Wyniki wyszukiwania - BazTech

1

Integrating LFG’s binding theory with PCDRT

Dalrymple M., Haug D. T. T., Lowe J. J.

Journal of Language Modelling

|

2018

|

Vol. 6, No. 1

87--129

EN

We provide a formal model for the interaction of syntax and pragmatics in the interpretation of anaphoric binding constraints on personal and reflexive pronouns. We assume a dynamic semantics, where type e expressions introduce discourse referents, and contexts are assignments of individuals to discourse referents. We adopt the Partial Compositional Discourse Representation Theory (PCDRT) of Haug (2014b), whereby anaphoric resolution is modelled in terms of a pragmatically-established relation between discourse referents. We integrate PCDRT into the constraint-based grammatical framework of Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG), and show how it is possible to state syntactic constraints on the pragmatic resolution of singular and plural anaphora within this framework.

2

Economy of Expression as a principle of syntax

Dalrymple M., Kaplan R. M., King T. H.

Journal of Language Modelling

|

2015

|

Vol. 3, No. 2

377--412

EN

The purpose of a grammatical theory is to specify the mechanisms and principles that can characterize the relations of acceptable sentences in particular languages to the meanings that they express. It is sometimes proposed that the simplest and most explanatory way of arranging the formal mechanisms of grammatical description is to allow them to produce unacceptable representations or derivations for some meanings and then to appeal to a global principle of economy to control this overgeneration. Thus there is an intuition common to many syntactic theories that a given meaning should be expressed in the most economical way, that smaller representations or shorter derivations should be chosen over larger ones. In this paper we explore the conceptual and formal issues of Economy as it has been discussed within the theory of Lexical Functional Grammar. In LFG the metric of Economy is typically formulated in terms of the size of one component of syntactic representation – the surface constituent structure tree – but it is often left unstated which trees for a given meaning are to be compared and how they are to be measured. We present a framework within which alternative explicit definitions of Economy can be formulated, and examine some phenomena for which Economy has been offered as an explanation. However, we observe that descriptive devices already available and independently motivated within the traditional LFG formalism can also account for these phenomena directly, without relying on cross-derivational comparisons to compensate for overgeneration. This leads us to question whether Economy is necessary or even useful as a separate principle of grammatical explanation.

3

Constructions with Lexical Integrity

Asudeh A., Dalrymple M., Toivonen I.

Journal of Language Modelling

|

2013

|

Vol. 1, No. 1

1--54

EN

Construction Grammar holds that unpredictable form-meaning combinations are not restricted in size. In particular, there may be phrases that have particular meanings that are not predictable from the words that they contain, but which are nonetheless not purely idiosyncratic. In addressing this observation, some construction grammarians have not only weakened the word/phrase distinction, but also denied the lexicon/grammar distinction. In this paper, we consider the word/phrase and lexicon/grammar distinction in light of Lexical-Functional Grammar and its Lexical Integrity Principle. We show that it is not necessary to remove the word/phrase distinction or the lexicon/grammar distinction to capture constructional effects, although we agree that there are important generalizations involving constructions of all sizes that must be captured at both syntactic and semantic levels. We use LFG’s templates, bundles of grammatical descriptions, to factor out grammatical information in such a way that it can be invoked either by words or by construction-specific phrase structure rules. Phrase structure rules that invoke specific templates are thus the equivalent of phrasal constructions in our approach, but Lexical Integrity and the separation of word and phrase are preserved. Constructional effects are captured by systematically allowing words and phrases to contribute comparable information to LFG’s level of functional structure; this is just a generalization of LFG’s usual assumption that “morphology competes with syntax” (Bresnan, 2001).