This thesis explores the connection between linguistic theory, as embodied in a version of the Government - Binding (GB) model of syntax, and the parameter-setting theory of language acquisition. In Chapter 2, it is argued that by incorporating the criterion of epistemological priority, syntactic theory can move closer towards becoming a plausible model of language acquisition. A version of GB theory is developed which adopts this criterion, leading to several modifications, including the derivation of X-bar theory from more "primitive" grammatical sub-components, and a revision of the Projection Principle. This model is converted into a procedure for phrase-structure acquisition, employing sets of Canonical Government Configurations and Percolation Principles to map Case- and θ-relations onto phrase-structure trees. The chapter ends with a discussion of the "missing-subject" stage in the acquisition of English. Chapter 3 concerns auxiliaries. It is argued that parametric variation in auxiliary systems can be reduced to levels of association between INFL and V. The question of irregularity is dealt with through the Designation Convention of Emonds (1985), which makes a distinction between open- and closed- class grammatical elements, and a Parallel Distributed Processing model of learning. The last part of the chapter investigates the learning of the English auxiliary system, and in particular the errors known as "auxiliary overmarking". Chapter 4 investigates the syntax of Subject Auxiliary Inversion (SAI)-type rules. An account of inversion is developed based on the theory of predication, in which inversion-inducing elements are treated as "A'-type" subjects which must be linked to AGR in order to satisfy conditions on Predicate-licensing. A parametrization is developed based on the cross-linguistic examination of SAI-type rules. Chapter 5 concerns the acquisition of SAI. It is argued that there are no invariant "stages" in the development of inversion; rather, a proportion of children misanalyze (WH + contracted auxiliary) sequences as (WH + AGR-clitic) sequences and formulate grammars in which SAI is unnecessary. A "two-tiered" theory of syntactic acquisition is proposed to account for the observed developmental patterns. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

Traditional views of grammatical theory hold that languages are characterised by sets of constructions. This approach entails the enumeration of all possible constructions for each language being described. Current theories of transformational generative grammar have established an alternative position. Specifically, Chomsky's Government-Binding theory proposes a system of principles which are common to human language. Such a theory is referred to as a "Universal Grammar"(UG). Associated with the principles of grammar are parameters of variation which account for the diversity of human languages. The grammar for a particular language is known as a "Core Grammar", and is characterised by an appropriately parametrised instance of UG. Despite these advances in linguistic theory, construction-based approaches have remained the status quo within the field of natural language processing. This thesis investigates the possibility of developing a principle-based system which reflects the modular nature of the linguistic theory. That is, rather than stipulating the possible constructions of a language, a system is developed which uses the principles of grammar and language specific parameters to parse language. Specifically, a system-is presented which performs syntactic analysis and translation for a subset of English and German. The cross-linguistic nature of the theory is reflected by the system which can be considered a procedural model of UG. / Science, Faculty of / Computer Science, Department of / Graduate

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir casos em que a forma ele do português brasileiro (PB) pode aparecer localmente ligada. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos: no Experimento I, falantes nativos adultos de PB e crianças adquirindo essa língua recusaram a leitura localmente ligada do ele quando este era objeto direto de um verbo. No Experimento II, por outro lado, adultos e crianças aceitaram a ligação local do ele quando a forma era complemento de uma preposição. Observou-se também uma associação entre a aceitabilidade da ligação local do ele dentro de PPs e a natureza semântica do predicado: diante predicados de reflexividade improvável, adultos e crianças permitiram a ligação local do ele significativamente mais em predicados de reflexividade provável do que improvável. Baseando-me em Hornstein (2001), assumo que o pronome ele ligado é um elemento que é inserido como último recurso nos contextos preposicionais, dada a impossibilidade de movimento para fora de PPs no PB. / This dissertation aims to discuss cases in which the form ele in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) can be locally bound. Two experiments were conducted: in the first one, adult speakers of BP and children acquiring this language refused the locally bound reading of ele when it was the direct object of a verb. On the other hand, in the second experiment, adults and children allowed the locally bound reading of ele when it was inside a PP. We noted an association between the acceptability of the bound reading of ele and the semantic nature of the predicate: the children and adults tested allowed local binding of ele significantly more often with probable reflexive verbs, than with improbable ones. Following Hornstein (2001), I assume that the bound pronoun ele is an elsewhere element that is inserted in prepositional contexts, due to the absence of preposition stranding in BP.

