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result(s) for
"Lexical-functional grammar."
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The syntax of Sanskrit compounds
Classical Sanskrit is well known for making extensive use of compounding. I argue, within a lexicalist framework, that the major rules of compounding in Sanskrit can be most appropriately characterized in syntactic, not morphological, terms. That is, Classical Sanskrit ‘compounds’ are in fact very often syntactic phrases. The syntactic analysis proposed captures the fact that compound formation is closer to a morphological process than other aspects of syntax, and so permits some acknowledgment of the gradient nature of the word–phrase divide, even within a strictly lexicalist theory.
Journal Article
The Oxford reference guide to lexical functional grammar
This volume is the most comprehensive reference work to date on Lexical Functional Grammar. The authors provide detailed and extensive coverage of the analysis of syntax, semantics, morphology, prosody, and information structure, and how these aspects of linguistic structure interact in the nontransformational framework of LFG. 0The book is divided into three parts. The first part examines the syntactic theory and formal architecture of LFG, with detailed explanations and comprehensive illustration, providing an unparalleled introduction to the fundamentals of the theory. Part two explores non-syntactic levels of linguistic structure, including the syntax-semantics interface and semantic representation, argument structure, information structure, prosodic structure, and morphological structure, and how these are related0in the projection architecture of LFG. Chapters in the third part illustrate the theory more explicitly by presenting explorations of the syntax and semantics of a range of representative linguistic phenomena: modification, anaphora, control, coordination, and long-distance dependencies. The final chapter discusses LFG-based work not covered elsewhere in the book, as well as new developments in the theory.0The volume will be an invaluable reference for graduate and advanced undergraduate students and researchers in a wide range of linguistic sub-fields, including syntax, morphology, semantics, information structure, and prosody, as well as those working in language documentation and description.
Book
Lexicalising clausal syntax : the interaction of syntax, the lexicon and information structure in Hungarian
The book presents a new perspective on clausal syntax and its interactions with lexical and discourse function information by analysing Hungarian sentences. It demonstrates ways in which grammar engineering implementations can provide insights into how complex linguistic processes interact.
eBook
Expanding the lexicon : linguistic innovation, morphological productivity, and ludicity
The creation of new lexical units and patterns has been studied in different research frameworks, focusing on either system-internal or system-external aspects, from which no comprehensive view has emerged. The volume aims to fill this gap by studying dynamic processes in the lexicon - understood in a wide sense as not being necessarily limited to the word level - by bringing together approaches directed to morphological productivity as well as approaches analyzing general types of lexical innovation and the role of discourse-related factors. The papers deal with ongoing changes as well as with historical processes of change in different languages and reflect on patterns and specific subtypes of lexical innovation as well as on their external conditions and the speakers' motivations for innovating. Moreover, the diffusion and conventionalization of innovations will be addressed. In this way, the volume contributes to understanding the complex interplay of structural, cognitive and functional factors in the lexicon as a highly dynamic domain--Publisher's website.
BOOK
From Lexical Functional Grammar to enhanced Universal Dependencies
The paper describes the conversion of an LFG treebank of Polish into enhanced Universal Dependencies, and—more generally—identifies the kinds of information lost in translation from LFG to UD. The paper also presents the resulting UD treebank of Polish and compares it to the previous UD treebank of Polish.
Journal Article
Propositional glue and the projection architecture of LFG
Although 'glue semantics' is the most extensively developed theory of semantic composition for LFG, it is not very well integrated into the LFG projection architecture, due to the absence of a simple and well-explained correspondence between glue-proofs and f-structures. In this paper I will show that we can improve this situation with two steps: (1) Replace the current quantificational formulations of glue (either Girard's system F, or first order linear logic) with strictly propositional linear logic (the quantifier, unit and exponential free version of either MILL or ILL, depending on whether or not tensors are used). (2) Reverse the direction of the standard σ-projection from f-structure to meaning, giving one going from the (atomic nodes of) the glue-proof to the f-structure, rather than from the f-structure to a 'semantic projection' which is itself somehow related to the glue-proof. As a side effect, the standard semantic projection of LFG glue semantics can be dispensed with. A result is that LFG sentence structures acquire a level composed of strictly binary trees, constructed out of nodes representing function application and lambda abstraction, with a significant resemblance to external and internal merge in the Minimalist Program. This increased resemblance between frameworks might assist in making useful comparisons.
