Introduction to LFG
Mary Dalrymple
Centre for Linguistics and Philology
Oxford University
LSA Linguistic Institute 2007
Day 2
Introduction to LFG – 1 / 59
L F G
C-structure and f-structure
IP
I0
NP
N
VP
David
V0

V
NP
greeted
N
pred
‘greethsubj,obji’
h

 subj
pred


h

obj
pred

i 
‘David’ 

i 

‘Chris’
Chris
Introduction to LFG – 2 / 59
L F G
C-structure
■
What information does constituent structure represent?
Introduction to LFG – 3 / 59
L F G
C-structure
■
What information does constituent structure represent?
■
How do we know what the constituent structure for a
sentence is?
Introduction to LFG – 3 / 59
L F G
Motivating Constituent Structure
■
Represents hierarchical phrasal groupings
Introduction to LFG – 4 / 59
L F G
Motivating Constituent Structure
■
Represents hierarchical phrasal groupings
■
Criteria depend on surface syntactic properties, not
semantic intuitions or facts about abstract functional
syntactic structure
Introduction to LFG – 4 / 59
L F G
Motivating Constituent Structure
■
Represents hierarchical phrasal groupings
■
Criteria depend on surface syntactic properties, not
semantic intuitions or facts about abstract functional
syntactic structure
■
Varies greatly across languages
Introduction to LFG – 4 / 59
L F G
Constituent Structure Diagnostics
■
Intonation: falling intonation on right edge of focused
constituent in Russian
Introduction to LFG – 5 / 59
L F G
Constituent Structure Diagnostics
■
Intonation: falling intonation on right edge of focused
constituent in Russian
■
Clitic placement: placement of possessive clitic on right
edge of NP in English
Introduction to LFG – 5 / 59
L F G
Constituent Structure Diagnostics
■
Intonation: falling intonation on right edge of focused
constituent in Russian
■
Clitic placement: placement of possessive clitic on right
edge of NP in English
■
Verb-second: placement of verb after first constituent in
Warlpiri
Introduction to LFG – 5 / 59
L F G
Constituent Structure Diagnostics
■
Intonation: falling intonation on right edge of focused
constituent in Russian
■
Clitic placement: placement of possessive clitic on right
edge of NP in English
■
Verb-second: placement of verb after first constituent in
Warlpiri
■
Question formation: placement of single constituent in
initial position in English
Introduction to LFG – 5 / 59
L F G
Constituent Structure Diagnostics
■
Intonation: falling intonation on right edge of focused
constituent in Russian
■
Clitic placement: placement of possessive clitic on right
edge of NP in English
■
Verb-second: placement of verb after first constituent in
Warlpiri
■
Question formation: placement of single constituent in
initial position in English
■
Distribution of adverbs: placement of adverb between
constituent daughters of VP or S in Icelandic
Introduction to LFG – 5 / 59
L F G
Lexical categories
Lexical categories are associated with open-class lexical items:
■
N(oun), P(reposition), V(erb), A(djective), Adv(erb)
Introduction to LFG – 6 / 59
L F G
Functional categories
Functional categories are associated with closed-class lexical
items, or a subset of open-class items. They are used when
functional features are associated with positional properties
(Börjars and Vincent, 2004).
■
David is yawning.
■
Is David yawning?
■
David yawned.
■
*Yawned David?
We will assume I (originally for Inflection) and C (originally for
Complementizer).
Introduction to LFG – 7 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
■
X is a variable over category labels
Introduction to LFG – 8 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
■
X is a variable over category labels
■
X projects an X0 phrase
Introduction to LFG – 8 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
■
X is a variable over category labels
■
X projects an X0 phrase
■
X0 projects an XP phrase
Introduction to LFG – 8 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
■
I projects I0
IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
David
is
V
yawning
Introduction to LFG – 9 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
■
I projects I0
■
VP is a complement (sister) of I
IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
David
is
V
yawning
Introduction to LFG – 9 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
IP
■
I projects I0
■
VP is a complement (sister) of I
■ I0
projects IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
David
is
V
yawning
Introduction to LFG – 9 / 59
L F G
X-Bar Theory
IP
■
I projects I0
■
VP is a complement (sister) of I
■ I0
I0
NP
■
N
I
VP
David
is
V
projects IP
NP is a specifier of I0
yawning
Introduction to LFG – 9 / 59
L F G
Lexical Integrity (Bresnan, 1982): Morphologically complete
words are leaves of the c-structure tree, and each leaf
corresponds to one and only one c-structure node.
Introduction to LFG – 10 / 59
L F G
Lexical Integrity (Bresnan, 1982): Morphologically complete
words are leaves of the c-structure tree, and each leaf
corresponds to one and only one c-structure node.
Words in one language can express the same f-structure as
phrases in another language.
English: cause to run
Japanese: hasiraseta
run.caus.past