O objetivo desta dissertação é discutir casos em que a forma ele do português brasileiro (PB) pode aparecer localmente ligada. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos: no Experimento I, falantes nativos adultos de PB e crianças adquirindo essa língua recusaram a leitura localmente ligada do ele quando este era objeto direto de um verbo. No Experimento II, por outro lado, adultos e crianças aceitaram a ligação local do ele quando a forma era complemento de uma preposição. Observou-se também uma associação entre a aceitabilidade da ligação local do ele dentro de PPs e a natureza semântica do predicado: diante predicados de reflexividade improvável, adultos e crianças permitiram a ligação local do ele significativamente mais em predicados de reflexividade provável do que improvável. Baseando-me em Hornstein (2001), assumo que o pronome ele ligado é um elemento que é inserido como último recurso nos contextos preposicionais, dada a impossibilidade de movimento para fora de PPs no PB. / This dissertation aims to discuss cases in which the form ele in Brazilian Portuguese (BP) can be locally bound. Two experiments were conducted: in the first one, adult speakers of BP and children acquiring this language refused the locally bound reading of ele when it was the direct object of a verb. On the other hand, in the second experiment, adults and children allowed the locally bound reading of ele when it was inside a PP. We noted an association between the acceptability of the bound reading of ele and the semantic nature of the predicate: the children and adults tested allowed local binding of ele significantly more often with probable reflexive verbs, than with improbable ones. Following Hornstein (2001), I assume that the bound pronoun ele is an elsewhere element that is inserted in prepositional contexts, due to the absence of preposition stranding in BP.

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-180).

Thesis (doctoral)--Rijksuniversiteit te Leiden, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (p. [173]-180).

Submitted by Maike Costa (maiksebas@gmail.com) on 2016-01-12T13:44:01Z No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1239269 bytes, checksum: 76dcf48851e0499880c281c58758b9e1 (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-01-12T13:44:01Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 1239269 bytes, checksum: 76dcf48851e0499880c281c58758b9e1 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-26 / This work aims to investigate how Brazilian learners of English use the structural information during the resolution of coreference in sentences containing the ambiguous pronoun her in a position of object (NP) or possessive pronoun (SPEC). In English, in an intrasentencial context the pronoun her can generate ambiguity during processing if its unavailable antecedent matches in number and gender, however, the same pronoun is blocked by the principle B of Binding Theory (Chomsky, 1981). We investigate this phenomenon considering aspects of the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH) Clahsen and Felser (2006). According to this hypothesis, L2 learners have a shallower grammar which is able to only successfully process unambiguous structures with low complexity. Through an on-line experiment of self-paced reading we verified if English learners at different levels of proficiency, were sensitive to the syntactic ambiguity of sentences containing the pronoun her, even though according to SSH their processing is more superficial. / Este trabalho tem como objetivo investigar a maneira como brasileiros aprendizes de inglês utilizam a informação estrutural durante a resolução da correferência em frases ambíguas contendo o pronome her em condições de objeto (NP) ou de pronome possessivo (SPEC). Em inglês, em um contexto intrasentencial o pronome her pode gerar ambiguidade durante o processamento se seu antecedente indisponível coincidir em gênero e número, no entanto, o mesmo pronome encontra-se bloqueado pelo o princípio B da teoria da ligação (Chomsky, 1981). Investigaremos esse fenômeno considerando aspectos da Hipótese da Estrutura Rasa (SSH) Clahsen e Felser, (2006). Segundo esta hipótese, aprendizes de L2 dispõem de uma gramática superficial capaz de processar com sucesso apenas estruturas de pouca complexidade e sem ambiguidades. Através de experimento on line de leitura automonitorada, verificamos se aprendizes de inglês em níveis distintos de proficiência, foram sensíveis às restrições sintáticas de frases contendo a ambiguidade do pronome her, ainda que segundo a SSH, disponham de um processamento mais superficial.