Journal Article
On the relations over representations of linguistic structure and grammars
A familiar and fairly well-known distinction exists between a
derivational
type of grammar (for example, mainstream Generative Grammar) and a
representational
type of grammar (Lexical-Functional Grammar, Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar, etc.). As far as the derivational type is concerned, the derivational process goes on in an incremental manner through a series of structural alterations involving structural constraints, whereas in the case of the representational type as soon as the linguistic structure is built, it is checked for conformity to certain representational constraints. This paper argues that the two types are not simply mutually exclusive choices for the representation of linguistic structure. Rather, they constitute and also reflect two distinct and yet parallel modes of knowledge representation of language vis-à-vis the abstract (axiomatic) system of language from a metatheoretical perspective. That they are sometimes equivalent in expressing linguistic facts and sometimes divergent in descriptions of other linguistic structures is explained by appealing to the idea that the formal representation of language is bimorphic but not in terms of the same morphism. There exists a morphism instantiating an epimorphism (in the category-theoretic sense) that maps between categories of objects designating linguistic entities and procedures, establishing the divergence, while the case for equivalence can be simply treated as monomorphic (in terms of the category-theoretic notion of monomorphism). Hence, it leads to a split bimorphic representation of language. Then it is shown how divergent psycholinguistic findings on the conflicts between the derivational type of grammar and the representational type can be accommodated by appealing to the present model. Overall, this essentially shows that choices of representation of linguistic structure are partly determined by cognitive constraints/principles and any uncertainty between such choices can be accommodated in the current model that can admit of both entanglement and flipping between choices of representation of linguistic structure.
Journal Article
Noun class agreement in Kafire (Senufo): A Lexical-Functional Grammar account
A major challenge presented by noun class systems of Senufo languages is the non-trivial interaction between the agreement features of the noun phrase and the noun class specification on the head noun. In Kafire (Senufo, Côte d’Ivoire), demonstratives normally agree with the head noun independent of whether or not the head noun is modified by adjectives. Some adjectives, however, are exceptions to the general rule: in their presence the demonstrative appears in Class 2 or 3 (depending on the adjective), and fails to agree with the head noun. We present an account of the exceptional behavior of such adjectives within the framework of Lexical-Functional Grammar. We show that agreement in Kafire is a heterogeneous phenomenon that is best viewed as transitional between a system of semantically motivated agreement and a system of noun classes that is no longer dependent on meaning. Vestiges of the old system have been preserved in a variety of phenomena that have to be addressed individually using different kinds of formal tools provided by the framework. The variety of formal devices required to describe the functioning of the agreement system reflects the complex diachrony and the cross-modal (lexico-syntactic) synchronic nature of agreement phenomena.
Journal Article
Lexical and Morphological Development for English and Russian in a 3-Year-Old Multilingual Child
Processability Theory (PT) adequately describes the developmental stages of L2 learners across languages. To date, little is known whether PT can predict the grammatical development of bilingual and multilingual children. A longitudinal study examined the lexical and morphological development of a child growing up with Russian and English and exposed to Ukrainian using PT from 2;11 to 3;06. The results show a strong correlation between the child’s vocabulary growth and the development of morphological skills, supporting Lexical Functional Grammar. Grammar development in both languages progressed alongside lexical acquisition, indicating the cumulative nature of language development. The study supported Pienemann’s hypothesized sequences in PT, revealing different stages for Russian and English. It suggests that NP agreement precedes VP agreement in the child’s English. However, there was no evidence supporting the acquisition of the S-procedure before the subordinate stage in English. These findings contribute to understanding Russian-English bilingualism in early childhood.
Journal Article