---
title: "Slot Grammars — paper by McCord (1980)"
description: "McCord proposes slot grammars, a formalism for natural language syntax with a LISP parser. 13 references, cited by 18 papers here."
authors: ["Michael C. McCord"]
year: 1980
venue: "Computational Linguistics"
source: "https://aclanthology.org/J80-1003/"
licence: "CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)"
licence_url: "https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/"
summary_licence: "Elamur Cosmic License"
canonical: "https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mccord-1980-slot-grammars/"
---
[Elamur Research](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mccord-1980-slot-grammars/)

[home](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [papers](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/) / [1980](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/1980/) / Slot Grammars

# Slot Grammars

**Authors:** [Michael C. McCord](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/authors/michael-mccord/) · **Year:** 1980 · **Venue:** [Computational Linguistics](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/cl/) ([Computational Linguistics 1980](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/venues/cl/1980/)) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0 (ACL Anthology, before 2016)](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/)

**Links:** [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/J80-1003/) · [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/J80-1003.pdf)

**Citations:** [18](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/mccord-1980-slot-grammars/cited-by/) in our library, of the 149,439 papers whose bibliographies we read

## Summary
McCord proposes slot grammars, a formalism for natural language syntax with a LISP parser. It is built around grammatical relations (slots) and the rules that fill them. The parser reads a sentence left to right, working bottom-up. Each phrase grows middle-out from its head word and keeps a register of still-open slots, ASLOTS. The head's lexical entry partly determines the starting slots, so verb dependencies are encoded directly rather than through transitivity features or network states. Rules for a slot only run while that slot is still open, which avoids wasted rule attempts. A slot's attached procedure can raise slots from an embedded filler into the matrix phrase. This handles unbounded WH-movement without rules that search through chains of embedded clauses or conjunctions. The paper compares the design with Heidorn's APSG and Woods' ATN, links it to Hudson's daughter-dependency grammar, and illustrates it with a sample grammar and lexicon. It reports no quantitative evaluation. Its value is a clear blend of lexically driven and goal-driven parsing.

## Key points
- **Core data structure:** ASLOTS is treated as an unordered set of optional slots.
  - Filled slots are normally removed.
  - Slots marked as multiple, such as ADVL, can take several fillers.
  - Checks for obligatory slots must be written explicitly in the grammar.
- **How a VP's initial slots are set:** default slots shared by all verbs (SUBJ, AUXL, ADVL) are merged with the verb's own sister-dependency (SD) list. For example, *give* contributes (IOBJ OBJ).
- **RAISE operation:** the COMP slot copies the open slots of its filler VP upward. This lets *which chair* in *Which chair does Mary believe that Al bought?* fill the embedded OBJ.
  - A CLOSE flag, set at the state for fronted items ($7), blocks raising out of clauses that already have fronting.
  - The REL slot never calls RAISE.
- **Ambiguity example:** the parser returns two analyses for *When did Mary say John had left?*, depending on which verb *when* attaches to.
- **Venue:** published in the American Journal of Computational Linguistics (1980).

*Our summary of the paper, in our own words — not its text. The work belongs to its authors; read it at the links above.*

📚 Shelves (2): [🖥️ Computer Science](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/) · 18,614 works · [🤖 Artificial Intelligence](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/shelves/computer-science/artificial-intelligence/) · 17,965 works

## Cite

Cite as: Michael C. McCord. 1980. Slot Grammars. Computational Linguistics.

The paper itself, not this page. BibTeX from the library's record of the work.

```bibtex
@article{mccord1980slot,
  title = {{Slot Grammars}},
  author = {Michael C. McCord},
  journal = {Computational Linguistics},
  year = {1980},
  url = {https://aclanthology.org/J80-1003/}
}
```

- [← previous An Analysis of the Standard English Keyboard](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/hiraga-1980-analysis-standard-english-keyboard/)
- [next → Computational Analysis of Predicational Structures in English](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/kucera-1980-computational-analysis-predicational-structures-english/)
- [↑ back to papers of 1980](https://md.research.elamur.ai/free/en/papers/1980/)

## References

13 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet.

