Balancing clarity and efficiency in typed feature logic through delaying

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to re-examine the balance between clarity and efficiency in HPSG design, with particular reference to the design decisions made in the English Resource Grammar (LinGO, 1999, ERG). It is argued that a simple generalization of the conventional delay statements used in logic programming is sufficient to restore much of the functionality and concomitant benefit that the ERG elected to forego, with an acceptable although still perceptible computational cost.