This website contains a brief
introduction to two syntactic frameworks currently used by a number of
linguists: Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) and Head-Driven Phrase Structure
Grammar (HPSG). It is aimed at linguistics students who have been
introduced to a Chomskyan[1]
syntactic framework, but who are not familiar with other approaches
to syntax. The links below lead to a summary of the basic concepts
of LFG and HPSG,
recommendations of introductory references and links, which should provide an
accessible point of departure for those interested in learning about these
frameworks.
This website was set up by Ananda Lima as part of assessment in a reading course (LING6060) on non-configurationality and syntactic theories with Dr. Rob Pensalfini[2] at the University of Queensland.
[1] In this Website, the abbreviation P&P (Principles and Parameters) refers to various versions of Chomskyan approaches, such as GB (e.g., Haegeman, 1994) and Minimalism (e.g. Marantz, 1995). It is not claimed that these are equivalent, but a discussion of the differences between them is outside the scope of this work. This group will be compared to HPSG and LFG as a whole.
[2] I thank Rob Pensalfini for his help during this course, but note that he has nothing to do with any silly things that may be contained here.