ãäå", ...} + VP
Âñå áåãóò [ADVP: êóäà ãëàçà ãëÿäÿò ] (lit.Everybody runs to where the eyes can look).
Ðûáà âîäèòñÿ
[ADVP:
ãäå âîäà ãëóáæå ] (lit. The fish is found where the water is deeper)
7.1. NP_nom {copula} + ADJ_red / "êàê" + NP_nom (Present tense) *ADJ_red-reduced form of
Adjective
NP_nom + V_Aux {áûòü} + ADJ_red / "êàê" + NP_nom (Past, Future tense)
The comparative constructions in Russian are expressed by two phrases linked by the adverb "êàê" (as) that governs, as syntactic head, the right side NP_nom. The left side is built up by the NP_nom and a reduced form of an adjective. It expresses the nominal part of the complex predicate; cf.:

11
Øåðïû çíàìåíèòû êàê àëüïèíèñòû
(lit. The Sherps are famous as climbers).
Êëèíñìàíí áûë èçâåñòåí êàê êîððåêòíûé ôóòáîëèñò (lit. Klinsmann was known as a correct soccer player).
7.2. NP_nom + FVF [+ XP +] "òàê / êàê"+ XP
In another type of comparative constructions, the two phrases are linked by the adverb pair "òàê / êàê" (so
/ as). The left side consists of an NP_nom and a FVF to which any possible type of phrase (res. [+ XP]) can be attached. The attached phrase can be of variable size. Cf.:
ßíêè âåäóò ñåáÿ òàê, êàê õîçÿåâà (lit. Jankies behave so, as lords [do]).
Îíè ïîñòóïàþò ñ íàìè òàê, êàê èì çàáëàãîðàññóäèòñÿ (lit. They treat us so, as it comes to their mind).
Îíè äåëàþò âñå òàê, êàê èì õî÷åòñÿ (lit. They are doing everything so, as they wish).
7.3. NP_nom + FVF [+ XP +] ""òàê / êàê áóäòî" + XP
This type of comparative construction differs from the former one only in terms of mood. The particle
"áóäòî" (as if) changes the Indicative Mood to the Subjunctive Mood; cf.:
Îíè âåñåëèëèñü òàê, êàê áóäòî îíè áûëè ïîáåäèòåëÿìè (lit.They enjoyed themselves so, as if they were the winners)
This kind of argument is common in clauses that describe events with an unspecified Subject.
The FVF is typically represented by the third person, pl. In such a clause, the possible (syntactic and sentential) arguments that carry different grammatical functions predicted by the syntactic valency can appear with the FVF. The subject slot is empty (in English, such FVFs are usually passivized):
USC -> [NP +] V_3p_pl [+ XP] * XP: any possible phrase
[NP: Âàì] çâîíèëè [PP: ïî òåëåôîíó ] (lit. [They] called you by phone).
[NP:
Ìíå] ïîðó÷èëè
[VP_Inf:
ïoáëàãîäàðèòü âàñ ] (lit. [They] asked me to thank you).
In Russian, impersonal clauses express events that happen without an instigator. There is no Subject sought in such clauses. They express:
9.1. Natural events
In such clauses, FVF is carries the features ‘third person’, ‘neuter’:
IC -> V_3p_n
ìîðîçèò
([It is] freezing)
ñâåòàåò ([It is] getting light)
9.2. IC -> NP_GEN + FVF a) The state of a human being
Ìåíÿ çíîáèëî
(I was shivering)
Åìó íåçäîðîâèòñÿ (He is feeling ill)

