Chapter published in:
Chapters of Dependency Grammar: A historical survey from Antiquity to TesnièreEdited by András Imrényi and Nicolas Mazziotta
[Studies in Language Companion Series 212] 2020
► pp. 163–188
Chapter 5Sámuel Brassai in the history of dependency grammar
András Imrényi | Eszterházy Károly University, Eger
Zsuzsa Vladár | Eötvös Loránd University, Budapest
The paper presents the syntactic work of Sámuel Brassai with
special regard to his dependency-based theory of the sentence. Brassai is
already relatively well-known as a pioneer in the study of information
structure, where his discoveries predate Gabelentz by several years. The
present work aims to show that Brassai also developed a consistently
dependency-based theory of syntax long before Tesnière. The paper first
discusses the motivations and influences underpinning Brassai’s work.
Secondly, it presents Brassai’s verb-centred theory, expressed both
metaphorically and by sentence diagrams. The latter appeared as early as
1873, thus Brassai may well have been the first to produce verb-centred
dependency diagrams of clause structure. Finally, we show that Brassai’s
discovery of a bipartite (information structural) division of the sentence
does not amount to an early adoption of constituency; rather, it is
seamlessly integrated into his dependency-oriented approach.
Article outline
- 1.Introduction
- 2.Motivations and influences behind Brassai’s work
- 2.1Motivations, general agenda
- 2.2Influences behind Brassai’s verb-centred theory of the sentence
- 2.3From techne to episteme
- 3.Brassai’s verb-centred theory of the sentence
- 3.1Metaphors
- 3.2Sentence diagrams
- 3.3Dependency notions in Brassai’s description of Hungarian
- 3.3.1 Határzó ‘dependent’
- 3.3.2 Jelző ‘attribute’ and egészítvény ‘post-dependent’
- 4.Inchoative and bulk. Does duality require constituency?
- 4.1Brassai’s interpretation by É. Kiss in constituency terms
- 4.2A consistently dependency-based explication of Brassai’s ideas
- 5.Summary and conclusions
-
Acknowledgement -
Notes -
References
Published online: 06 February 2020
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.212.06imr
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.212.06imr
References
A. Primary sources
Apollonius Dyscolus
Arnauld, A., & Lancelot, C.
Brassai, S.
Gabelentz, Georg von der
Götzinger, M. W.
B. Critical sources
Ágel, V., & Fischer, K.
Atherton, C., & Blank, D.
Cigana, L.
Elekfi, L.
Farina, M.
Halliday, M. A. K.
Imrényi, A.
Imrényi, A
Kelly, L. G.
Kiefer, F.
Law, V.
Li, C. N., & Thompson, S. A.
Lőrinczi, R.
Luhtala, A.
Mayer, R. E.
Mazziotta, N.
Mel’čuk, I.
Ninio, A.
Osborne, T.
Osborne, T
Osborne, T.
Osborne, T., & Groß, T.
Tomasello, M.
Wacha, B.
Weil, H.
Cited by
Cited by 2 other publications
Cigana, Lorenzo
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