Lexical and grammatical valency

There are two factors that influence the ability of words to form word-groups. They are lexical and grammatical valency of words. The aptness of a word to appear in various combinations is described as its lexical valency. The noun job, for example, is often combined with such adjectives as backbreaking _t difficult, hard: full-time, part-time, summer, cushy, easy; demanding: menial, etc. The noun myth may be a component of a number of word-groups, e.g. to create a myth, to dispel a myth, to explode a myth, myths and legends, etc. The point is that compatibility of words is determined by restrictions imposed by the inner structure of the English word stock (e.g. a bright idea = a good idea; but it is impossible to say "a bright performance", or "a bright film"; "heavy metal" means difficult to digest, but it is impossible to say "heavy cheese"; to take a chance, but it is possible to say only "to take precautions").

Grammatical valency is the aptness of a word to appear in specific gram-l structures. The minimal gram-l context in which words are used when brought together to form word- groups is usually described as the pattern of the word-groups. For instance, the verb to offer can be followed by the infinitive (to offer to do smth.) and the noun (to offer a cup of tea). The verb to suggest can be followed by the gerund (to suggest doing smth.) and the noun (to suggest an idea). The grammatical valency of these verbs is different.

The adjectives clever and intelligent are seen to possess different gr-l valency as clever can be used in word-groups having the pattern: adjective + preposition *ai' + noun (cleier at mathematics), whereas in­telligent can never be found in exactly the same word-group pattern.