12 b) Feelings
Ìíå æàëü áåäíûõ ëþäåé
(I am sorry for poor people) c) Events that happen without one's will
Ìíå õî÷åòüñÿ ñïàòü (I want to sleep) d) Events that are brought about by under-specified force
Äîðîãó çàíåñëî (The road is snow-bound)
Ìíå ïîâåçëî (I was lucky)
Basic order
Frequency studies (Ñèðîòèíèíà 1965) and experimental data on word order preferences (Holden and Krupp
1987) indicate that the basic word order in Russian is SV(O). However, basic word order is characteristic only of contextually independent sentences with transitive verbs and of full nominal expressions
(Siewerska 1988). Although it is a useful notion in cross-linguistic discussions concerning language typology, it is of a more limited value in studies that are restricted to a single language. In fact, in Russian all possible word order configurations of the Subject, verb and verbal complement are found (Adamec
1966).
According to Adamec (1966:9-10), the primary function of Russian word order is to express the communicative function of the sentence's components. In the absence of marked intonation, referencially established old information is placed to the left of new information. This description is based on
Mathesius's theory of Functional Sentence Perspective. Similar descriptions of Russian are found in
Êîâòóíîâà (1976), and the Academy Grammar (Øâåäîâà at al. 1980), where the terms "Theme" and
"Rheme" refer to old, respectively new, information. Theme represents the utterence's point of departure, and Rheme its communicative goal.Nonetheless, sometimes there are cases when the role of the word and its position determines the sense of an utterance. Thus, in the sentence
Íî÷ü ñìåíÿåò äåíü (lit. The night replaces daylight) the form of the noun in Genitive coincides with the form of the noun in Nominative. Therefore, it is difficult to distinguish betwee SUBJ and D_OBJ. For such ambiguous sentences, SUBJ should be put at the first place. In usual cases, the order
NP_NOM NP_DAT NP_ACC is preferable.
Adamec, P.1966. Ïoðÿäîê Ñëîâ â Ñîâðåìåííîì Ðóññêîì ßçûêå. Pozdravy
Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved. Rada spolecenskych ved, 76.15. Prague: Ceskoslovenske Akademie Ved.
Holden, K.T, M. Krupp. 1987. Word order in Russian Transitive sentences. Folia Slavica 8: 254-271.
Siewerska, A. 1988. Word Order Rules. London: Croom Helm.
Ñèðîòèíèíà Î.Â. 1965. Ïîðÿäîê Ñëîâ â Ðóññêîì ßçûêå. Ñàðàòîâ
Øâåäîâà, Í. Þ., Í.Ä. Àðóòþíîâà, À..Â. Áîíäàðêî, Âàë . Âàñ. Èâàíîâ,

Â.Â. Ëîïàòèí, È.Ñ. Óëóõàíîâ, Ô.Ï. Ôèëèí (eds) 1980. Ðóññêàÿ Ãðàììàòèêà. Ìîñêâà: Íàóêà.
1. Âûïëàòèòü
[Îí] âûïëàòèë [çàðïëàòó] [ñîòðóäíèêàì]
(He payed off the salary to the employees) args
[Subj(PRO[nom]) D_Obj(NP[acc}) I_OBJ(NP[dat])]
2.
Âñïîìíèòü (remind, recall)
[ Áðàò] âñïîìíèë [ñâîþ ñåñòðó ]
(The brother recalled his sister) args
[Subj(PRO[nom]) D-Obj(NP(PRO_poss[acc]) N[dat])]
Îíà âñïîìíèëà î áðàòå
(She recalled about her brother) args
[Subj(PRO[nom]) I_OBJ(PP((syn_head "o") NP(N[prep]))]
[ Îí] âñïîìíèë [÷òî äîëæåí ïîçâîíèòü]
(He recalled that [he] had to phone) args
[Subj(PRO[nom]) D_OBJ(CP([chto] (VP))]
3.
ñêàçàòü (tell, say)
[ Îí] ñêàçàë [ìàòåðè] [ïðàâäó ]
(He told Mother the truth) args
[Subj(PRO[nom]) I_OBJ(NP(N[dat])) D_OBJ(NP(N[acc]))]
4.
ðàññåðäèòüñÿ
[Îí] ðàññåðäèëñÿ [íà âåñü ìèð]
(He got angry about everybody) args
[Subj(NP(PRO[nom])) I_OBJ(PP([na]) NP((ADJ) (N[acc]))]
5.
íðàâèòüñÿ
[Îí] íðàâèòñÿ [ïóáëèêå]
(He pleases the audience) args
[Subj(NP(PRO[nom])) I_OBJ(NP(N[dat]))]
13

