Cover not available
Part of
Chapters of Dependency Grammar: A historical survey from Antiquity to Tesnière
Edited by András Imrényi and Nicolas Mazziotta
[Studies in Language Companion Series 212] 2020
► pp. 253–276

Chapter 8
The Russian trail

Dmitrievsky, the little drama metaphor and dependency grammar

| Université de Lausanne & State University of Saint-Petersburg

L. Tesnière is not the first inventor of dependency grammars. In fact, a “climate of opinion” can be formed without any direct contact in time and space between linguists who do not know each other but came to similar views because they met the same problems and were dissatisfied with the Subject/Predicate scheme of classical grammars. A comparison of L. Tesnière and A. Dmitrievsky is proposed here to reconstruct the multiple ways which led to the idea of dependency grammars, around the technical obstacle of impersonal syntactic structures.

Article outline
  • 1.“Plato’s theorem”, object of stigmatization
  • 2.Tesnière, reader of Humboldt
  • 3.Dmitrievsky and anti-nominativism
  • 4.Conclusion
  • Notes
  • References
Published online: 6 February 2020
DOI logo
https://doi.org/10.1075/slcs.212.09ser
References

A. Primary sources

Aksakov, K.
(1855) O russkikh glagolakh [On the Russian verbs]. Moskva: v tipografii L. Stepanovoi.Google Scholar
Arnault, A., & Lancelot, C.
(1753) General and Rational Grammar, containing the fundamental principles of the art of speaking, Explained in a clear and natural manner. With the reasons of the general agreement, and the particular differences of languages. Translated from the French of Messieurs de Port-Royal. London: J. Nourse (Repr. 1973, Hildesheim: Georg Olms). Trans. of Arnault, A., & Lancelot, C. (1660/1676). Grammaire générale et raisonnée. Bruxelles.Google Scholar
Basedow, J. -B.
(1774) Das Basedowische Elementarwerk. Ein Vorrath der besten Erkenntnisse zum Lernen, Lehren, Wiederholen und Nachdenken, Leipzig: Crucius.Google Scholar
Becker, K. F.
(1827) Organism der Sprache, Frankfurt: Kettembeil (Repr. 1970. Hildesheim: Georg Olms).Google Scholar
Bréal, M.
(1897) Essai de sémantique. Paris: Hachette.Google Scholar
Buslaev, F.
(1858) Opyt istoricheskoi grammatiki russkogo jazyka [A sketch of historical grammar of the Russian language]. Moskva: Universitetskaia tipografia.Google Scholar
Dmitrievsky, A.
(1877a) Prakticheskie zametki o russkom sintaksise, I: Opredelenie predlozheniia [Practical notes on Russian syntax: Definition of the proposition]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), 3, pp. 1–15.Google Scholar
(1877b) Prakticheskie zametki o russkom sintaksise, II: Dva li glavnykh chlena v predlozhenii? [Practical notes on Russian syntax: Are there two main members of the proposition?]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), 4, pp. 15–37.Google Scholar
(1878a) Prakticheskie zametki o russkom sintaksise, III: Skazuemoe i ego opredelenie [Practical notes on Russian syntax: The predicate and its definition]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), 1, 37–53.Google Scholar
(1878b) Prakticheskie zametki o russkom sintaksise, V: Dopolnenie [Practical notes on Russian syntax: The complement]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), 2, pp. 61–76.Google Scholar
(1878c) Prakticheskie zametki o russkom sintaksise, VI: Obstojatel’stva, VII: Opredelenija, VIII: Zakluchenie [Practical notes on Russian syntax: Circonstants, Definitions, Conclusion]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), 4, pp. 75–89.Google Scholar
(1878d) Esche neskol’ko slov o vtorostepennosti podlezhaschego [A few more words about the secondary character of the subject]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), pp. 15–27.Google Scholar
(1880) Opyt uchebnika russkogo sintaksisa [Attempt at a manual of Russian syntax]. Filologicheskie Zapiski (Voronezh), pp. 1–2.Google Scholar
Grimm, J.
(1822–37) Deutsche Grammatik. Göttingen: Dieterische BuchhandlungGoogle Scholar
Humboldt, W.
von (1827) Lettre à M. Abel Rémusat sur la nature des formes grammaticales en général, et sur le génie de la langue chinoise en particulier. Paris: Dondey-Dupré. (Reprinted in Bordeaux: Ducros, 1969)Google Scholar
von (1988) On language. The diversity of human language-structure and its influence on the mental development of mankind. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press (Trans. of Über die Kavi-Sprache auf der Insel Jawa nebst einer Einleitung über die Verschiedenheit des menschlichen Sprachbaus und ihren Einfluss auf die geistige Entwicklung des Menschengeschlechts (3 Vols.), 1836).Google Scholar
Jakobson, R.
1971). Beitrag zur allgemeinen Kasuslehre. Travaux du Cercle linguistique de Prague, VI, repr. in id.: Selected Writings, II, La Haye-Paris: Mouton, 1971, pp. 23–71. (Original work published 1936)
Jespersen, O.
(1933) Essential of English grammar. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
(1924) The philosophy of grammar. London: Allen & Unwin.Google Scholar
Kacnel’son, S.
(1948) O grammaticheskoi kategorii [On grammatical category]. Vestnik LGU, n. 2.Google Scholar
Meiner, J. W.
(1971) Versuch einer an der menschlichen Sprache abgebildeten Vernunftlehre oder philosophische und allgemeine Sprachlehre, Leipzig. Repr. with an introduction by H. E. Brekle, Stuttgart-Bad Cannstatt, 1971. (Original work published 1781)Google Scholar
Miklosich, F.
(1883) Subjektlose Sätze. Wien: Braumüller.Google Scholar
Sechehaye, A.
(1926) Essai sur la structure logique de la phrase. Paris: Champion.Google Scholar
Steinthal, H.
(1968) Grammatik, Logik und Psychologie. Ihre Prinzipien und ihr Verhältnis zueinander. Berlin: F. Dümmler (Repr.: Hildesheim: Georg Olms, 1968). (Original work published 1855)Google Scholar
Tesnière, L.
(2015) Elements of structural syntax (Trans. by T. Osborne & S. Kahane). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. (Trans. of Éléments de syntaxe structurale. Paris: Klincksieck, 1966, second edition; first edition, 1959) DOI logoGoogle Scholar
(1995a) Éléments d’un rapport sur l’activité scientifique de Monsieur Tesnière. In Madray-Lesigne & Richard-Zappella 1995, pp.405–409. (1938?)Google Scholar
(1995b) Curriculum vitae de Monsieur Tesnière. In Madray-Lesigne & Richard-Zappella 1995, pp.410–412.

