HPSG Lexicon Without Lexical Rules

The paper introduces an alternative to the lexical rules in a lexicon in a HPSG style by replacing them by relational constraints corresponding more directly to the standard lexico-graphic and morphological practice. 1. INTRODUCTION The Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG, Polhu'd & Sag,87 and 93) came into be= ing as and remains a predominantly syntactic theory. This is reflected not only in the main theoret~ ical orientation, but also in the structuration of linguistic data within (the standard versions o0 the theory. As the majot-ity, if not all, current theories , HPSG relies on an ample representation of linguistic knowledge within the lexicon rather than in the grammar rules. This knowledge, then, is in HPSG organized in a crossing inheritance hierarchy of lexical types, which should express the regularities and generalizations ~v,:curring in the lexicon and thus awfid redundant stipulations. However, in spite of the fact that the lexicon at least as far as the amount of information is concerned-plays an absolutely central role in the theory, the organization of data within HPSG clearly reflects the primary syntactic concerti of the theory, with lexicon on a secondary position only. In particular, this comes into light when the presence of more tradition',fl views of organization of lexical data (proved useful by long lexico-graphic and linguistic practice) is sought-such views are represented only marginally or not at all t. in this paper, I shall try (i) to show that neglecting standard insights of the organization of lexicon is detrimental both to the linguistic adequacy and to the practical usefid-ness of the lexicon, (ii) to make a proposal of an alternative reconcil~ ing the needs of HPSG with the usual lexico-graphic practice.