summary (Re: educational platform for implementing LFG?)

[Adam Przepiorkowski]

Dear All,

In the replies I got, 3 systems were mentioned:

XLE – I was encouraged not to give up on it too easily, despite the
current licence; also, apparently there are some initial plans to make
it open source, but no specific dates are set yet;

Medley – the legacy system that preceded XLE
(http://www2.parc.com/isl/groups/nltt/medley/), with the following
comment: "I think it should be fine for educational purposes. It has a
good handbook, also available from the same site. The FTP directory
contains a linux version.";

XLFG5 – http://www.xlfg.org/, with the following comment: "I've been
using it to teach elementary syntax for a number of years now, and
although it is poorly documented…, it is **very** convenient: everything
works from a simple web interface (so there is no installation hassle
and no licensing issue), and the syntax for grammar writig is as close
to standard LFG as you can imagine. The design features might be
undersized if this is an advanced class, but for an elementary class it
is great.

Many thanks to everybody who replied: Doug Arnold, Ash Asudeh, Olivier
Bonami, Paul Meurer, Koenraad De Smedt and Annie Zaenen.

Best,

Adam P.


Adam Przepiorkowski <adamp at ipipan.waw.pl>:

> Dear All,
>
> I am a relative LFG newcomer, so apologies, if this is a very simple
> question.
>
> For my "Linguistic Engineering – Constructions" course at the University
> of Warsaw I've always used TRALE for implementing HPSG grammars.  This
> year I'd like to include an LFG module.  Could you recommend a platform
> for implementing LFG that could be used for such educational purposes?
>
> An ideal platform would be characterised by:
>
> – convenient licence (hence, XLE does not seem to be a viable option;
>   obviously, open source software would be best),
>
> – shallow learning curve (implementing simple LFG grammars should be…
>   simple),
>
> – Linux-based (but Windows is an option, as well; we don't use Macs,
>   though),
>
> – availability of simple example grammars for English (and/or German,
>   and/or some Slavic language),
>
> – UTF-8 aware (we'd hate to have to remove Półiśh diąćritićś).
>
> What do other people use for teaching and implementing LFG?
>
> I'll be happy to send a summary of any replies I get off-line.
>
> Best,
>
> Adam P.

-- 
Adam Przepiórkowski                             ˈadam ˌpʃɛpjurˈkɔfskʲi
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