pred
‘causehsubj,obj,xcompi’

 subj [ ]


 obj [ ]




pred

 xcomp 
subj
‘runhsubji’













Introduction to LFG – 10 / 59
L F G
Economy of Expression (Bresnan, 2001): All syntactic phrase
structure nodes are optional, and are not used unless required by
independent principles (completeness, coherence, semantic
expressivity).
CP
C0
C
Is
IP
NP
I0
N
VP
David
V
yawning
Introduction to LFG – 11 / 59
L F G
CP
NP
C0
N
IP
kogda
when
I0
I
VP
rodilsja
born
NP
N
Lermontov
Lermontov
‘When was Lermontov born?’
Introduction to LFG – 12 / 59
L F G
Exocentricity: the category S
Warlpiri:
IP
I0
NP
N
I
kurdu-jarra-rlu
child-dual-erg
kapala
pres
S
NP
V
NP
wajilipi-nyi
N
chase-nonpast
maliki
wita-jarra-rlu
dog.abs
small-dual-erg
N
Not all languages make use of S (English doesn’t).
Introduction to LFG – 13 / 59
L F G
Exocentricity
Exocentric categories (Kroeger, 1993; Bresnan, 2001):
■
have no lexical head
Introduction to LFG – 14 / 59
L F G
Exocentricity
Exocentric categories (Kroeger, 1993; Bresnan, 2001):
■
have no lexical head
■
do not obey X0 theory
Introduction to LFG – 14 / 59
L F G
Exocentricity
Exocentric categories (Kroeger, 1993; Bresnan, 2001):
■
have no lexical head
■
do not obey X0 theory
■
can dominate either lexical or phrasal constituents
Introduction to LFG – 14 / 59
L F G
Exocentricity
Exocentric categories (Kroeger, 1993; Bresnan, 2001):
■
have no lexical head
■
do not obey X0 theory
■
can dominate either lexical or phrasal constituents
S can dominate a predicate and any or all of its arguments,
including the SUBJ.
Introduction to LFG – 14 / 59
L F G
Phrase Structure Rules
V0
−→ V NP
Phrase structure rules are interpreted as node
admissibility conditions: a phrase structure tree is admitted by a
set of phrase structure rules if the rules license the tree.
Introduction to LFG – 15 / 59
L F G
Phrase Structure Rules
−→ V (NP) PP*
V0
The right hand side of a phrase structure rule is a regular
expression: rich descriptive power, formally well-understood and
computationally tractable.
Regular expressions allow:
■
optionality
■
disjunction
■
repetition
Introduction to LFG – 16 / 59
L F G
C-structure and f-structure
IP
I0
NP
N
VP
David
V0

V
NP
greeted
N
pred
‘greethsubj,obji’
h

 subj
pred


h

obj
pred

i 
‘David’ 

i 

‘Chris’
Chris
Introduction to LFG – 17 / 59
L F G
C- and F-Structure
V
greeted
φ
"
pred ‘greethsubj,obji’
tense past
#
φ function relates c-structure nodes to f-structures.
(Function: Every c-structure node corresponds to exactly one
f-structure.)
Introduction to LFG – 18 / 59
L F G
Many Corresponding Nodes
VP
V
0
V
φ
"
pred ‘greethsubj, obji’
tense past
#
greeted
Many c-structure nodes can correspond to the same f-structure.
Introduction to LFG – 19 / 59
L F G
No Corresponding Node
S
V
kowareta
break.past
φ


pred ‘breakhsubji’


 tense past




subj
h
pred
‘pro’
i
Some f-structures have no corresponding c-structure node.
Introduction to LFG – 20 / 59
L F G
No Corresponding Node
S
V
kowareta
break.past
φ


pred ‘breakhsubji’