14
[ Ïîëêîâíèêó] íðàâèëîñü [êîìàíäîâàòü]
(The colonel liked to give orders) args
[I_OBJ(NP(N[dat])) Subj(Inf)]
6.
âûëåòåòü
[ Îí] âûëåòåë [ â Ìîñêâó ]
(He departed [by plane] to Moscow) args
[Subj(NP(N[nom]) D_arg(PP(prep[v]) NP(N[acc]))] * D_arg - directive arg
7.
óéòè
[ Îí] óø¸ë [èç äîìà ]
(He went away from home) args
[Subj(NP(PRO[nom])) L_arg(PP(prep[iz]) NP(N[gen]))] * L_arg - locative arg
8.
êèâíóòü
[ Îí] êèâàåò [ãîëîâîé] [ñîñåäÿì ]
(* He nods [with head] to the neighbours) args
[Subj(NP(PRO[nom])) I_OBJ(NP(N[ins])) I_OBJ(N[dat])]
For English, there have already been many initiatives aiming to produce inventories of subcategorisation frames, suitable for lexicographic purposes, and the most appropriate strategy for GREG is to take use of these. The inventories stretch back at least to the 1948 Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (Hornby,
1948), LDOCE (LDOCE, 1878) and (Quirk, 1972, 1985). These lists have been adapted and used for lexicon development for language engineering in the Alvey Natural Language Tools project
( http://www.cl.cam.ac.uk/Research/NL/anlt.html
), XTAG, ( http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~xtag/techreport/tech-report.html
), COMLEX ( http://cs.nyu.edu/cs/faculty/grishman/comlex.html
), and Lexsys

15
( http://www.cogs.susx.ac.uk/lab/nlp/lexsys/
). The COMLEX subcategorisation frame inventory will be used for GREG.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE). Edited by Paul Proctor. Harlow: Longman,
1978.
Hornby, A. S. Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English (OALDCE). Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 1948.
Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, and J. Svartvik. A Grammar of Contemporary English. London:
Longman, 1972.
Quirk, R., S. Greenbaum, G. Leech, and J. Svartvik. A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language.
London: Longman, 1985.

16
Part 1 introduces all syntactic information, which are considered to be relevant for the description of subcategorization frames for German verbs. This includes all possible categorial labels of verbal arguments as well as morphosyntactic and other relevant syntactic restrictions.
Part 2 contains a superficial comparison with the EAGLES recommendations of subcategorization. At the end, examples of a possible encoding scheme are given.
Grammatical function: [Subj | Obj | I-Obj]
Syntactic head (DET N PRON)
Semantic head (N PRON)
Case: (NOM,ACC,GEN,DAT)
NP arguments can be realized as determiner phrases (DP), noun phrases without a determiner (NP-D) or as pronouns (PRON).
[DP Ein tapferer Junge] weint nicht.
[DP Der tapfere Junge] weint nicht.
[NP-D Tapfere Jungen] weinen nicht.
[PRON Er] weint nicht.
Motivation for the use of a syntactic and semantic head:
Different frameworks argue for different heads for nominal arguments with a determiner. In GB theory the determiner is considered to be the head, whereas in LFG the noun is regarded as the head.
Instead of using only one head and making a theory-depended assumption, which element should be the head, the use of two heads (a syntactic and a semantic one) could make sense. Especially in formulating
(semantic) constraints in a wider sense as in the GREG project. For instance, regarding the two sentences:
I saw the man [with the blue telescope] / syn-head=with, sem-head=telescope
I saw the man [with the blue car] / syn-head=with, sem-head=car
If we know that see and telescope stand in some relation (e.g. INSTRUMENT(see, telescope)) and see and car don't, this could be very helpful for statistical approaches to disambiguation problems like PPattachment.
1.) PP -> PREP + NP
Grammatical function: [ P-Obj ]
Syntactic head: PREP (e.g. auf , nach , etc,)
Syntactic complement: NP
Semantic head: semantic head of NP
Case: (NOM,ACC,GEN,DAT)

