Preliminary Recommendations

 

GFs derived from the semantic constituency of predicates

Working within a Montague Grammar (MG) framework, Dowty (Dowty, 1982a; Dowty, 1982b) proposes that GRs be derived from the hierarchical order in which a verb combines with its arguments. Following Montague and Schoenfinkel, Dowty assumes that verbs are n-place functions from argument denotations into n-1-place functions:

Montague-Schoenfinkel Principle
A multi-place verb of n arguments is always represented as a functor of one argument that yields a n-1 place verb (phrase) as its value. (Dowty, 1982b, 116)

It is the order inherent in functor-argument structures which gives rise to GRs. Although the operation which assembles the phonological form of a sentence may vary across languages, the semantic association of a verb with its arguments is carried out uniformly (i.e. through functional application) and therefore the hierarchical order in which a verb joins its arguments is invariant. In the light of this approach, GRs can be seen as deriving from this universal characterisation of the functor-argument association according to the following scheme:

1. A SUBJECT is any NP combined with an IV to produce a S.
2. A DIRECT OBJECT is any NP combined with a TV to produce a VP.
3. An INDIRECT OBJECT is any NP combined with a DTV to produce a TV.

This approach is followed in UCG and HPSG.