Lexical Functional Grammar 11 722 Grammar Formalisms Spring

Lexical Functional Grammar 11 -722: Grammar Formalisms Spring Term 2004

SUBJ PRED S NP N TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP V VP-bar SUBJ OBL-loc COMP VP V PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

SUBJ f 1 f 2 PRED S n 1 n 2 NP n 3 N VP V n 5 TENSE VFORM XCOMP n 4 VP-bar SUBJ n 6 f 4 n 7 COMP VP V P n 11 OBL-loc n 8 PP n 9 PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] f 3 VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ f 5 n 10 NP DET n 14 N n 12 n 13 Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ f 6 OBL-loc OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

SUBJ f 1 f 2 PRED S n 1 n 2 NP n 3 N VP V n 5 TENSE VFORM XCOMP n 4 VP-bar SUBJ n 6 f 4 n 7 COMP VP V P n 11 OBL-loc n 8 PP n 9 PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] f 3 VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ f 5 n 10 NP DET n 14 N n 12 n 13 Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ f 6 OBL-loc OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

Properties of the mapping from cstructure to f-structure • Each c-structure node maps onto at most one f-structure node. • More than one c-structure node can map onto the same f-structure node. • An f-structure node does not have to correspond to any c-structure node. (But the information it contains does come from somewhere – either a grammar rule or lexical entry. )

The formalism for grammatical encoding : Local co-description of partial structures • Φ is a mapping from c-structure nodes to fstructure nodes. – There are other mappings to semantic structures, argument structures, discourse structures, etc. • • * is the “current” c-structure node (me). Φ(*) is “my f-structure” ( ) m(*) is “my c-structure mother” Φ(m(*)) is “my c-structure mother’s f-structure” ( )

Local co-description of partial structures • S NP VP ( SUBJ) = = NP says: My mother’s f-structure has a SUBJ feature whose value is my f-structure. VP says: My mother’s f-structure is my f-structure. This rule simultaneously describes a piece of cstructure and a piece of f-structure. It is local because each equation refers only to the current node and its mother. (page 119 -120)

Other types of equations • F-structure composition – ( SUBJ NUM) = sg – My f-structure has a subj feature, whose value is another f-structure, which has a num feature, whose value is sg. – Usually, path names are not longer than two. • Two features pointing to the same value: – ( SUBJ) = ( XCOMP SUBJ) – ( SUBJ) = ( TOPIC) • ( ( CASE)) = (Dalrymple pages 152 -153) – Sam walked in the park. – ( CASE) = OBL-loc – ( OBL-loc) =

The minimal solution • The f-structure for a sentence is the minimal f-structure that satisfies all of the equations. (page 101).

Building an F-structure: informal, for linguists • Annotate – Assign a variable name to the f-structure corresponding to each c-structure node. – May find out later that some of them are the same. • Instantiate – Replace the arrows with the variable names. • Solve – Locate the f-structure named on the left side of the equation. – Locate the f-structure named on the right side of the equation – Unify them. – Replace both of them with the result of unification.

Rule: S → NP (↑ SUBJ) = ↓ VP ↑=↓ (↑VFORM) = fin SUBJ Instantiated equations: (f 1 SUBJ) = f 2 f 1 = f 3 f 2 f 1 PRED f 3 S f 1 NP f 2 N V TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP f 3 VP-bar SUBJ OBL-loc COMP VP V PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

Equivalent to drawing f-structures on nodes as in TAG S [1][VFORM fin] NP [1] [SUBJ [2]] VP [1]

lion: N (↑ PRED) = `lion’ seem: V (↑ PRED) = ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (↑ SUBJ) = (↑ XCOMP SUBJ) SUBJ -s (suffix for nouns) (↑ NUM) = pl - Ø (suffix for verbs) (↑ PERS) = 3 (↑ VFORM) = fin (↑ SUBJ NUM) = pl PRED S NP f 4 N f 5 V VP f 5 TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP-bar SUBJ OBL-loc COMP VP V PRED ‘lion’ pl f 4 NUM PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

lion: N (f 4 PRED) = `lion’ seem: V (f 5 PRED) = ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (f 5 SUBJ) = (f 5 XCOMP SUBJ) SUBJ -s (suffix for nouns) (f 4 NUM) = pl - Ø (suffix for verbs) (f 4 PERS) = 3 (f 5 VFORM) = fin (f 5 SUBJ NUM) = pl PRED S NP f 4 N f 5 V VP f 5 TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP-bar SUBJ OBL-loc COMP VP V PRED ‘lion’ pl f 4 NUM PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