17
2.) PP -> PAV (e.g. darauf = da+r+auf )
Grammatical function: [ P-Obj ]
Syntactic head: prepositional part of PAV (e.g. auf )
Syntactic complement: (CP | VP-infz)
Complement status: optional
Semantic head: non-prepositional part of PAV (e.g. da(r) )
PP arguments are realized in most cases by a PREP+NP-construct. Pronominal adverbs (PAV) can be considered as a PP-tree with a preposition and a governed pronominal NP da(r) . If PAV stands for a propositional argument, it can govern an optional sentence complement that expresses the proposition (if usually the proposition was not mentioned before).
Man hat ihn [PP zu [NP dem Treffen]] überredet.
Man hat ihn [PP dazu] überredet.
Man hat ihn [PP dazu] überredet, [VP-infz sich mit ihnen zu treffen].
1.a) CP -> C[ dass , wenn ,...] + VP-end
Grammatical function: [Subj | Obj]
Syntactic head: C
Syntactic complement: VP-end
Semantic head: semantic head of VP-end
WH: -
Fin-form: fin
[SUBJ: Dass es schneit] war ihm egal.
Er glaubt nicht, [OBJ: dass es schneit]
* Er glaubt nicht, [OBJ: ob es schneit]
1.b) CP -> C[ob,wie,wer,...] + VP-end
Grammatical function: [Subj | Obj]
Syntactic head: C
Syntactic complement: VP-end
Semantic head: semantic head of VP-end
WH: +
Fin-form: fin
Er fragte mich, [OBJ: ob es schneit]
* Er fragte mich, [OBJ: dass es schneit]
Er fragte mich, [OBJ: wer ins Kino gehen will]
[SUBJ: Wer das gesagt hat] hofft auf bessere Zeiten.
CPs in German have an inflected verbal complex at the end of the sentence. Furthermore the syntactic head and/or the value of the WH-feature must be specified (what can be seen in the different behaviour of the two verbs glauben und fragen ).
2.) V2 -> XP VP
Grammatical function: Obj
Syntactic head: finite verb of VP
Semantic head: lexical verb of VP
WH: [+/-]
Fin-form: fin
V2s are sentences with the finite verb in second position. If a verb has a V2-argument, the V2-sentence can always be transformed to a CP (as part of another subcat frame).

18
Er sagte, [CP daß er Geld gestohlen hat]
Er sagte, [V2 er hat Geld gestohlen]
Er bereute, [CP daß er Geld gestohlen hat]
* Er bereute, [V2 er hat Geld gestohlen]
3.) VP-infz -> PRO ... zu+V
Grammatical function: [Subj | Obj]
Syntactic head: zu
Semantic head: lexical verb of VP-infz
WH: -
Fin-form: infz
Control: [subject | object | undetermined]
VP-infz are infinite sentences with the infinitiv marker zu and a dropped subject (marked as PRO in the following examples).
If VP-infz is used as subject, its control feature can be undetermined, if VP-infz is used as object, the control behaviour is determined by the governed verb. Object control means that the PRO-subject of the embedded sentence is the object of the governed sentences (e.g. raten ). Subject control means that the
PRO-subject of the embedded sentence is the subject of the governed sentence (e.g. versprechen ).
[PRO(?) sich mit dem Schopf aus dem Sumpf zu ziehen] ist ein Kunststück.
Er riet ihm(i), [PRO(i) ein Buch zu schreiben].
Er(i) versprach ihm, [PRO(i) ein Buch zu schreiben].
Er findet das Buch [ADJP spannend]. {copula arg}
Er findet das Buch [ADJP sehr interessant] {copula arg}
Die Sitzung dauert [ADJP lange]. / [NP 2 Stunden] {expansive (or temporal) arg}
Er ist [ADJP geizig]. {copula arg}
Sie benahm sich [ADJP sonderbar]. / [VGLP wie eine Furie] {copula arg}
[ADVP Dort] befand sich ein brauner Briefumschlag. / [PP In der Kiste] {locative arg}
Er stürzte sich [ADVP hinein]. / [PP in das Zimmer] {directive arg}
From a semantic point of view ADJP and ADVP are realisations of locative, directive or expansive arguments or arguments of copula verbs (e.g. sein , bleiben ). In the former case the arguments can also be realized by other arguments (such as PPs , NPs etc. as shown in the examples).
als/wie [+n | +adj | +c] als/wie wenn [+c] als ob [+c] als [+v1]
German comparative phrases have as syntactic head the particles als or wie , which can govern a nominal, a adjectival or sentential complement. There are some verbs which allow all three construction as gebärden and others which allow only one or two of these three constructions.
Furthermore als and wie can govern a wenn -sentence. Als can also govern an ob -sentence or its alternative form as V2-sentence with the finite verb in subjunctive mood (indicative mood is ungrammatical). In the ob -construction both moods are possible, although the subjunctive mood sounds more natural.

