On Structure of the English Language

Lexical Functional Grammar or LFG is a theory of the structure of the language which examines the various aspects of linguistic structure and its correspondences. There are two syntactic structures that LFG focuses on: the Constituent structure (c-structure) and Function structure (f-structure). Constituent structure’s main concern is on the word order and phrasal groupings. On the other hand, F-structure represents the basic grammatical functions such as subject and object.

Elaborately, c-structure is represented by a phrase structure tree in which linear ordering relations among words and phrases are exemplified. Under constituent structure, two categories are present namely: lexical categories and functional categories. N (noun) and V (verb) be categorized under lexical; and under functional category, I (for inflection), C (for ‘complementizer’), and D (for determiner). With the aid of aforementioned variables, classification procedures then become more systematic, organized and objective.

Functional structure is basically all about grammatical functions appealing to subject and object as well as for tense, case, person and number. Every content word in a sentence contributes a value which is called semantic forms. Semantic forms then becomes the harmonizing agent in a certain sentence for the reason that it both serves grammaticality and also independent lexical values.

Above all, the theory is not exclusive or confined only to Standard American English (SAE), though other varieties of English have a diverse methodology on syntax. That is, when the universality of this theory is established. Further, as long as it observes the rule of coherence and the mechanics imposed by the paradigm, then cross-linguistic regularities of two entities are cleared.