STRUKTURA E FJALISË: KOMPLEMENTËT   DHE ADJUNKTËT
CLAUSE STRUCTURE: COMPLEMENTS AND ADJUNCTS

Summary/Abstract: This paper analyzes the tests/criteria used to differentiate complements from adjuncts in different languages and examines which of these tests can be used to distinguish these clause constituents in Albanian language. After the analysis it was found that these tests do not all have the same explanatory value in different languages and that none of them can differentiate complements from adjuncts when used on their own; therefore, different tests and criteria should be combined. The findings show that to distinguish complements from adjuncts in Albanian clause structure, we can rely on the following: licensing criterion, obligatoriness criterion conducted after the omission test, and certain semantic differences or features. These criteria, taken together, can provide a very accurate picture of the distinction of certain clause constituent functions, relying, of course, on the properties of the verb serving as the central element of the clause. The criteria of syntactic category and anaphora may complement the analysis with new information but, when used on their own, can only partially differentiate complements from adjuncts. The permutation test and question test, on the other hand, have no explanatory value in distinguishing these constituents in Albanian.

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