19
Er galt [ALS[+n]als Musterschüler]
Er galt [ALS[+adj] als eigensinnig]
Sie gebärdete sich [WIE[+n] wie eine Verrückte]
Sie gebärdete sich [WIE[+adj] wie wahnsinnig]
Sie gebärdete sich, [WIE[+c] man es von ihr gewohnt war]
Man behandelte ihn [WIE[+n] wie einen Verbrecher]
Man behandelte ihn, [als ob er ein Verbrecher wäre]
Man behandelte ihn, [als wäre er ein Verbrecher]
Sie tut (so), als ob sie einverstanden wäre.
? Sie tut (so), als ob sie einverstanden ist.
Sie tut (so), als wenn sie einverstanden wäre.
Sie tut (so), wie wenn sie einverstanden wäre.
Sie tut (so), als wäre sie einverstanden.
* Sie tut (so), als ist sie einverstanden.
[SUBJ Es] regnet.
Er hat [OBJ es] weit gebracht.
[SUBJ Der Mann] klopft an der Tür.
[SUBJ Es] klopft an der Tür.
Weather verbs like regnen seem to have no (recognizable) subject. Instead they use the dummy subject es .
Other verbs like klopfen allow the dummy subject es as well as normal subject arguments. Es can as well occur as formal object.
Es kamen drei Männer zur Tür herein
Drei Männer kamen zur Tür herein.
..., weil (*es) drei Männer zur Tür hereinkamen.
*Es hat Peter Blumen gepflückt.
In these construction the pronoun es can only occur in the sentence-initial position. If no element fills the sentence-initial position, es is inserted in this position. There is no subject-verb agreement between es and the lexical verb. Es is no part of the argument structure of the lexical verb. In the same construction in
English es must be translated with there . Since not all verbs allow this type of constructions, it should be indicated in the lexical entry, if this construction is possible or not.
Er sagte, daß es stimmt, daß er geheiratet hat.
Ich hasse es, wenn es regnet.
..., weil ?(es) ihn stört, daß die Musik laut ist.
Daß die Musik laut ist, stört (*es) ihn.
In this type of construction es is a correlate for the embedded sentence (either for subject or object sentences). Es must be dropped, if the embedded sentence fills the sentence-initial position. For some verbs like stören
, es can also be dropped in sentence-middle position. For other verbs like stimmen , this is not possible.

20
German has the two auxiliaries haben und sein . Only verbs with the auxiliary haben can build a passive.
Haben -verbs, which occur with the auxiliary sein , are examples of the so-called Zustandspassiv .
Der Komissar hat den Mörder gefangen.
Der Mörder wurde vom Komissar gefangen.
Der Mörder ist gefangen.
As mentioned before, the building of passive sentences (by the use of the passive auxiliary werden ) is only possible with lexical verbs, which build the present perfect with the auxiliary verb haben . But not all lexical verbs with the auxiliary haben can build a passive, e.g. beinhalten, wissen, besitzen, enthalten etc.
Er besitzt einen Garten.
* Ein Garten wurde besessen.
So, for lexical verbs with the auxiliary verb haben , it should be indicated inside the lexical entry, whether they can build a passive or not.
Ich glaube, daß [NOM der Lehrer] [DAT dem Kind] [ACC das Lesen] beigebracht hat.
Ich glaube, daß [NOM der Mann] [ACC den Kollegen] [DAT den Launen des Chefs] ausgesetzt hat.
Ich glaube, daß [DAT einem Astronauten] [NOM ein Fehler] unterlaufen ist.
As shown in the examples the order of verbal complements are lexically determined in German. Changes in argument order are possible, but this minimizes the possible interpretations of the sentences. Only the shown examples are possible answers of the questions “What do you believe has happened?”
If arguments are realized in different ways (pronouns, definite or indefinite NPs), more or less the order
PRON > NP-def > NP-indef sounds most natural.
weil [er seinen Hund [zu rasieren pflegte]]
* weil er pflegte, seinen Hund zu rasieren weil [er [seinen Hund zu rasieren] versuchte] weil er versuchte, seinen Hund zu rasieren
Coherent verbs as pflegen , scheinen etc. build with the other (infinite) verb a coherent verbal complex, what can be seen in the fact, that the embedded sentence can’t be extraposed. This is possible for incoherent verbs. Here the two adjacent verbs are parts of two different verbal complexes. Coherent verbs share their argument structure (if there is any) with the argument structure of their governed verb.
Syntactically, they behave like auxiliar or modal verbs.

