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Role and reference grammar (RRG) is a model of
grammar In linguistics, the grammar of a natural language is its set of structural constraints on speakers' or writers' composition of clauses, phrases, and words. The term can also refer to the study of such constraints, a field that includes domain ...
developed by William A. Foley and Robert Van Valin, Jr. in the 1980s, which incorporates many of the points of view of current functional grammar theories. In RRG, the description of a sentence in a particular language is formulated in terms of (a) its logical (semantic) structure and communicative functions, and (b) the grammatical procedures that are available in the language for the expression of these meanings. Among the main features of RRG are the use of
lexical decomposition Lexical may refer to: Linguistics * Lexical corpus or lexis, a complete set of all words in a language * Lexical item, a basic unit of lexicographical classification * Lexicon, the vocabulary of a person, language, or branch of knowledge * Lexica ...
, based upon the predicate semantics of
David Dowty David Roach Dowty (born 1945) is a linguist known primarily for his work in semantic and syntactic theory, and especially in Montague grammar and Categorial grammar. Dowty is a professor emeritus of linguistics at the Ohio State University, and hi ...
(1979), an analysis of clause structure, and the use of a set of
thematic roles Thematic role is a linguistic notion, which may refer to: * Theta role (in syntax or at the syntax-semantics interface), the formal device for representing syntactic argument structure—the number and type of noun phrases—required syntacticall ...
organized into a hierarchy in which the highest-ranking roles are 'Actor' (for the most active participant) and 'Undergoer'. RRG's practical approach to language is demonstrated in the multilingual
Natural Language Understanding Natural-language understanding (NLU) or natural-language interpretation (NLI) is a subtopic of natural-language processing in artificial intelligence that deals with machine reading comprehension. Natural-language understanding is considered an A ...
(NLU) system of cognitive scientist John Ball. In 2012, Ball integrated hi
Patom Theory
with Role and Reference Grammar, producing a language independent NLU breaking down language by meaning.


See also

*
Relational grammar In linguistics, relational grammar (RG) is a syntactic theory which argues that primitive grammatical relations provide the ideal means to state syntactic rules in universal terms. Relational grammar began as an alternative to transformational g ...
* Syntax‐semantics interface


Bibliography

* Foley, William A.; & Robert D. Van Valin, Jr (1984). ''Functional syntax and universal grammar.'' Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Van Valin, Robert D., Jr. (Ed.). (1993). ''Advances in Role and Reference Grammar''. Amsterdam: Benjamins. * Van Valin, Robert D., Jr. (1993). A synopsis of Role and Reference Grammar. In R. D. Van Valin Jr. (Ed.), ''Advances in Role and Reference Grammar'' (pp. 1–164). Amsterdam: Benjamins. * Van Valin, Robert D., Jr.; & William A. Foley (1980). Role and Reference Grammar. In: E. A. Moravcsik & J. R. Wirth (Eds.), ''Current approaches to syntax'' (pp. 329–352). Syntax and semantics (Vol. 13). New York: Academic Press. * Van Valin, Robert D., Jr.; & Randy LaPolla (1997). ''Syntax: Structure, meaning and function''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. * Van Valin, Robert D., Jr. (2003). ''Exploring the Syntax-Semantics Interface''. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.


External links


John Ball use of RRG for Machine Intelligence

Introduction to RRG ("A Summary of Role and Reference Grammar"
PDF
Professor Daniel Everett's reference to RRG's applicability to Amazonian language
(Book, Page 207)
RRG analysis of modification and secondary predication in Lakota
PDF Grammar frameworks {{syntax-stub