Design methods for fluid construction grammar

Abstract

The paper sketches a methodology for designing and implementing complex lexicons and grammars using Fluid Construction Grammar (FCG). FCG emphasizes a functional viewpoint of language and decomposes grammatical systems based on their semantic domains and communicative functions. Rather than directly specifying all the components of a construction explicitly, which would lead to highly complex definitions, FCG uses abstractions in the form of templates that implement design patterns common across human languages.