An Adequate grammar with no transformations: lexicase

Abstract

Lexicase is a generative grammar. It was originated by Dr Stanley Starosta of the University of Hawaii some seven years ago. Since then, it has been applied to several languages including Thai. The more important characteristics of Lexicase are, (1) It does not make the deep-surface distinction and thus, there is no need for transformation anywhere in the grammar, (2) Lexicase limits the scope of the grammar to include the Phrase Structure rules component, the Lexicon and the Phonological component. The Semantic Interpretation component and the Context of Situation are placed outside the scope of the grammar but within the model of Lexicase. Together with the Context of Situation, the Semantic Interpretation component interprets and gives the meaning of a sentence. (3) Lexicon is an important component in the. grammar. It includes not only the lexical entries but also the sub-categorization rules, the Derivation rules and the Redundancy rules. Derivation rules can explain the relationship of words in a natural way. (4) Among other semantic and syntactic features, case features are features of lexical items. These features are case relation features as well as case form features.