Az Eszterházy Károly Tanárképző Főiskola Tudományos Közleményei. 1996. Vol. 1. Eger Journal of English Studies.(Acta Academiae Paedagogicae Agriensis : Nova series ; Tom. 24)

Éva Kovács: Complements vs. adjuncts in valency grammar

Figure 2 represents the whole range from those elements most closely bound to the verb at the top to those most distant at the bottom. This is how Somers (1987:27) expanded the traditional twovalue scale to six distinct degrees of valency binding: intergral-complements "obligatory'

1 complements optional complements middle adjuncts extra-peripherals Figure2: Range of valency bindings 5 Conclusions Somers (1984, 1987) has made an important contribution to valency theory. The traditional binary distinction between complements and adjuncts and the tests proposed by different authors proved to be unsatisfactory. Somers' new six-term system narrows down considerably the cases where the boundaries are fuzzy though according to Somers (1984:528) there may be cases where the criteria are unclear or in conflict. The innovations such as the do so test and the expansion of the range of valency binding enrich rather than invalidate existing work in valency and can expand the valency patterns of valency dictionaries.We can say that this new approach considerably strengthens the theory and perhaps will speed up the acceptance of valency as a valuable approach to the lexis-based description of syntax. 124