Apposition and Coordination in Australian Languages: An LFG Analysis

It is well known that Australian languages make heavy use of nominal apposition. However there is little discussion in the theoretical literature of how such appositional structures should be analysed syntactically. We present a range of data from Australian languages illustrating how multiple nominals share a single gramamtical function within the clause. We argue that such constructions should be treated as set-valued grammatical functions in LFG. Sets as values for functions are well-established in LFG and are used in the representation of adjuncts, and also in the representation of coordination. In many Australian languages, coordination is expressed asyndetically, that is, by nominal juxtaposition with no overt coordinator at all. We argue that the syntactic similarity of all of these juxtaposed constructions (coordinations and appositions alike) motivates an analysis in which they are treated similarly in the syntax, but suitably distinguished in the semantics. We show how this can be achieved within LFG, providing a unified treatment of juxtaposition in Australian languages, and demonstrating the strength of the modular Lexical-Functional Grammar approach.