Causatives as complex predicates without the restriction operator

Jul 1, 2013·

Petr Homola

Matt Coler

· 1 min read

Abstract

Alsina’s (1996) concept of complex predicates has been, within LFG, applied to a number of phenomena and languages including, for example, Turkish causatives (Çetinoglu et al., 2008). These approaches are comparable insofar as they use the so-called restriction operator introduced by Kaplan and Wedekind (1993). The reason for the use of this ad-hoc workaround is the fact that standard LFG does not allow for modification of the PRED attribute in f-structures. The ‘restriction operator’ solves this problem but it breaks the monotonicity of the LFG architecture which has been one of the biggest advantages of the formalism according to Bresnan (2001). We propose a solution to this problem that preserves the monotonicity of LFG using equational unification.

Type

Conference Paper

Publication

Proceedings of LFG13

This paper addresses a significant theoretical issue in Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) regarding the analysis of complex predicates, specifically causative constructions. In the standard LFG framework, the modification of PRED attributes in f-structures is not permitted, which has led previous researchers to adopt the “restriction operator” introduced by Kaplan and Wedekind (1993) as a workaround.

While this approach has been applied to various linguistic phenomena across different languages, including Turkish causatives (Çetinoglu et al., 2008), we argue that it compromises one of LFG’s core strengths: monotonicity. The restriction operator, though functional, breaks the monotonicity of the LFG architecture that Bresnan (2001) identifies as a fundamental advantage of the formalism.

Our paper presents an alternative solution that preserves monotonicity while effectively modeling causative constructions. Instead of relying on the restriction operator, we develop an approach based on equational unification. This solution maintains the theoretical integrity of LFG while offering a more elegant treatment of complex predicates.

The proposed model has implications beyond causatives, potentially extending to other complex predicate phenomena across languages, and contributes to the ongoing refinement of formal linguistic theory.

Last updated on Jul 1, 2013