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The research aims to clarify the concept of predicates in various grammatical theories, advocating for a dependency grammar perspective.

February 12, 2026Open Access

Syntactic predicates

Key Points

The research aims to clarify the concept of predicates in various grammatical theories, advocating for a dependency grammar perspective.
Survey of existing predicate theories in semantics and syntax.
Analysis of the concept of predicates through the lens of dependency grammar.
Examination of synthetic vs. analytic realizations of meaning and entailment patterns.
Highlights the variability in understanding predicates across different grammatical theories.
Proposes a catena-based definition of predicates that aligns well with dependency grammar.
Demonstrates how this approach enhances understanding in areas like pronoun resolution and entailment.

Abstract

Abstract Most theories of sentence structure acknowledge predicates, yet what one understands a predicate to be can vary significantly from one theory to the next, and from one grammarian to the next. This article surveys how the predicate notion is understood in semantics, syntax, and grammar studies quite generally. It scrutinizes the various predicate concepts, and then argues in favor of one particular understanding of predicates in syntax, one that is especially congruent with a dependency grammar (DG) approach to sentence structures. Predicates are catenae , the catena being a concrete unit of syntactic analysis. The catena-based approach to predicates is motivated in three areas: in terms of the synthetic vs. analytic realizations of meaning, in terms of entailment patterns, and in terms of pronoun resolution. The catena-based approach makes insightful generalizations in these areas possible.

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