Representational layering in Functional Discourse Grammar

The paper addresses the internal structure of layers at the Representational
level in Functional Discourse Grammar (FDG), and proposes three adaptations of the
representation of frames with respect to what is now standing practice (HENGEVELD;
MACKENZIE, 2006; Forthcoming). Our main concern is a reappraisal of Dik’s (1989, 1997)
original argumentation for the endocentric use of argument variables within restrictors of
terms, which we argue are fundamental to FDG theory and should be generalised over all
representational layers. Based on this view, we propose a transparent usage of square
brackets, which embrace equipollent configurations of which the argument variable is
part. This in turn reveals problems in the representation of the nuclear event description -
the verb and its arguments - as an identifiable entity, which is an old problem in FG, as
well as in the representation of reference modification. As a unified solution, we invoke
exocentric layers to account for the special structural properties of these units. The result
is a more consistent and transparent structure of representational frames in FDG.