B. Critical sources

Aarsleff, H.
(1982) W. von Humboldt and the linguistic thought of the French Idéologues. In H. Aarsleff (Ed.), From Locke to Saussure: Essays on the study of language and intellectual history (pp.335–355). Athlone: London.Google Scholar
Auroux, S.
(1996) La philosophie du langage. Paris: PUF.Google Scholar
Baum, R.
(1976) Dependenzgrammatik. Tesnières Modell der Sprachbeschreibung in wissenschaftsgeschichtlicher und kritischer Sicht. Tübingen: Max Niemeyer. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Becker, C.
(1932) The heavenly city of the 18th-century philosophers. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.Google Scholar
Bondarko, A. V., Desnickaja, A. V., & Kacnel’son, S. D.
(Eds.) (1985) Grammaticheskie koncepcii v jazykoznanii XIX veka [Grammatical conceptions in the linguistics of the 19th century]. Leningrad: Nauka.Google Scholar
Chevalier, J.-C.
(2006) Histoire de la syntaxe. Naissance de la notion de complément dans la grammaire française (1530–1750). Paris: Champion. (Original work published 1968)Google Scholar
Comtet, R.
(1997) L’apport germanique à la réflexion sur la langue en Russie. Slavica Occitania 4, pp. 25–70.Google Scholar
Culioli A.
(1981) Sur le concept de notion. BULAG, n° 8, pp.62–77. Université de Besançon.Google Scholar
Fici Giusti, F.
(2000) Effacement/absence du sujet et fonction du genre neutre dans les langues slaves. Quelques observations à partir des idées de Potebnia et Peshkovsky. In Sériot & Berrendonner 2000a, pp.79–88.Google Scholar
Gadet, F., & Pêcheux, M.
(1981) La langue introuvable. Paris: Maspero. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Gasparov, B.
(1995) La linguistique slavophile. In P. Sériot (Ed.), Une familière étrangeté: La linguistique russe et soviétique [Special issue]. Histoire Épistémologie Langage 17(2), pp.125–145.Google Scholar
Glinz, H.
(1947) Geschichte und Kritik der Lehre von den Stazgliedern in der deutschen Grammatik. Bern: Büchler.Google Scholar
Graffi, G.
(2001) Two hundred years of syntax. Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Guiraud-Weber, M.
(2002) Subektnye cherty i problema podlezhaschego v russkom iazyke [Subject features and the problem of the subject in Russian]. Revue des Études Slaves 74(2–3), pp.279–289. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Hajičová, E.
(1996) Prague school syntax and semantics. In K. Brown & J. Miller (Eds.), Concise encyclopedia of syntactic theories (pp.265–273). Oxford: Pergamon.Google Scholar
Hiersche, R
(1979) Les précurseurs allemands de L. Tesnière. L’Information Grammaticale 3, pp.24–28. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Iarceva, V.
(Ed.) (1990) Lingvisticheskii ènciklopedicheskii slovar’ [Encyclopedic dictionary of linguistics]. Moskva: Sovetskaja ènciklopedia.Google Scholar
Jakobson, R.
(1929) Über die heutigen Vorausetzungen der russischen Slavistik, Slawische Rundschau 1, S. 629–646, reprint in E. Holenstein (Hrsg.): Roman Jakobson. Semiotik. Ausgewählte Texte 1919–1982 (1988, pp. 50–69). Frankfurt: Suhrkamp.Google Scholar
Khrakovsky, V.
(1983) Istoki verbocentricheskoi koncepcii predlozhenia v russkom jazykoznanii [The sources of the verbocentric conception of the proposition in Russian linguistics]. Voprosy Jazykoznania 3, 110–117.Google Scholar
