Handling Wolof clitics in LFG

Clitics often involve intricate interaction between different grammar components, including morphophonology, syntax and information structure. This phenomenon is challenging from a general theoretical perspective. In Wolof, clitization has been investigated using a transformational approach. In contrast, this paper proposes a formal analysis of Wolof clitics using a non-transformational model based on the Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) theory. This approach needs no special rule for verb movements at all and preserves the lexical integrity of words. For sake of concreteness, the theoretical purpose is combined with an implementation that illustrates how the LFG formalism is well suited to a precise treatment of clitics.

Published online: 27 June 2013
https://doi.org/10.1075/la.206.04dio