Das Problem der Valenzreduktion der polnischen und deutschen Verben
The Problem of Reducing Valence of Polish and German Verbs

Summary/Abstract: The subject of this article is the problem of reducing valence of Polish and German verbs. It is related to the reflexive and recessive structures. In both languages the actions offender (agens) can be reduced. In Polish language the equivalent of that abandoned agens is reflexive pronoun, while in German, some verbs forms recessive form without it. The broader analysis of that issue has been presented in the article, based on contrastive works. This article reveals also systematization of the syntactic element relations (the nominative, the accusative) to the theta roles of the agent, patient/ theme. The constructions of the following type are used as an example: X öffnet das Fenster/ X otwiera okno, in which the syntactic element (the nominal phrase in the accusative) Fenster/ okno is the carrier of the theta role patient/theme. If a nominal phrase in the nominative is prescribed for X and the theta role of the agent, a causative relation appears [+CAUSE] and the transitivity condition is fulfilled. If there is no proper nominal phrase for X, a syntactic mechanism eliminates the possibilities of causative and transitive interpretation, substituting the się/sich element, e.g. plötzlich öffnete sich das Fenster / nagle otwarło się okno.

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