(1985) Koncepcia chlenov predlozhenia v russkom iazykoznanii XIX veka [The conception of the members of the proposition in Russian linguistics of the 19th century]. In Bondarko et al. 1995, pp.124–180.Google Scholar
Kibardina, S.
(1985) K istokam teorii valentnosti v nemeckom jazykoznanii XIX veka [At the sources of the theory of valency in nineteenth century German linguistics]. In Bondarko et al. 1995, pp.181–209.Google Scholar
Koerner, K.
(1976) Towards a historiography of linguistics. 19th and 20th century paradigms. In H. Parret (Ed.), History of Linguistic Thought (685–718). Berlin: De Gruyter.Google Scholar
Madray-Lesigne, F., & Richard-Zappella, J.
(Eds.) (1995) Lucien Tesnière aujourd’hui (Actes du Colloque international de Rouen). Louvain: Peeters.Google Scholar
Maxwell, H
(1987) Dependency theory since Grimm. In H. Aarslef et al. (Eds.), Papers in the History of Linguistics (ICHoLS III) (pp.565–574). Amsterdam: John Benjamins. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Rousseau, A.
(1995) Le graphe de Tesnière: Origine et originalité. In Madray-Lesigne & Richard-Zappella 1995, pp.75–82.
Samain, D.
(1998) Hypothèse dynamique ou modèle valenciel. Quelques remarques sur l’évolution du concept de transitivité. In Actes du Colloque sur la Transitivité (pp.39–52). Lille: Presses du Septentrion.Google Scholar
Serbat, G.
(1981) Cas et fonctions. Paris: PUF.Google Scholar
Sériot, P.
(1995) Changements de paradigmes dans la linguistique soviétique des années 1920–1930. In P. Sériot (Ed.), Une familière étrangeté: La linguistique russe et soviétique [Special issue]. Histoire Épistémologie Langage 17(2), pp. 235–251.Google Scholar
(2000) Le combat des termes et des relations (à propos des discussions sur les constructions impersonnelles dans la linguistique en Russie). In Sériot & Berrendonnner 2000a, pp.235–256.Google Scholar
(2003) Une identité déchirée: K.S. Aksakov, linguiste slavophile ou hégélien? In P. Sériot (Ed.), Contributions suisses au XIIIe Congrès Mondial des Slavistes à Ljubljana, août 2003 (pp.269–292). Bern: Peter Lang.Google Scholar
Sériot, P., & Berrendonner A.
(2000a) Le paradoxe du sujet (Les propositions impersonnelles dans les langues slaves et romanes) [Special Issue]. Cahiers de l’ILSL 12.Google Scholar
(2000b) Présentation. In Sériot & Berrendonnner 2000a, pp.1–8.
Stankiewicz, E.
(1974) The dythiramb to the verb in 18th and 19th century linguistics. In D. Hymes (Ed.), Studies in the History of Linguistics (pp.157–190). Bloomington, IN: Indiana University Press.Google Scholar
Stéfanini, J
(1984) La notion grammaticale de sujet au XIXe siècle. Histoire Épistémologie Langage 6(1), 77–90. DOI logoGoogle Scholar
Stéfanini, J.
(1994) Histoire de la grammaire. Paris: CNRS.Google Scholar
Swiggers, P.
(1982) Introduction. In G. Girard (1747/1982), Les vrais principes de la langue françoise (pp.9–73). Genève: Droz.Google Scholar
Vinogradov, V.
(1958) Iz istorii izuchenia russkogo sintaksisa [History of the study of the syntax of Russian]. Moscow: Izdatel’stvo moskovskogo universiteta.Google Scholar
Zalizniak, A., & Paducheva, E.
(1964) O sviazi iazyka lingvisticheskikh opisanii s rodnym iazykom lingvista [On the link between the language of the linguistic descriptions and the mother tongue of the linguist]. In Programma i tezisy dokladov v letnei shkole po vtorichnym modelirujuschim sistemam (pp.7–9). Tartu.Google Scholar