AVALENT AND MONOVALENT VERBS IN THE ALBANIAN LANGUAGE

Abstract

This paper examines avalent and monovalent verbs in the Albanian language and the clause patterns generated with such verbs. Avalent verbs do not select any complement1, whereas monovalent verbs require a complement to form the minimal structure of a clause and convey their intended meaning. In Albanian, the classification of verbs by valence is often explained on the basis of their transitivity and their ability to take a subject. However, while transitivity may sometimes suggest a verb's valence, these two classifications should not be equated due to distinct criteria. In Albanian, for example, the number of intransitive verbs significantly exceeds the number of monovalent verbs: all monovalent verbs are intransitive, but not all intransitive verbs are monovalent. This paper aims to clarify the classification criteria and to describe avalent and monovalent verbs; that is, the clause patterns they generate. A comprehensive corpus has been built for this purpose, in which all such verbs and the types of complements they take have been identified and analyzed according to functional, syntactic, and semantic criteria.

Keywords

• valence
• transitivity
• clause patterns
• complement types
• avalent verbs
• monovalent verbs
• albanian language