What is the difference between c-structure and f-structure in LFG?

C-structure is the phrase-structure tree showing constituency and word order, while f-structure is an attribute-value representation of grammatical functions and features such as subject, tense, and number. The two are related but obey separate constraints.

Does LFG use movement?

No. LFG is non-derivational and avoids movement transformations. Phenomena handled by movement elsewhere, such as the passive or long-distance dependencies, are treated through lexical rules and functional uncertainty over f-structure.

Lexical-Functional Grammar

Lexical-Functional Grammar (LFG) is a constraint-based, lexicalist theory of syntax that represents sentences with two parallel structures: a constituent structure and a functional structure encoding grammatical relations.

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Definition

Lexical-Functional Grammar is a non-transformational theory of grammar in which a phrase-structure constituent structure and a feature-based functional structure are related by a correspondence mapping, with grammatical functions such as subject and object taken as primitives.

Scope

This topic covers LFG: its parallel architecture of constituent structure (c-structure) and functional structure (f-structure), its treatment of grammatical relations as primitives, its lexicalist treatment of morphology and the lexicon, and its non-derivational, constraint-satisfaction character. It does not survey rival frameworks, which are treated in sibling topics.

Core questions

How does LFG separate constituent structure from functional structure?
Why are grammatical relations treated as primitives rather than derived from configurations?
How does the lexicon encode argument structure and relation-changing operations?
How does a constraint-based, non-derivational architecture model syntax?

Key concepts

constituent structure (c-structure)
functional structure (f-structure)
grammatical functions as primitives
lexical rules
constraint satisfaction
correspondence (projection) mapping

Key theories

Parallel projection architecture: The LFG design in which c-structure (phrase structure) and f-structure (grammatical functions and features) are distinct levels related by a correspondence function, allowing each to obey its own well-formedness conditions.
Lexicalist treatment of relation changing: Bresnan's account in which operations such as passive are stated in the lexicon over argument structure rather than by syntactic movement, with grammatical functions as theoretical primitives.

History

LFG was introduced by Kaplan and Bresnan (1982) as a lexicalist, constraint-based alternative to transformational grammar, motivated partly by considerations of psychological and computational tractability. Bresnan (2001) developed a comprehensive theory of lexical-functional syntax, and Dalrymple (2001) provided a systematic reference. The framework remains influential in typology and computational linguistics.

Debates

Primitives of grammatical relations: Whether grammatical functions are theoretical primitives, as LFG holds, or should be derived from structural configurations as in transformational approaches.

Key figures

Joan Bresnan
Ronald Kaplan
Mary Dalrymple

Seminal works

kaplanbresnan1982
bresnan2001
dalrymple2001

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between c-structure and f-structure in LFG?: C-structure is the phrase-structure tree showing constituency and word order, while f-structure is an attribute-value representation of grammatical functions and features such as subject, tense, and number. The two are related but obey separate constraints.
Does LFG use movement?: No. LFG is non-derivational and avoids movement transformations. Phenomena handled by movement elsewhere, such as the passive or long-distance dependencies, are treated through lexical rules and functional uncertainty over f-structure.