Lexical-Functional Grammar
Lexical-Functional Grammar
Lexical-Functional Grammar
f
1
f
3
NP: VP:3
A girl handed the baby a toy (sentence) f
1
A girl (NP) f
handed the baby a toy (VP) f
3
a. the SUBJ oI f
1
f
2
b. the SPE oI f
2
A
c. the NUM oI f
2
SG
d. the PRED oI f
2
GIRL`
F-structure is a mathematical Iunction that represents the grammatical Iunctions oI a sentence.
E.g.
the NUM oI f
2
SG
a. The Iunction oI f
2
is such that applying it to the argument NUM yields the value SG.
b. f
2
(NUM) SG
ompleteness: An I-structure is l4.ally .4mplete iI and only iI it contains all the governable
grammatical Iunctions that its predicate governs. An I-structure is .4mplete iI and only iI it and all
its subsidiary I-structures are locally complete.
oherence: An I-structure is l4.ally .4herent iI and only iI all the governable grammatical Iunctions
that it contains are governed by a local predicate. An I-structure is .4herent iI and only iI it and all
its subsidiary I-structures are locally coherent.
) The relation between .897:.9:708 and 1897:.9:708
-structures carry inIormation that is displayed in I-structure, and are annotated with fun.ti4nal
s.hemata, which indicate how the Iunctional inIormation contained on a node in the syntax
Gyngyi Cseh
participates in the I-structure.
$entence rule is annotated in the Iollowing way:
S NP VP
( SUBJ)
S node
mother node
( SUBJ)
NP VP
The Iunctional inIormation carried by the NP and the VP. The NP`s I-structure goes into the SUBJ
part oI the mother`s I-structure (S`s I-structure). VP`s I-structure is direct inIormation about the
mother`s I-structure (S`s I-structure). NP is the subject. VP is the Iunctional head ().
The up- and down-arrows (' and ') reIer to the I-structure that corresponds to the c-structure
node built by the rule. The 'up reIers to the I-structure oI the mother node and the 'down reIers to
the I-structure oI the node itselI.
The VP-rule
VP V (NP) (NP) (PP) (S`)
( OBJ) ( OBJ) ( ( ASE) ( OMP)
VP can contain a verb then a NP that is the OBJ (direct object), then a second object OBJ.
There can be any number oI PPs (prepositional phrases) and there can be an optional S` constituent
which bears the OMP (complement)
The NP-rule
NP (Det) N (PP)
( ADJUNT)
E.g.: 'the man asleep at the wheel`
NP contains an optional determiner, a noun and may also contain a PP ADJUNT (such as relative
clause, adjectival modiIier).
The PP-rule
PP P NP
( OBJ)
Gyngyi Cseh
E.g.: 'She flew t4 the m44n.`
S: sentence
NP: noun phrase
VP: verb phrase
PP: prepositional phrase
N: noun
V: verb
P: preposition
Det: determiner
OBL
GO
: oblique goal
S:1
(f
1
SUBJ) f
f
1
f
3
NP: VP:3
f
1
She Ilew to the moon - S (sentence)
f
She (NP)
f
3
Ilew to the moon. (VP)
She`
PERS: person
NUM: number
GEN: gender
ASE: case
PRED: predicate
f
1
-structure
f
-structure
f
3
-structure
Gyngyi Cseh 7
flew t4 the m44n`
OBL
GO
: oblique goal
A: accusative case
DEF: deIinite
Resources:
Bresnan, J.&R.M. Kaplan: 'Lexical-Iunctional grammar: a Iormal system Ior grammatical
representation. Bresnan, J. (ed.): The mental representati4n 4f grammati.al relati4ns. ambridge,
Mass: MIT Press 198.
Sells, P.: Lectures on contemporary syntactic theories. StanIord: SLI Publications 198.