HPSG 1

The Main Features in a Sign

• PHON: how the word or phrase is pronounced or written
• Syntax and semantics: SYNSEM
  • CATEGORY | HEAD
    • Basically the part of speech (noun, verb, etc.) for a word or for the "main" word in a phrase
  • CATEGORY | SUBCAT
    • for words or phrases which are not "saturated" (complete utterances by themselves), SYNSEMs of the sisters, aunts, etc. which must appear
    • Verbs have SUBCAT features for the subject and, if any, objects in the sentence (see below)
  • CONTENT | INDEX
    • NPs referring to the same referent have the same INDEX
    • Agreement features (GENDER, NUMBER, etc.) appear here
  • CONTENT | RESTRICTION
    • Restrictions on the meaning of the thing referred to; for example, for the noun book, the referent must be in instance of the relation book
  • CONTEXT
    • Background restrictions on the meaning of the thing or state of affairs
    • Examples: for she, that the referent is female; for John, that the referent has the name John
• Constituency: DTRS
  • HEAD-DTR: a sign for the "head" phrase immediately below this phrase
  • COMP-DTRS: a list of signs for the "complement" phrases immediately below this phrase
  A sketchy picture of how the syntax and semantics of a sentence work (SUBJ and COMPS represent the SUBCAT feature; P-O-S represents the HEAD feature)

  

Lexical Signs

• Nouns
  • she

    

  • book

    

• Adjectives
  • Attributive red

    

• Verbs
  • walks

    

  • gives as in Stella gives Stanley a sandwich. Gives in Stella gives a sandwich to Stanley would have a slightly different entry. Note also that this structure does not specify the order of the two complements in the verb phrase (Stanley and a sandwich in the example). The order of NPs in the SUBCAT is in terms of increasing "obliqueness", which in turn determines ordering via general ordering principles which are not stated here.

    

[L645 Syllabus]