Syntactic layer

The syntactic layer of the model is composed of SYNTACTIC UNITS (USYN). Relevant information about syntagmatic behaviour of lexical items may be expressed within this layer. This includes:

• information about construction of an item:
  • basic saturated construction in terms of governed ``positions"
  • transformational possibilities of such constructions
  • linearity (fixed, restricted, free order of position) when it is not related to stylistic or rhetoric choices
  • pronominalization
  • optionality (mandatory, conditional, optional actualization of positions)
  • distribution of a position:
    • type of syntagm (a limitative list of labels is given)
    • restriction on internal structure of syntagm (such syntagms may be themselves described in terms of positions, so syntactic description may be as refined as desired)
    • restriction in terms of morpho-syntactic features
    • restriction on lexical realization (by the means of aspectual specification, denotational constraints, reference to one particular lexical item, etc.)
    • specification of connecting element
  • grammatical function of the syntagm in a position
  • thematic role of the syntagm in a position
• compound syntactic units, where every component is a 'position', with means for describing all kinds of variations in their surface actualization:
  • the interaction between the "internal" and "external" positions, i.e. how far a syntactic compound is saturated
  • the paradigms of lexical realization of a position in such a compound unit
  • optionality of a position in such a compound unit (mandatory, conditional, optional actualization)
  • accepted transformation(s) (e.g. pronominalization of some components)

The criterion for distinguishing several USYNs related to a single UM is merely the diversity in syntactic behaviours.