Definition:
Argument structure (also called valency or subcategorization) specifies the number and type of participants (arguments) that a verb requires to form a complete clause. Each argument fills a semantic role (theta role) such as agent, patient, theme, goal, or location. A verb’s argument structure determines the basic syntactic frame of any sentence it appears in.
In-Depth Explanation
Verbs differ in how many arguments they require:
| Argument Count | Verb Type | English Example | Japanese Example |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0 | Avalent (weather) | “It rains.” | 雨が降る (ame ga furu) — actually 1 argument |
| 1 | Intransitive | “She arrived.” | 彼女が着いた。 |
| 2 | Transitive | “She read the book.” | 彼女が本を読んだ。 |
| 3 | Ditransitive | “She gave him a book.” | 彼女が彼に本をあげた。 |
Each argument maps to a syntactic position and, in Japanese, receives a particle marking its grammatical role:
| Theta Role | Typical Japanese Particle | Example |
|---|---|---|
| Agent | が (ga) / は (wa) | 猫が食べた (the cat ate) |
| Patient/theme | を (wo) | 魚を食べた (ate fish) |
| Goal/recipient | に (ni) | 友達にあげた (gave to friend) |
| Location | で (de) | 公園で遊んだ (played at the park) |
| Source | から (kara) | 東京から来た (came from Tokyo) |
Understanding argument structure is practical for learners because it predicts which particles to use with which verbs. If you know a verb is transitive (requires an agent + patient), you know you need が/は and を. Verbs of motion require a source (から) or goal (に/へ). Getting argument structure wrong is one of the most common particle errors for Japanese learners.
A verb’s argument structure is also the key to understanding alternations — different syntactic frames that express the same event from different perspectives — and Japanese transitive/intransitive verb pairs (unaccusative / causative alternations).
Related Terms
See Also
Research
- Levin, B. (1993). English Verb Classes and Alternations: A Preliminary Investigation. University of Chicago Press. — Comprehensive classification of English verbs by argument structure and the alternations they participate in.
- Tsujimura, N. (2014). An Introduction to Japanese Linguistics (3rd ed.). Wiley-Blackwell. — Clear coverage of Japanese argument structure and particle-role mapping.