An ontological approach to the representational lexicon in Functional Discourse Grammar

The aim of the article is to propose an outline of a model of the representational lexicon in Functional Discourse Grammar. Some problems with the mainstream account of the lexicon are discussed in the context of prior work by García Velasco (2007). It is proposed that structure building, including the choice of an appropriate predication frame, is mediated through the selection of lexical items to realise the concepts the language user wishes to express, and that although decompositional accounts of the lexicon need enrichment to account for lexical competence, they are still required, though at the conceptual level. It is then proposed that the link between lexical items and the Conceptual Component of the model should take the form of pointers from lexical items to a conceptual ontology, and that this ontology should be language-neutral across a range of culturally-related languages. It is shown that the FunGramKB system of ontology and lexica, developed in association with the Lexical Constructional Model, can be adapted for use in Functional Discourse Grammar. The article then discusses the handling of alternations, collocations and lexical variation with situational content. Suggestions are also made for the treatment of prefabricated expressions which combine grammatical and lexical characteristics.