What is an XCOMP • A non-finite clause, predicate nominal, predicate adjective, or predicate PP – – – Sam seemed to be happy (VP) Sam seemed happy (AP) Sam became a teacher (NP) We had them arrested (VP) We kept them in the drawer (PP) • Has to be an argument of a verb: – Arrested by the police, Sam had no alternative but to give up his life of crime. • This is an adjunct, not an XCOMP • Gets its subject by sharing with another verb: – I think that Sam is happy. • This is a COMP, not an XCOMP

seem: V VP → V VP ↑=↓ (↑ XCOMP) = ↓ (↑ PRED) = ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (↑ SUBJ) = (↑ XCOMP SUBJ) (↑ XCOMP VFORM) = INF SUBJ - Ø (suffix for verbs) (↑ VFORM) = fin PRED f 3 (↑ SUBJ NUM) = pl S NP N f 5 V TENSE VFORM XCOMP f 5 VP f 3 f 6 f 7 f 8 VP-bar f 8 f 6 COMP VP f 9 f 7 V PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ SUBJ OBL-loc f 9 PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest to: COMP (↑ VFORM) = INF CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF + - Ø (suffix for verbs) (↑ VFORM) = INF live: V (↑ PRED) = `live<theme loc>’ SUBJ OBL

seem: V VP → V f 3=f 5 (f 5 PRED) = ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (f 5 SUBJ) = (f 5 XCOMP SUBJ) (f 5 XCOMP VFORM) = INF SUBJ - Ø (suffix for verbs) (f 5 VFORM) = fin (f 5 SUBJ NUM) = pl f 3 S NP N f 5 V PRED TENSE VFORM XCOMP f 5 VP f 3 f 6 f 7 f 8 VP-bar f 8 f 6 COMP VP f 9 f 7 V VP (f 3 XCOMP) = f 8 PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘seem < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ SUBJ OBL-loc f 9 PP P NP DET N Lions seem to live in the forest to: COMP (f 6 VFORM) = INF CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF + - Ø (suffix for verbs) (f 7 VFORM) = INF live: V (f 7 PRED) = `live<theme loc>’ SUBJ OBL

SUBJ PRED S NP N TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP V VP-bar SUBJ OBL-loc COMP VP V PP P NP DET Lions try PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘try < agent theme >’ SUBJ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM INF PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ N to live in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

have: V (↑ PRED) = ‘have < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (↑ SUBJ) = (↑ XCOMP SUBJ) (↑ XCOMP VFORM) = PASTPART SUBJ - Ø (suffix for verbs) (↑ VFORM) = fin PRED (↑ SUBJ NUM) = pl S NP N TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP V SUBJ OBL-loc VP V PP P NP DET Lions have PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘have < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM PASTPART PRED ‘live< theme loc >’ N lived in the forest CASE PRED OBJ OBL-loc ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +

were : V (↑ PRED) = ‘be < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP (↑ SUBJ) = (↑ XCOMP SUBJ) (↑ XCOMP VFORM) = PASSIVE SUBJ (↑ VFORM) = fin (↑ SUBJ NUM) = pl PRED S NP N TENSE VFORM XCOMP VP V PRED OBJ VP V PRED ‘lion’ NUM pl PERS 3 ‘be < theme > SUBJ’ XCOMP pres fin SUBJ [ ] VFORM PASSIVE PRED ‘hunt<agent theme loc >’ Ø SUBJ OBL-loc OBJ OBL-loc CASE OBL-loc PP P NP DET N Lions were hunted in the forest ‘in<OBJ>’ PRED ‘forest’ NUM sg PERS 3 DEF +