1. Cook, W. A. (1969). Introduction to Tagmemic Analysis. Holt, Rinehart and Winston, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Cook%2C+W%2E+A%2E+%281969%29%2E+Introduction+to+Tagmemic+Analysis%2E+Holt%2C+Rinehart+and+Winston%2C+New+York%2E)
2. Heidorn, G. E. (1972). Natural Language Inputs to a Simulation Programming System. Technical Report NPS-55HD72101A, Naval Postgraduate School, Monterey, California. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Heidorn%2C+G%2E+E%2E+%281972%29%2E+Natural+Language+Inputs+to+a+Simulation+Programming+System%2E+Technical+Report+NPS%2D55HD72101A%2C+Naval+Postgraduate+School%2C+Monterey%2C+California%2E)
3. Heidorn, G. E. (1975). Augmented phrase structure grammars. In Theoretical Issues in Natural Language Processing, B. L. Nash-Webber and R. C. S c h a n k (Eds.), pp. 2-5, Association for Computational Linguistics. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Heidorn%2C+G%2E+E%2E+%281975%29%2E+Augmented+phrase+structure+grammars%2E+In+Theoretical+Issues+in+Natural+Language+Processing%2C+B%2E+L%2E+Nash%2DWebber+and+R%2E+C%2E+S+c+h+a+n+k+%28Eds%2E%29%2C+pp%2E+2%2D5%2C+Association+for+Computational)
4. Hudson, R. A. (1971). English Complex Sentences. N o r t h - Holland, Amsterdam. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hudson%2C+R%2E+A%2E+%281971%29%2E+English+Complex+Sentences%2E+N+o+r+t+h+%2D+Holland%2C+Amsterdam%2E)
5. Hudson, R. A. (1976). Arguments for a Non-transformational Grammar. University of Chicago Press, Chicago. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hudson%2C+R%2E+A%2E+%281976%29%2E+Arguments+for+a+Non%2Dtransformational+Grammar%2E+University+of+Chicago+Press%2C+Chicago%2E)
6. Hudson, R. A. (1977). The power of morphological rules. Lingua, 42, 73-89. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Hudson%2C+R%2E+A%2E+%281977%29%2E+The+power+of+morphological+rules%2E+Lingua%2C+42%2C+73%2D89%2E)
7. Kac, M. B. (1978). Corepresentation of Grammatical Structure. University of Minnesota Press, Minneapolis. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Kac%2C+M%2E+B%2E+%281978%29%2E+Corepresentation+of+Grammatical+Structure%2E+University+of+Minnesota+Press%2C+Minneapolis%2E)
8. McCord, M. C. (1975). On the form of a systemic g r a m m a r . Journal o f Linguistics, 11, 195-212. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=McCord%2C+M%2E+C%2E+%281975%29%2E+On+the+form+of+a+systemic+g+r+a+m+m+a+r+%2E+Journal+o+f+Linguistics%2C+11%2C+195%2D212%2E)
9. McCord, M. C. (1977). Procedural systemic grammars. International Journal o f Man-Machine Studies, 9, 255-286. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=McCord%2C+M%2E+C%2E+%281977%29%2E+Procedural+systemic+grammars%2E+International+Journal+o+f+Man%2DMachine+Studies%2C+9%2C+255%2D286%2E)
10. Minsky, M. (1975). A framework for representing knowledge. In The Psychology o f Computer Vision, P. H. Winston (Ed.), pp. 211-277. McGraw-Hill, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Minsky%2C+M%2E+%281975%29%2E+A+framework+for+representing+knowledge%2E+In+The+Psychology+o+f+Computer+Vision%2C+P%2E+H%2E+Winston+%28Ed%2E%29%2C+pp%2E+211%2D277%2E+McGraw%2DHill%2C+New+York%2E)
11. W i n o g r a d , T. (1975). Frame representations and the declarative/procedural controversy. In Representation and Understanding, D. G. B o b r o w a n d A. Collins (Eds.), pp. 185-210, Academic Press, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=W+i+n+o+g+r+a+d+%2C+T%2E+%281975%29%2E+Frame+representations+and+the+declarative%2Fprocedural+controversy%2E+In+Representation+and+Understanding%2C+D%2E+G%2E+B+o+b+r+o+w+a+n+d+A%2E+Collins+%28Eds%2E%29%2C+pp%2E+185%2D210%2C+Academic+Pre)
12. Woods, W. A. (1970). Transition network grammars for natural language analysis. CACM, 13, 591-606. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Woods%2C+W%2E+A%2E+%281970%29%2E+Transition+network+grammars+for+natural+language+analysis%2E+CACM%2C+13%2C+591%2D606%2E)
13. Woods, W. A. (1973). A n experimental parsing system for transition networks. In Natural Language Processing, R. Rustin (Ed.), pp. 111-154, Algorithmics Press, New York. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Woods%2C+W%2E+A%2E+%281973%29%2E+A+n+experimental+parsing+system+for+transition+networks%2E+In+Natural+Language+Processing%2C+R%2E+Rustin+%28Ed%2E%29%2C+pp%2E+111%2D154%2C+Algorithmics+Press%2C+New+York%2E)

*Updated 30 October 2026*