Lexical Functional Grammar: Lexical Funcational Grammar: 34 (Syntax and Semantics) - Hardcover

Volume 34 of Syntax and Semantics is a thorough and accessible overview and introduction to Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), a theory of the content and representation of different aspects of linguistic structure and the relations that hold between them. The book motivates and describes the two syntactic structures of LFG: surface phrasal organization is represented by a context-free phrase structure tree, and more abstract functional syntactic relations like subject and object are represented separately, at functional structure. The book also presents a theory of semantics and the syntax-semantics interface in which the meaning of an utterance is obtained via deduction from semantic premises contributed by its parts. Clear explication of the formal aspects of the theory is provided throughout, and differences between LFG and other linguistic theories are explored. The theory is illustrated by the analysis of a varied set of linguistic phenomena, including modification, control, anaphora, coordination, and long-distance dependencies. Besides its interest to linguists, LFG also has practical applications in computational linguistics and computer science.

Key Features
* Thorough overview of the state of the art in Lexical Functional Grammar
* Clear explanation of the formal tools of the theory
* Introduction to the "glue" semantics, a theory of the syntax-semantics interface
* In-depth syntactic and semantic analysis of a variety of linguistic constructions

ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
MARY DALRYMPLE is a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Computer Science, King's College London. Her work investigates the syntax-semantics interface: how the syntactic properties of natural language can guide the process of assembling meanings of words and phrases into meanings of larger phrases and sentences. She is the author or editor of three books on Lexical-Functional Grammar, numerous book chapters, and dozens of journal articles. She served on the editorial board of COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS and the JOURNAL OF LOGIC, LANGUAGE, AND INFORMATION.