Free-word order languages have long posed significant problems for s t a n d a r d parsing algorithms. This paper reports on an implemented parser, based on GovernmentBinding theory (GB) (Chomsky, 1981, 1982), for a particular free-word order language, Warlpiri, an aboriginal language of central Australia. The parser is explicitly designed to transparently mirror the principles of GB. The operation of this parsing system is quite different in character from that of a rule-based parsing system, ~., a context-free parsing method. In this system, phrases are constructed via principles of selection, case-marking, caseassignment, and argument-linking, rather than by.
