Adjectival predicators and approaches to complement realisation

• Most research on complement realisation has been concerned with verbs.
• The article investigates the neglected area of adjectival valency.
• The data consist of 181 polyvalent adjectives occurring in 956 patterns.
• Predictability and the aspectual- and the causal approaches to complement realisation are assessed.
• The findings support the view that valency belongs to the idiosyncratic aspects of language.

Most research on complement realisation has been concerned with verbs, and a central assumption, especially in theoretically oriented approaches, has been that complement realisation, often referred to as argument realisation, is predictable from the structure of events, i.e. (a part of) the semantic structure of the verb. I refer to this assumption as the Predictability Thesis. Other valency carriers than verbs also need to be accounted for, and the article investigates the neglected area of adjectival valency. Two major versions of the Predictability Thesis are assessed: the aspectual approach and the causal approach. The findings support the view that valency is not predictable from these facets of event structure. Rather, the view that valency belongs to the idiosyncratic aspects of language is supported; it is necessary to specify both the semantic structure and the realisation of complements in the lexicon.