Properties of Bivalent Final Syntaxemes in English: A Comparative Analysis of Asadov’s and Tesnière’s Valency Models

Abstract

Syntactic valency, a foundational concept in linguistic theory, defines a unit’s ability to form syntactic connections within sentence structures. While L. Tesnière’s model emphasizes semantic dependencies to define valency, R. Asadov’s framework focuses on syntactic connections as the basis for valence classification. Both approaches offer contrasting perspectives on how bivalent constructions are interpreted. Despite growing attention to valency in linguistics, the syntactic and semantic nature of bivalent final syntaxemes, particularly in English, remains underexplored through comparative theoretical models. This study investigates the structural and semantic properties of bivalent final constructions in English, offering a comparative analysis of Asadov’s and Tesnière’s valency models using syntactic and syntaxeme analysis. Analysis of authentic English sentence structures revealed that Asadov’s model consistently identifies bivalency through dual syntactic connections, classifying final syntaxemes as structurally optional but analytically crucial elements. In contrast, Tesnière treats these as circumstantial modifiers within semantic hierarchies. The integration of syntaxeme analysis provides a dual-layered view of sentence structure—surface via componential models and deep via categorical/non-categorical features—revealing valency as a broader syntactic phenomenon, not limited to verbs. The findings enrich syntactic theory, support cross-linguistic applications, and offer a potential framework for computational linguistics, particularly in automatic translation. Further research is recommended to apply this dual analysis to agglutinative and typologically diverse languages.