Valency Dictionary

The valency dictionary is a collection of sentence structures for 6,000 Japanese verbs and adjectives in the form of valency patterns. Let's look at the Japanese word 膨れる(Fukureru). This word means "to swell or expand" in English.

膨れる (Fukureru)

1. $N1$が $N2$に 膨れる(``Fukureru'' )
   (` $N1$ swell to $N2$ ' )

   $N1$（134客 `Guest' 114仲間 `Associate' 121相手 `Partner' 533具体物 `Concrete' 2585数量 `Quantity' )
   $N2$（2585数量 `Quantity' )
   

2. $N1$が $N2$で 膨れる(``Fukureru'' )
   (`$N1$ bulge with $N2$' )

   $N1$（821衣服 `Clothes' 908袋 `Bag' 820衣服`Clothes'）
   $N2$（533具体物 `Concrete' 1190金銭`Money' ）
   

   
   $\vdots$ $\vdots$

The first line of each entry gives the Japanese valency pattern. Arguments (case elements) are indicated by $N1$, $N2$, etc.

The second line indicates the selective restrictions for the arguments. That is, it specifies nouns that may be instantiated by $N1$ and $N2$ according to their semantic category. Sometimes, the semantic category is complex.

This example shows that "134 客 (= guest)", "114 仲間 (= associate/member)", ... , "2582 列 (= line/queue)" can be used for $N1$, and category "2585 数量 (= quantity)" for $N2$.