Lexical-Functional Syntax

by Bresnan, Joan; Asudeh, Ash; Toivonen, Ida; Wechsler, Stephen

• ISBN13: 9781405187817
• ISBN10: 1405187816
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2015-08-31
• Publisher: Wiley-Blackwell

Summary

Lexical-Functional Syntax, 2nd Edition, the definitive text for Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) with a focus on syntax, is updated to reflect recent developments in the field.

• Provides both an introduction to LFG and a synthesis of major theoretical developments in lexical-functional syntax over the past few decades
• Includes in-depth discussions of a large number of syntactic phenomena from typologically diverse languages
• Features extensive problem sets and solutions in each chapter to aid in self-study
• Incorporates reader feedback from the 1st Edition to correct errors and enhance clarity

Author Biography

Joan Bresnan is Sadie Dernham Patek Professor in Humanities Emerita at Stanford University and a Senior Researcher at Stanford's Center for the Study of Language and Information. One of the principal architects of lexical-functional grammar, Bresnan is a former President of the Linguistic Society of America, an inaugural Fellow of the LSA, a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, a Fellow of the Cognitive Science Society, a Fellow of the Center for the Advanced Study of the Behavioral Sciences, and a Guggenheim Fellow.

Ash Asudeh is University Lecturer in Linguistics at the University of Oxford, Hugh Price Fellow at Jesus College, and Associate Professor of Cognitive Science at Carleton University. He is a recipient of an Early Researcher Award from the Province of Ontario and the E.W. Beth Prize. He is the author of The Logic of Pronominal Resumption (2012).

Ida Toivonen is Associate Professor of Linguistics and Cognitive Science at Carleton University. She has published on phonetics, phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics; and is the author of Non-Projecting Words (2001), and co-editor of Saami Linguistics (2007).

Stephen Wechsler is Professor of Linguistics at the University of Texas. He is the author of The Semantic Basis of Argument Structure (1995), and co-author of The Many Faces of Agreement (2003).

