Dependency Grammar is a class of modern syntactic theories that are based on the notion that syntactic structure consists of lexical items linked by binary asymmetrical relations called dependencies. This approach differs from phrase structure grammars, which represent sentences as hierarchies of phrases. Dependency Grammar emphasizes the relationships between individual words within a sentence, making it a powerful tool for analyzing and understanding linguistic structure (Vu, 2024).
Dependency Grammar is characterized by several key components:
Dependencies are the fundamental building blocks of Dependency Grammar. They represent binary relations between a head (or governor) and a dependent (or modifier). Each dependency links two words in a sentence, with the head being the central word that determines the syntactic type of the structure, and the dependent providing additional information.
The relations between heads and dependents form the backbone of syntactic analysis in Dependency Grammar. These relations specify how words in a sentence are connected, highlighting the hierarchical structure where heads dominate dependents.
Valency refers to the capacity of a word, typically a verb, to govern a certain number of dependents. It plays a crucial role in determining the structure of a sentence by specifying how many and what types of dependents a word can have.
Projectivity is a property of dependency trees where the edges of dependencies do not cross when drawn above the sentence. This concept is important for understanding the constraints on permissible dependency structures in natural languages.
Dependency Grammar has been widely applied in various fields such as computational linguistics, language teaching, and linguistic theory. It offers a clear and intuitive framework for parsing and analyzing sentence structure, making it particularly useful for natural language processing (NLP) applications.
In NLP, Dependency Grammar is used for syntactic parsing, where the goal is to generate a dependency tree for a given sentence. This tree provides a detailed representation of the grammatical structure, which can be used for tasks such as machine translation, information extraction, and sentiment analysis.
Dependency Grammar can also be applied in language teaching to help students understand the relationships between words in a sentence. By focusing on dependencies, educators can provide a more detailed and systematic approach to teaching syntax and sentence structure.
Dependency Grammar provides a robust and flexible framework for analyzing syntactic structure. It emphasizes the direct relationships between words, offering clear insights into the grammatical organization of sentences. For more detailed information on Dependency Grammar and its applications, refer to the textbook by Vu (2024).
Vu, N. N. (2024). Computational Linguistics: From Theory to Practice. Ho Chi Minh: HCMC University of Education Publishing House.