 tense past




subj
h
pred
‘pro’
i
Some f-structures have no corresponding c-structure node.
These are formal, mathematical facts about the
c-structure/f-structure relation. What are the linguistic facts?
Introduction to LFG – 20 / 59
L F G
Mapping regularities
C-structure heads are f-structure heads:
VP
V
0
V
φ
"
pred ‘greethsubj, obji’
tense past
#
greeted
Introduction to LFG – 21 / 59
L F G
Mapping Regularities
Specifiers are filled by grammaticized discourse functions SUBJ,
TOPIC, FOCUS.
Introduction to LFG – 22 / 59
L F G
Mapping Regularities
Specifiers are filled by grammaticized discourse functions SUBJ,
TOPIC, FOCUS.
Specifier of IP in English: SUBJ
IP
NP
I0
N
VP
David
V



pred
‘yawnhsubji’
subj
h
pred
‘David’

i

yawned
Introduction to LFG – 22 / 59
L F G
Mapping regularities
Specifier of IP in Russian: Topic or Focus
IP
I0
NP
I
Evgenija Onegina
Eugene Onegin napisal
wrote
VP
NP
N
Puškin
Pushkin

pred
‘writehsubj,obji’


("
#) 


‘Eugene


pred

 topic


Onegin’




h
i



 subj
pred
‘Pushkin’




obj
Introduction to LFG – 23 / 59
L F G
Mapping regularities
Specifier of IP in Bulgarian: Focus; Specifier of CP: Topic
CP
NP
C0
N
IP
Ivan
Ivan

NP
I0
N
I
kakvo
what
pravi
does
pred
‘dohsubj,obji’


h
i 


 topic
pred ‘Ivan’ 






 subj



h
i


pred ‘what’ 
 focus





obj
Introduction to LFG – 24 / 59
L F G
Mapping regularities
Specifier of CP in English: Focus
CP

C0
NP
N
C
What
is
IP
NP
I0
N
VP
David
V
pred
‘eathsubj,obji’


h
i


 focus
pred ‘what’ 



h
i 


 subj
pred ‘David’ 




obj
eating
Introduction to LFG – 25 / 59
L F G
Mapping regularities
Specifier of CP in Finnish: Focus
CP
N
Mikolta
Mikko.abl

C0
NP
IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
Anna
Anna
sai
got
NP
N
kukkia
flowers.part
pred
‘gethsubj,obj,oblsource i’
obj
pred

h
i

 focus
pred ‘Mikko’



 oblsource

h
i

 topic
pred ‘Anna’



 subj


h
i

‘flowers’


















Introduction to LFG – 26 / 59
L F G
Complements: Functional Categories
Complement of functional category is f-structure co-head:



IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
David
is
V
pred
‘yawnhsubji’
subj
h
pred
‘David’

i

yawning
Introduction to LFG – 27 / 59
L F G
Complements: Functional Categories
IP

pred ‘readhsubj,obji’

 tense future
0
NP
I
N
I
VP
Anna
Anna
budet
future
V0
V
NP
čitat’
read.inf
N

nh

 topic
pred


 subj


h

obj
pred



io 

‘Anna’ 





i

‘book’
knigu
book
Introduction to LFG – 28 / 59
L F G
Complements of Lexical Categories
Complement of lexical category is f-structure complement
(non-subject argument):

IP
NP
I0
N
VP
David
V0
pred
‘greethsubj,obji’
obj
pred

h

 subj
pred


h

V
NP
greeted
N

i 

‘David’ 

i 

‘Chris’
Chris
Introduction to LFG – 29 / 59
L F G
Complements of Lexical Categories
IP
NP
I0
N
VP
David
V0

V
NP
NP
gave
N
Det
N0
Chris
a
N
pred
‘givehsubj,obj,objtheme i’

h
i

pred ‘David’
 subj


h
i

 obj
pred ‘Chris’



h


spec
pred


 objtheme
pred
‘book’









i

‘a’ 


book
Introduction to LFG – 30 / 59
L F G
Complements of Lexical Categories
Complement of lexical category can be f-structure co-head:
IP
I0
NP
N
I
VP
David
has
V0

