Starosta describes the formal properties of lexicase theory and its historical and metatheoretical relations to other current grammatical frameworks. He argues that it is preferable to other grammatical frameworks, as it is constrained enough to have empirical content, simple enough to be tested and applied to enough languages to have a plausible claim to universality. Examples are drawn from English and various Asian, Pacific, Australian, and African languages.

Stanley Starosta was Professor of Linguistics at the University of Hawaii, USA.