21
In our encoding scheme, we intend to adopt the EAGLES recommendations on subcategorization as far as possible. In some minor cases we use slight modifications and extensions.
Concerning the slots of a frame, we don’t use the attribute optionality . The consequence will be an increase of possible subcat frames. But there is still the possibility to organize the lexical entries in that way in a later step. Instead of using the term Introducer for the feature Introducer , we will use the term
Syn-head.
S: Sentence – Es hat geregnet / dass es regnet
VP: Verb Phrase: No subject given: ein Haus zu bauen
NP: Noun phrase – das Kind / Kinder / sie
PP : Prepositional phrase – auf bessere Zeiten / darauf
ADJP : Adjective phrase – sehr nett
ADVP : Adverb phrase – dort drüben
XP : Under-specified phrase – any possible phrase.
In contrast to the EAGLES recommendations for English verbs, we consider infinitive sentences with the
German infinitive particle zu as sentences and not as verbal phrases. Furthermore, we add comparative phrases (CMPs) to our categorial inventory.
CMP : Comparative phrase – als schüchtern / als Experte / als ob er der Sieger wäre
Introducers
S[Syn-head:DASS] –Er sagte, [dass er geschlafen hat].
PP[Syn-head:AUF] – Er wartet [auf bessere Zeiten].
Noun phrases
NP[Case:acc – Er kennt [den Mann] / Er kennt [ihn]
Pronouns
PRO[Type:IMPERSONAL] – Es regnet
PRO[Type:REFLEXIV] – Er ärgert sich
PRO[Pers:1] – Ich schäme mich
Prepositional phrases
PP[Syn-head:AUF,Case:ACC] – Er wartet [auf bessere Zeiten].
PP[Syn-head:AUF] – Er wartet [darauf, dass bessere Zeiten anbrechen].
Adjective phrases
AP[Use:pred] – Er findet das Buch [sehr interessant].
Sentences
S[Type:INTER, Vf-pos: V-END] – Er fragte, [wer das gesagt hat].
S[VForm:FIN] – Er sagte, [er habe geschlafen] / Er sagte, [dass er geschlafen hat].
S[Vf-pos:V2] – Er sagte, [er habe geschlafen] / * Er sagte, [dass er geschlafen hat].
S[VForm:ZU+INF] – Er hat ihm geraten, [ein Haus zu bauen].
S[Mood:SUBJUNCTIVE, Vf-pos:V1] – Er benahm sich, [als wäre er der Sieger].

Comparative phrases
CMP[Syn-head : ALS, Comp : [+n | +adj] ] – Er gilt [als Experte] / Er gilt [als sehr gescheit].
CMP[Syn-head : WIE, Comp : [+c] ] – Er tat, [wie ihm geheißen wurde].
The other syntactic restrictions mentioned in part 1 can be encoded as slot-filler pairs as described in the
EAGLES guidelines.
22

23
Subcat element
NP[Cat:<>
Case:<>]
PRO[Type:refl.
Case:<>
Pers:<>]
PP[Cat:<>,
Syn-head:<>,
Case:<>]
S[Syn-head:<>,
Vf-pos:v-end,
Vform:fin]
S[Type:inter
Vf-pos:v-end,
Vform:fin]
S[Vfin-pos:v2,
Vform:fin,
Type:decl]
S[Vf-pos:v-end,
Vform:zu+inf,
Control:<>]
ADJP[Use:<>]
ADVP
CMP[Syn-head:<>,
Comp:<>]
CMP[Syn-head:<>,
Comp:S[Vf-pos:v-end,
Vform:fin]]
CMP[Syn-head:als,
Comp:S[Vf-pos:v1,
Vform:fin,
Mood:subj]]
PRO[Syn-head:es,
Case:<>]
Possible instantiations Examples
(n pro)
(nom|acc|gen|dat)
[Das Kind] schläft.
[Es] schläft.
(acc|dat)
(1|2|3)
(prep)
(“an”|“auf”|“durch”|…)
(acc gen dat)
(“daß”|“ob”)
Er schämt [sich].
Ich schäme [mich].
* Ich schäme [sich].
Er hofft [auf besseres
Wetter].
Er hofft [darauf].
Er glaubt, [dass es regnet].
Er fragt sich, [ob es regnet].
(subj|dobj|unspec)
Er fragte, [was passieren wird].
Er fragte, [auf was er achten soll].
Er fragte, [ob es regnet].
* Er ahnte, [ob es regnet].
Er sagte, [er habe geschalfen].
* Er sagte, [wer habe geschlafen].
* Er fragte, [wer habe geschafen].
Er(i) versprach ihm, [PRO(i) zu schlafen].
Er riet ihm(i),[PRO(i) zu schlafen].
[PRO Einen Elch zu sehen] wäre eine Freude.
(pred|attr)
(“als”|“wie”)
(NP|ADJP)
(“als wenn”|“wie wenn”|
“als ob”|“wie”)
Er ist [nett].
[Dort] steht ein Auto.
Er gilt [als Experte].
Er bezeichnete ihn [als sehr schüchtern].
Er tat, [wie ihm geheißen wurde].
Er benahm sich, [als ob er allwissend wäre].
Er benahm sich, [als wäre er allwissend].
(nom|acc)
[PRO:nom Es] regnet.
Er hat [PRO:acc es] eilig.

