Discussion

The example shown above illustrates the following points.

• The main ILEX modelling conventions which are appropriate for syntax
• A functional approach to syntax, with concepts such as subject, object, which are appropriate for modelling in an attribute oriented formalism
• A dependency or head-oriented approach to syntax, which relates it to modern approaches from X-bar theory to HPSG
• An approach to subcategorisation which maps functional categories such as subject on to positions in a linearly ordered structure with no intermediate phrase structure (cf. HPSG)
• Morphological mapping which is sensitive to agreement relations such as number
• Structural generalisations which permit the construction of highly compact, underspecified lexical entries
• The distinction between lexical objects and virtual objects (the node Sentence_1 describes a token associated with a virtual object

Further work will be concerned with discussing the techniques involved, with extending the lexicon, and with extending the techniques to include more structures and also languages such as German, which have more complex agreement rules. In addition, the formulation as a DATR theory can be improved in various ways.