UCG Grammars; the Control of their Descriptive Adequacy

Overview & Synopsis

Several models of grammars were used in the ACORD project (LFG, UCG, GPSG, string grammars and CCG). Only the first two remained as the standard grammar models of the project. Furthermore, the UCG model can be understood as a general framework leaving open choices: these are represented in the English and French grammars in their several and evolving versions. The justification of the choice of a particular model has been an important concern of the ACORD project, but the issue about the criteria of choice of alternative UCG grammars remains open. It is in this background that the work on the control of grammars grew, in the last part of the project. Grammars must be checked and validated with observations and data which should be expressed in a both formal and theory neutral way. The control of grammars introduces a descriptive metalanguage, specifying a set of grammatical sentences, to which the set of sentences formalized by a grammar is to be compared.