Table of Contents

Preface to the First Edition xi

Preface to the Second Edition xv

Acknowledgments xvii

I Motivation for the LFG Architecture 1

1 Nonconfigurationality 3

Further reading 10

2 Movement Paradoxes 11

2.1 Theoretical assumptions 15

Further reading and discussion 19

3 Lexicality and Argument Structure 21

3.1 Two approaches to passive relation changes 21

3.2 The lexicality of relation changes 23

3.2.1 English passive verb forms 24

3.2.2 Adjectives versus verbs 24

3.2.3 Participle–adjective conversion 25

3.2.4 Passive participles convert to adjectives 25

3.2.5 Differences between adjectival and verbal passives explained 27

3.2.6 Differences between adjectival and verbal passives unexplained 28

3.2.7 Conclusion: passivization is lexical 32

3.3 Passivization with and without movement 32

Further reading and discussion 36

II Formally Modeling the Architecture 39

4 A Formal Model of Syntactic Structure 41

4.1 Design principles 41

4.1.1 Principle I: variability 41

4.1.2 Principle II: universality 42

4.1.3 Principle III: monotonicity 43

4.2 The definition of f-structures 44

4.3 The description of f-structures 46

4.4 The correspondence between c- and f-structures 48

4.5 The solution algorithm 54

Problems 58

4.6 Defining versus constraining equations 59

4.7 Completeness and coherence 62

Problems 63

4.8 Functional uncertainty 63

4.9 Sets of f-structures 70

4.10 Conclusion 71

Further reading 72

5 Monotonicity and Some of Its Consequences 73

5.1 Monotonicity 73

5.2 Relation changes and monotonicity 76

5.3 Information and form 79

5.3.1 The fragmentability of language 79

5.3.2 The nonconfigurationality of language 82

5.3.3 Apparent information flow through external structure 83

5.3.4 Noncompositionality 84

5.4 Conclusion 85

III Inflectional Morphology and Phrase Structure Variation 87

6 A Theory of Structure–Function Mappings 89

6.1 Grammatical functions 94

6.1.1 Basics of grammatical functions 94

6.1.2 Classification of grammatical functions 100

6.2 The organization of c-structure categories 101

6.2.1 Endocentricity and X′ structures 101

6.2.2 Endocentric mapping to f-structure 104

Problems 111

6.3 Exocentric categories 112

6.3.1 Lexocentricity and S 112

6.3.2 S and endocentricity 115

6.3.3 Nonprojecting words 116

6.3.4 Summary of the structure–function principles 117

6.4 Toward a typology 118

6.5 Effects of economy of expression 119

Further reading and discussion 124

Appendix: X′ theory 125

7 Endocentricity and Heads 129

7.1 Head mobility 129

7.1.1 Verb order in Welsh 130

7.2 Endocentricity and extended heads 135

7.3 Distributed exponence 138

7.3.1 Wambaya c-structure 139

7.3.2 The Wambaya tense system 144

7.4 Conclusion 146

Problems 147

Exercise 147

8 Pronoun Incorporation and Agreement 151

8.1 Chichewˆ a 157

8.1.1 Word order 161

8.1.2 Independent pronouns 162

8.1.3 Contrastive focus 164

8.1.4 Interrogatives and relatives 165

8.1.5 Other syntactic and phonological differences 166

8.1.6 Functional ambiguity of subject and topic 167

8.2 Navajo 171

Exercise 1 180

Exercise 2 180

8.3 Plains Cree and inverse agreement 182

Exercise 3 185

Problems 186

8.4 Two types of agreement: index and concord 186

Exercise 4 192

8.5 Conclusion 192

Further reading and discussion 193

9 Topicalization and Scrambling 196

9.1 English topicalization 196

9.2 Russian topicalization 199

9.3 Economy of expression 205

Problems 207

9.4 Topicalization versus scrambling 207

9.5 Detecting empty categories 210

Exercise 223

Further reading and discussion 223

The crossover effect 223

Two types of null pronominals 224

Generalization to operator complexes 225

Other factors 226

IV On Functional Structures: Binding, Predication, and Control 227

10 Basic Binding Theory 229

10.1 Basic concepts 229

10.2 A toy binding theory 231

10.3 Principle C 239

Further reading and discussion 246

10.4 Formalization of the binding constraints 247

11 Types of Bound Anaphors 254

11.1 Dimensions of anaphoric binding 254

11.2 Icelandic: subjective and anti-subjective pronouns 256

11.3 Norwegian: subjective/nuclear pronouns 259

11.4 Logophoricity versus subjectivity 261

Further reading and discussion 273

11.5 The typology of reflexives and the origins of nuclearity 275

Further reading and discussion 283

11.6 Formalization 284

12 Predication Relations 286

12.1 Predicate complements versus adjuncts 286

12.2 F-structures of xcomps 289

Exercise 1 295

Exercise 2 295

12.3 F-structure of PP complements 295

12.4 C-structure of predicate complements 301

12.5 Raising 304

Further reading and discussion 307

13 Anaphoric Control 309

13.1 Gerundive versus participial VPs in English 309

13.2 Structure of gerundive VPs 311

13.3 Anaphoric control versus functional control 319

13.4 Conclusion 323

Problems 323

Further reading and discussion 323

14 From Argument Structure to Functional Structure 324

14.1 What is argument structure? 326

14.2 The theory of a-structures 329

14.3 Mapping a-structures to syntactic functions 333

14.4 Examples and consequences 334

14.4.1 Unaccusatives 334

14.4.2 Resultatives 336

14.4.3 “Fake” reflexives and “nonsubcategorized objects” 336

14.4.4 Word order of internal/external arguments 337

14.4.5 Ditransitives 337

14.4.6 Interactions of passive and raising 340

14.4.7 Morphology that adds or suppresses a-structure roles 341

Problems 344

Further reading and discussion 344

Problem Sets and Solutions 349

Problem Set 1 351

Problem Set 2 354

Problem Set 3 370

Problem Set 4 375

Problem Set 5 391

Problem Set 6 417

Solutions to Selected Problems 436

References for the Problems 461

References 464

Language Index 501

Subject Index 503