Argument structure and mapping theory

This chapter presents the LFG view of two closely related areas of inquiry: argument structure, a level of structure which represents the syntactically realisable arguments of a predicate, and mapping theory, the theory of how those arguments are linked to grammatical functions at f-structure, as well as of alternations in this linking brought about by processes like passivisation. After introducing some preliminary concepts, the chapter explores various approaches within LFG: the earliest work using lexical rules to explain argument alternations, the “classical” version of Lexical Mapping Theory (LMT) developed in the late ’80s and early ’90s, and various subsequent modifications, extensions, and reimaginings of LMT, including contemporary work focussing on the formal status of argument structure and mapping theory, and their connection to the rest of the grammar.