V
VP
been
V

pred ‘yawnhsubji’


 tense pres



 aspect perfect.progressive 



subj
h
pred
‘David’
i

yawning
Introduction to LFG – 31 / 59
L F G
Constraining the c-structure/f-structure
correspondence
How can we specify the relation between c-structures and
f-structures?
Introduction to LFG – 32 / 59
L F G
Constraining the c-structure/f-structure
correspondence
How can we specify the relation between c-structures and
f-structures?
V0
V
φ
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
Introduction to LFG – 32 / 59
L F G
Constraining the c-structure/f-structure
correspondence
How can we specify the relation between c-structures and
f-structures?
V0
V
φ
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
V0
−→ V
Introduction to LFG – 32 / 59
L F G
Local F-Structure Reference
V0
V
φ
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
V0
−→ V
the current c-structure node (“self”):
the immediately dominating node (“mother”):
the c-structure to f-structure function:
∗
b
∗
φ
Introduction to LFG – 33 / 59
L F G
Rule Annotation
V0
V
φ
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
Introduction to LFG – 34 / 59
L F G
Rule Annotation
V0
V
φ
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
V0
−→
V
φ(b
∗) = φ(∗)
mother’s (V0 ’s) f-structure = self’s (V’s) f-structure
Introduction to LFG – 34 / 59
L F G
Simplifying the Notation
φ(b
∗)
φ(∗)
V0
V
(mother’s f-structure)
(self’s f-structure)
φ
"
=↑
=↓
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
Introduction to LFG – 35 / 59
L F G
Simplifying the Notation
φ(b
∗)
φ(∗)
(mother’s f-structure)
(self’s f-structure)
V0
V
φ
"
=↑
=↓
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
yawned
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
mother’s f-structure = self’s f-structure
Introduction to LFG – 35 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
mother’s f-structure = self’s f-structure
Introduction to LFG – 36 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
mother’s f-structure = self’s f-structure
V0
V
↑ =↓
Introduction to LFG – 36 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
mother’s f-structure = self’s f-structure
V0
V
↑ =↓
Introduction to LFG – 36 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
mother’s f-structure = self’s f-structure
V0
[]
V
↑ =↓
Introduction to LFG – 36 / 59
L F G
More rules
V0
−→
V
φ(b
∗) = φ(∗)
NP
(φ(b
∗) obj) = φ(∗)
mother’s f-structure’s obj = self’s f-structure
In simpler form:
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
NP
(↑ obj) = ↓
Introduction to LFG – 37 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
V0
−→
V
↑= ↓
NP
(↑ obj) = ↓
Introduction to LFG – 38 / 59
L F G
Using the Notation
−→
V0
V0
V
NP
V
↑= ↓
h
obj
NP
(↑ obj) = ↓
[]
i
Introduction to LFG – 38 / 59
L F G
Terminal nodes
V
yawned
"
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
Introduction to LFG – 39 / 59
L F G
Terminal nodes
"
V
yawned
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
Expressible as:
V
−→
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 39 / 59
L F G
Terminal nodes
"
V
yawned
pred ‘yawnhsubji’
tense past
#
Expressible as:
V
−→
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Standard form:
yawned V
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 39 / 59
L F G
Phrase structure rules: English
IP
0
I
−→
−→
VP −→
NP −→
NP
(↑ subj) = ↓
I
↑= ↓
0
I
↑= ↓
VP
↑= ↓
V
↑= ↓
N
↑= ↓
Introduction to LFG – 40 / 59
L F G
Lexical entries: English
yawned
V
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
David
N
(↑ pred) = ‘David’
Introduction to LFG – 41 / 59
L F G
Lexical entries: English
yawned
V
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
David
N
(↑ pred) = ‘David’
(Standard LFG practice: include only features relevant for
analysis under discussion.)
Introduction to LFG – 41 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
(↑ subj) = ↓
I0
↑ =↓
N
↑ =↓
VP
↑ =↓
David
(↑ pred) = ‘David’
V
↑ =↓
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
(↑ subj) = ↓
I0
↑ =↓
N
↑ =↓
VP
↑ =↓
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
↑ =↓
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
(↑ subj) = ↓
I0
↑ =↓
N
fnp = fn
VP
↑ =↓
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
↑ =↓
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
subj) = fnp
I0
↑ =↓
N
fnp = fn
VP
↑ =↓
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
↑ =↓
(fip
yawned
(↑ pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(↑ tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
subj) = fnp
I0
↑ =↓
N
fnp = fn
VP
↑ =↓
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
↑ =↓
(fip
yawned
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
NP
subj) = fnp
I0
↑ =↓
N
fnp = fn
VP
↑ =↓
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
fvp = fv
(fip
yawned
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
(fip
NP
subj) = fnp
I0
↑ =↓
N
fnp = fn
VP
fi0 = fvp
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
fvp = fv
yawned
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Analysis: English
IP
I0
= fi0
NP
subj) = fnp
fip
N
fnp = fn
VP
fi0 = fvp
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
fvp = fv
(fip
yawned
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 42 / 59
L F G
Solving the Description
(fip subj) = fnp
fip
fnp = fn
fi0
(fn pred) = ‘David’
fvp
fip = fi0
fv
fi0 = fvp
fvp = fv
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past


