On the justification of functional categories in LFG
Kersti Börjars, Erika Chisarik, John J. Payne · Research Explorer (The University of Manchester) · 1999
Recent versions of LFG permit functional as well as lexical categories (Bresnan To appear). A liberal interpretation of the principles governing functional categories allows lexical categories which are morphologically marked for some functional feature (like tense or definiteness) to be considered as functional categories, and therefore as potential occupants of functional nodes. This allows LFG analyses effectively to mimic analyses in other theories which use movement from lexical to functional nodes. On the basis of two case studies, definiteness in Scandinavian and focus in Hungarian, we argue that there are viable alternatives consistent with LFG which allow a more restrictive account of functional categories. These alternatives use OT-style order constraints to capture the positioning of definiteness marking and discourse functions.