24
In the following examples the subcat elements are combined with their grammatical function and inserted as filler of the argument slot (args). Other syntactic restrictions (e.g. information about the realisation of the auxiliary verbs or the possiblity of building a passive construction) are added by other slot-filler pairs.
1.) warten 1
[Er] wartet [auf bessere Zeiten].
[Er] wartet [darauf].
[Er] wartet [darauf, daß bessere Zeiten kommen werden].
Subcat-frame 1: auxv passive args haben
+ subj(NP[Case: nom]) p-obj(PP[syn-head: auf, Case: acc])
…
2.) sagen
[Er] sagte, [daß es morgen regnen wird].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
+ subj(NP[Case: nom]) d-obj(S[Syn-head: daß, Vform: fin, Vf-pos: V-end])
[Er] sagte, [es werde morgen regnen].
Subcat-frame 2: av passive args haben
+ subj(NP[Case: nom]) d-obj(S[Vform: fin, Vf-pos: V2])
…
3.) fragen
[Er] fragte [mich], [wer alles kommt].
[Er] fragte [ihn], [ob es morgen regnet].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
+ subj(NP[Case: nom]) d-obj(NP[Case: acc]) i-obj(S[Syn-head: ob, Vform: fin, Vf-pos: V-end])
…
1 In the following examples only one of the possible subcat frames of the verb in question is cited.

4. hoffen
[Wer in Norwegen im Winter Urlaub macht], hofft in der Regel, [das Polarlicht sehen zu können].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
- subj(S[Type: Inter, Vform: fin, Vf-pos: V-end]) d-obj(S[Vform: zu+inf])
…
5. regnen
Er sagte, [daß [es] regnet]
Subcat-frame 1 (abbrev.): av haben passive
- args subj(PRO[Case: Nom, Syn-head: es)]
…
6. hereinkommen
[Es] kamen [drei Männer] [zur Tür] herein.
[Drei Männer] kamen [in das Zimmer] herein.
Er sagte, [daß [drei Männer] [zur Tür] hereingekommen sind].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args sein
- subj(NP[Case:nom]) p-obj(PP[Syn-head: zu, Case: dat]) vf-es
+
Subcat-frame2: av passive args sein
- subj(NP[Case:nom]) p-obj(PP[Syn-head: in, Case: acc]) vf-es
…
+
The slot vf-es contains the information, whether the pronoun es can be function as a place holder in the sentence-initial position.
25

7. ärgern
[Ihn] ärgert (es), [daß es regnet].
[Daß es regnet], ärgert [ihn].
[Er] sagte, [daß es ihn ärgert, daß es regnet.]
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
+ subj(S[Syn-head: daß, Vform: fin, Vf-pos: V-end]) d-obj(NP[Case: acc]) corr
PRO[Syn-head: es,
Ref: subj
Dropped-if-emb-s-in-vf: +)]
…
The slot corr contains the information, which lexical element functions as a correlate for the embedded sentence (here the pronoun es ) for which argument (here the subject) and the information, whether the correlate must be dropped, if the embedded sentence occurs in sentence-initial position.
8. schämen
[Er] schämt [sich].
* [Er] schämt [ihn].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
- subj(NP[Case: nom]) d-obj(PRO[Case: acc, Type: reflexiv])
…
…
9. waschen
[Sie] wäscht [ihr Kleid].
[Sie] wäscht [sich].
Subcat-frame 1: av passive args haben
+ subj(NP[Case: nom]) d-obj(NP[Case: acc])
EAGLES Recommendations on Subcategorisation, 1996.
26