pred ‘yawnhsubji’



 tense past


h
i


fnp
 subj
pred ‘David’ 
fn
Introduction to LFG – 43 / 59
L F G
Final result

IP
0
I
= fi0
NP
subj) = fnp
fip
N
fnp = fn
VP
fi0 = fvp
David
(fn pred) = ‘David’
V
fvp = fv
(fip
pred
‘yawnhsubji’
subj
pred

 tense past

h

‘David’



i

yawned
(fv pred) = ‘yawnhsubji’
(fv tense) = past
Introduction to LFG – 44 / 59
L F G
Warlpiri
gf ≡ {subj | obj | oblθ }
IP
−→
I
−→
S
−→ {
0

 NP
(↑ focus) = ↓
(↑ gf) = ↓
I
↑= ↓
0
I
↑= ↓
S
↑= ↓
NP
|
V
}∗
(↑ gf) = ↓
↑= ↓
Introduction to LFG – 45 / 59
L F G
Warlpiri verbs
panti-rni V
(↑ pred) = ‘spearhsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj case) = erg
((↑ obj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ obj case) = abs
Introduction to LFG – 46 / 59
L F G
Warlpiri

N
↑= ↓
ngarrka-ngku
man-erg
(↑ pred) = ‘man’
(↑ case) = erg
I0
↑ =↓
I
↑ =↓
ka
pres
case
S
↑ =↓
NP
(↑ gf)=↓
‘spearhsubj,obji’



"
#


pred ‘man’


 focus



case
erg




 subj





"
#



pred ‘kangaroo’ 
 obj

IP
NP
(↑ focus)=↓
(↑ gf)=↓
pred
abs
V
↑ =↓
panti-rni
spear-nonpast
(↑ pred) = ‘spearhsubj,obji’
N
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
↑= ↓
(↑ subj case) = erg
((↑ obj pred) = ‘pro’)
wawirri
(↑ obj case) = abs
kangaroo.abs
(↑ pred) = ‘kangaroo’
(↑ case) = abs
Introduction to LFG – 47 / 59
L F G
Chichewa
−→
S
VP −→
V
0
−→
NP
NP
VP
,
,
(↑ subj) = ↓
(↑ topic) = ↓
↑= ↓
0
V
↑ =↓
V
↑ =↓
NP
(↑ obj) = ↓
Comma between daughters in S rule: daughters of S are
unordered
Introduction to LFG – 48 / 59
L F G
Chichewa verbs
zi-ná-wá-lum-a
V
(↑ pred) = ‘bitehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj nounclass) = 10
(↑ obj pred) = ‘pro’
(↑ obj nounclass) = 2
Introduction to LFG – 49 / 59
L F G
Chichewa

S
NP
(↑ subj)=↓
VP
↑ =↓
njûchi
bees
(↑ pred) = ‘bees’
(↑ nounclass) = 10
V0
↑ =↓
pred
‘bitehsubj,obji’


"
#


pred ‘bees’



 subj


nounclass
10




"
#




pred ‘pro’

 obj
nounclass 2
V
zi-ná-wá-lum-a
subj-past-obj-bite-indicative
(↑ pred) = ‘bitehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj nounclass) = 10
(↑ obj pred) = ‘pro’
(↑ obj nounclass) = 2
Introduction to LFG – 50 / 59
L F G
Chichewa

S
VP
↑ =↓
V0
↑ =↓
pred
‘bitehsubj,obji’


#
"




pred ‘pro’
 subj



nounclass
10




"
#



pred ‘hunter’ 
 obj

nounclass 2
V
NP
(↑ obj)=↓
zi-ná-lum-a
subj-past-obj-bite-indicative
(↑ pred) = ‘bitehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj nounclass) = 10
alenje
hunters
(↑ pred) = ‘hunter’
(↑ nounclass) = 10
Introduction to LFG – 51 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian
IP
−→
I0
−→
I
−→
S
−→ {

