HPSG for French: Implementation of the theory

In this talk I will discuss the tension between "linguistic
implementation" and "grammar engineering" by taking examples
from the HPSG/LKB grammar for French currently under
development.  This grammar was originally meant to be a
faithful implementation of theoretical proposals, but various
work-arounds have been introduced in light of the significant
differences between the full expressivity of the HPSG formalism
and the structures/operations supported in the LKB.

The main issues discussed will be list manipulation and lexical
rule management, for the treatment of argument realization,
agreement, etc.  Time permitting, I will present a number of
interesting phenomena specific to French (but whose analysis
may provide suggestions for the treatment of other languages).