Linguistic structure in a functional grammar

1996 ◽  
pp. 423 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter Harder
Keyword(s):  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Linguistic Structure

Background and theoretical assumptions

2019 ◽  
pp. 1-6
Author(s):  
Mary Dalrymple ◽  
John J. Lowe ◽  
Louise Mycock
Keyword(s):  
Generative Grammar ◽  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Lexical Functional Grammar ◽  
Theoretical Assumptions ◽  
Primary Focus ◽  
Syntactic Relations

This chapter sets the scene for the rest of the work. The chapter first describes the historical roots and development of Lexical Functional Grammar, a nontransformational theory of linguistic structure, within the tradition of generative grammar. The chapter then explains the fundamental assumptions of the theory, its lexicalist orientation, and the central role that functional syntactic relations play. Subsequently, the structure of the rest of the book is set out, providing detailed accounts of each part, with brief summaries of each chapter. The chapterthen provides advice on how best to use the book, highlighting the primary focus of chapters and how the chapters relate to specific areas of linguistic structure and analysis, before concluding with references on other LFG overviews and introductions to the theory.

The Oxford Reference Guide to Lexical Functional Grammar

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mary Dalrymple ◽  
John J. Lowe ◽  
Louise Mycock
Keyword(s):  
Undergraduate Students ◽  
Information Structure ◽  
Argument Structure ◽  
Semantic Representation ◽  
Morphological Structure ◽  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Long Distance ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Structure Information ◽  
Lexical Functional Grammar

This is the most comprehensive reference work on Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), which will be of interest to graduate and advanced undergraduate students, academics, and researchers in linguistics and in related fields. Covering the analysis of syntax, semantics, morphology, prosody, and information structure, and how these aspects of linguistic structure interact in the nontransformational framework of LFG, this book will appeal to readers working in a variety of sub-fields, including researchers involved in the description and documentation of languages, whose work continues to be an important part of the LFG literature The book consists of three parts. The first part examines the syntactic theory and formal architecture of LFG, with detailed explanation and comprehensive illustration, providing an unparalleled introduction to the fundamentals of the theory. The second part of the book explores nonsyntactic 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 related in the projection architecture of LFG. The third part of the book illustrates 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.

Typological and theoretical implications

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
John J. Lowe
Keyword(s):  
Theoretical Analysis ◽  
Theoretical Perspective ◽  
Functional Grammar ◽  
Lexical Functional Grammar ◽  
Mixed Categories

This chapter briefly considers the evidence for transitive nouns and adjectives in early Indo-Aryan in both a typological and a theoretical perspective. The fact that most transitive nouns and adjectives in early Indo-Aryan fall under the traditional heading of ‘agent nouns’ (subject-oriented formations) is typologically notable, since while action nouns with verbal government are well-known, the possibility of relatively verbal agent nouns has not always been acknowledged. The theoretical analysis is framed within Lexical-Functional Grammar, and makes use of the concept of ‘mixed’ categories to effect a clear formalization of transitive nouns and adjectives which captures their transitivity while allowing them to remain fundamentally nouns and adjectives in categorial terms.

scholarly journals Comparability of signed and spoken languages: Absolute and relative modality effects in cross-modal typology

2020 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 527-562
Author(s):  
Ulrike Zeshan ◽  
Nick Palfreyman
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Sensory Perception ◽  
Sound Symbolism ◽  
The Other ◽  
Sign Languages ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Modality Effects ◽  
Inductive Approach

AbstractThis article sets out a conceptual framework and typology of modality effects in the comparison of signed and spoken languages. This is essential for a theory of cross-modal typology. We distinguish between relative modality effects, where a linguistic structure is markedly more common in one modality than in the other, and absolute modality effects, where a structure does not occur in one of the modalities at all. Using examples from a wide variety of sign languages, we discuss examples at the levels of phonology, morphology (including numerals, negation, and aspect) and semantics. At the phonological level, the issue of iconically motivated sub-lexical components in signs, and parallels with sound symbolism in spoken languages, is particularly pertinent. Sensory perception metaphors serve as an example for semantic comparison across modalities. Advocating an inductive approach to cross-modal comparison, we discuss analytical challenges in defining what is comparable across the signed and spoken modalities, and in carrying out such comparisons in a rigorous and empirically substantiated way.

Optimization of morpheme length: a cross-linguistic assessment of Zipf’s and Menzerath’s laws

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (s3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Matthew Stave ◽  
Ludger Paschen ◽  
François Pellegrino ◽  
Frank Seifart
Keyword(s):  
Structural Information ◽  
Unit Length ◽  
Zipf’S Law ◽  
Zipf's Law ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Morphological Complexity ◽  
Linguistic Assessment ◽  
Linguistic Units

Abstract Zipf’s Law of Abbreviation and Menzerath’s Law both make predictions about the length of linguistic units, based on corpus frequency and the length of the carrier unit. Each contributes to the efficiency of languages: for Zipf, units are more likely to be reduced when they are highly predictable, due to their frequency; for Menzerath, units are more likely to be reduced when there are more sub-units to contribute to the structural information of the carrier unit. However, it remains unclear how the two laws work together in determining unit length at a given level of linguistic structure. We examine this question regarding the length of morphemes in spoken corpora of nine typologically diverse languages drawn from the DoReCo corpus, showing that Zipf’s Law is a stronger predictor, but that the two laws interact with one another. We also explore how this is affected by specific typological characteristics, such as morphological complexity.

scholarly journals A Reflection of Thai Culture in Thai Plant Names

MANUSYA ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 14 (1) ◽  
pp. 79-97
Author(s):  
Unchalee Singnoi
Keyword(s):  
Cognitive Linguistics ◽  
Plant Taxonomy ◽  
Folk Taxonomy ◽  
Linguistic Structure ◽  
Thai Language ◽  
Plant Names ◽  
Traditional Societies ◽  
Cognition And Culture ◽  
Printed Materials ◽  
Thai Culture

The present study focuses on the plant naming system in the Thai language based on 1) Brent Berlin’s general principles of categorization of plants and animals in traditional societies (Berlin, 1974, 1992) which suggest that it is worthwhile to think about a plant taxonomy system on the basis of plant names since the names provide the valid key to folk taxonomy and 2) Lakoff’s central guiding principles of cognitive linguistics (Lakoff and Johnson, 2003 and Lakoff 1987). Data on plant names collected from printed materials are selectively analyzed. The study examines the linguistic structure, folk taxonomy and conceptualization of plant terms in the Thai language. It is found that there exists in the Thai language a complex and practical plant naming system establishing a relationship between language, cognition and culture.

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