 NP
(↑ focus) = ↓
(↑ gf) = ↓
0
I
↑= ↓
I
S
↑= ↓
↑= ↓
Cl
I
(↑ obj) = ↓
↑= ↓
NP
|
V
}∗
(↑ gf) = ↓
↑= ↓
Introduction to LFG – 52 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian verbs
vidja
V
(↑ pred) = ‘seehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj pers) = 3
(↑ subj num) = sg
(↑ subj case) = nom
(↑ obj case) = acc
Introduction to LFG – 53 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian clitics
ja
((↑ pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = fem
(↑ case) = acc
Introduction to LFG – 54 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian

IP
NP
(↑ focus)=↓
(↑ gf)=↓
I0
↑= ↓
N
↑= ↓
I
↑ =↓
S
↑ =↓
Knigata
book.fem.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘book’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = fem
vidja
see.past.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘seehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj pers) = 3
(↑ subj num) = sg
(↑ subj case) = nom
(↑ obj case) = acc
NP
(↑ gf)=↓
N
pred
‘seehsubj,obji’





pred ‘Georgi’ 







 pers 3



 subj  num sg









 gend masc




case nom








pred
‘book’



 


 
 pers 3

 

 focus  num sg
 

 


 


gend
fem
 





case
acc




obj
Georgi
Georgi.masc.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘Georgi’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = masc
Introduction to LFG – 55 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian

IP
NP
(↑ focus) = ↓
(↑ gf)=↓
I0
N
↑= ↓
I
↑ =↓
S
↑ =↓
Decata
children
(↑ pred) = ‘children’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = pl
vidja
see.past.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘seehsubj,obji’
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ subj pers) = 3
(↑ subj num) = sg
(↑ subj case) = nom
(↑ obj case) = acc
NP
(↑ gf)=↓
N
↑= ↓
pred
‘seehsubj,obji’







pred ‘Georgi’










pers
3




 subj 


num
sg










gend
masc






case nom








pred ‘children’ 


 pers 3


 focus 




 num pl






case
acc




obj
Georgi
Georgi.masc.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘Georgi’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = masc
Introduction to LFG – 56 / 59
L F G
Bulgarian

IP
NP
(↑ focus) = ↓
(↑ gf)=↓
I0
N
↑= ↓
I
↑ =↓
Georgi
Georgi.masc.3sg
(↑ pred) = ‘Georgi’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = masc
Cl
(↑ obj)=↓
S
↑ =↓
I
↑ =↓
NP
(↑ gf)=↓
pred
‘watchhsubj,obji’





pred ‘Georgi’ 







 gend masc



 focus  pers 3









 num sg




case
nom




 subj











pred
‘Marija’






 gend fem








 obj 

pers 3








num
sg




gleda
ja
watch.3sg
her.obj.clitic
(↑ pred) = ‘seehsubj,obji’
((↑ pred) = ‘pro’)
N
((↑ subj pred) = ‘pro’)
(↑ pers) = 3
↑
=
↓
(↑ subj pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ subj num) = sg
(↑ gend) = fem
Marija
(↑ subj case) = nom
(↑ case) = acc
Marija
(↑ obj case) = acc
(↑ pred) = ‘Marija’
(↑ pers) = 3
(↑ num) = sg
(↑ gend) = fem
case
acc
Introduction to LFG – 57 / 59
L F G
Bibliography
Introduction
References
Börjars, Kersti and Nigel Vincent. 2004. Introduction to LFG.
Slides from the Winter School in LFG and Computational
Linguistics, University of Canterbury.
Bresnan, Joan. 1982. The passive in lexical theory. In Joan
Bresnan (editor), The Mental Representation of Grammatical
Relations, pp. 3–86. Cambridge, MA: The MIT Press.
Bresnan, Joan. 2001. Lexical-Functional Syntax. Oxford:
Blackwell Publishers.
Kroeger, Paul. 1993. Phrase Structure and Grammatical
Relations in Tagalog . Dissertations in Linguistics. Stanford,
CA: CSLI Publications. Revised and corrected version of 1991
Stanford University dissertation.
Introduction to LFG – 58 / 59