Basic sentence structures in the children (10-12) texts based on the Dependency Grammar

Dependency Grammar, as one of the prominent linguistic theories in recent decades, examines the relationships among sentence elements, emphasizing their holistic and component-based connections. This theory defines the head and dependent relationship, wherein the verb serves as the head or governing element, dictating the number and types of complements required in a sentence (Herbest, 1988, p. 209). Dependency Grammar theory falls within the domain of structural and Formalist theories, focusing on the investigation of dependency relations among head elements and dependents within syntactic phrases, aiming to describe syntactic structures across diverse languages.
Within the framework of Dependency Grammar, every sentence features a central verb. By considering its obligatory and optional complements, one can ascertain the fundamental structure of sentences in which the verb is employed. Tabibzadeh (2012), following Dependency Grammar theory and an analysis of verb valency structures, has identified twenty-four syntactic structures referred to as the basic structure for Persian sentences. These basic structures serve as foundational templates, enabling the generation, definition, combination, or conversion of sentences within a language. They provide the basis for producing all potential and existing sentences in that language. Due to the limited number of governing principles governing their expansion and combination, children can rapidly acquire the syntactic structure of a language.
The extraction of these basic structures plays a pivotal and essential role in syntactic analysis. These structured and recurrent configurations constitute the building blocks for all syntactic structures in a language (Tabibzadeh, 1998). Despite ongoing efforts to extract syntactic structures in the Persian language, no prior research has focused on recognizing the syntactic features of children. Thus, this research is pioneering in its attention to the syntactic characteristics of sentences generated by children. The primary objective of this study is to examine the basic structure of sentences within written texts produced by children aged 10 to 12 years, employing the twenty-four basic structures of the Persian language (Tabibzadeh, 2012) within a dependency framework.