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Showing 1 to 5 of 5 (0.532 seconds)Spelling suggestions: "subject:"discourse representation theory"" "subject:"ciscourse representation theory""
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Tense, aspect and temporal order : before and afterCope, Justin Lynn 09 October 2014 (has links)
Anscombe (1964) presents influential arguments that 'before' and 'after' cannot denote converse relations, despite intuitions to the contrary. These arguments, I claim, rely on ambiguity of certain 'before'- and 'after'-sentences, ambiguity that arises from the interaction of tense and aspect with the temporal ordering relations denoted by 'before' and 'after'. To account for this ambiguity, I adopt a Discourse Representation Theory-based analysis of tense and aspect (Kamp & Reyle 2011) and apply it to a set of examples that exhibit the variety of readings available for 'before'- and 'after'-sentences. I argue that certain readings of stative 'after'-sentences support the existence of an inceptive coercion operator, equivalent in effect to the aspectual verb 'begin'. This operator has much in common with 'earliest', an operator proposed by Beaver & Condoravdi (2003), but it is motivated by independent aspectual considerations. I conclude with a discussion of areas for future research. / text
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Information structure in discourseTraat, Maarika January 2006 (has links)
The present dissertation proposes integrating Discourse Representation Theory (DRT), information structure (IS) and Combinatory Categorial Grammar (CCG) into a single framework. It achieves this by making two new contributions to computational treatment of information structure. First, it presents an uncomplicated approach to incorporating information structure in DRT. Second, it shows how the new DRT representation can be integrated into a unification-based grammar framework in a straightforward manner. We foresee the main application of the new formalism to be in spoken language systems: the approach presented here has the potential to considerably facilitate spoken language systems benefiting from insights derived from information structure. The DRT representation with information structure which is proposed in this dissertation is simpler than the previous attempts to include information structure in DRT. We believe that the simplicity of the Information-Structure-marked Discourse Representation Structure (IS-DRS) is precisely what makes it attractive and easy to use for practical tasks like determining the intonation in spoken language applications. The IS component in ISDRS covers a range of aspects of information structural semantics. A further advantage of IS-DRS is that in its case a single semantic representation is suitable for both the generation of context-appropriate prosody and automatic reasoning. A semantic representation on its own is useful for describing and analysing a language. However, it is of even greater utility if it is accompanied by a mechanism that allows one to directly infer the semantic representation from a natural language expression. We incorporated the IS-DRS into the Categorial Grammar (CG) framework, developing a unification based realisation of Combinatory Categorial Grammar, which we call Unification-based Combinatory Categorial Grammar (UCCG). UCCG inherits elements from Combinatory Categorial Grammar and Unification Categorial Grammar. The UCCG framework is developed gradually throughout the dissertation. The information structural component is included as the final step. The IS-DRSs for linguistic expressions are built up compositionally from the IS-DRSs of their sub-expressions. Feature unification is the driving force in this process. The formalism is illustrated by numerous examples which are characterised by different levels of syntactic complexity and diverse information structure. We believe that the main assets of both the IS-DRSs as well as the Unification-based Combinatory Categorial Grammar framework are their simplicity, transparency, and inherent suitability for computational implementation. This makes them an appealing choice for use in practical applications like spoken language systems.
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Simultaneous abstraction and semantic theoriesRuhrberg, Peter January 1996 (has links)
I present a simple Simultaneous Abstraction Calculus, where the familiar lambda-abstraction over single variables is replaced by abstraction over whole sets of them. Terms are applied to partial assignments of objects to variables. Variants of the system are investigated and compared, with respect to their semantic and proof theoretic properties. The system overcomes the strict ordering requirements of the standard lambda-calculus,and is shown to provide the kind of "non-selective" binding needed for Dynamic Montague Grammar and Discourse Representation Theory. It is closely related to a more complex system, due to Peter Aczel and Rachel Lunon, and can be used for Situation Theory in a similar way. I present versions of these theories within an axiomatic, property-theoretic framework, based on Aczels Frege Structures. The aim of this work is to provide the means for integrating various semantic theories within a formal framework,so that they can share what is common between them, and adopt from each other what is compatible with them.
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Donkey pronounsChen, Hsiang-Yun, 1979- 23 October 2012 (has links)
Donkey pronouns seem to defy the conventional categories of referential and anaphoric pronouns and hence cannot be analyzed as variables. An orthodox treatment is that donkey pronouns are semantically equivalent to definite descriptions. I argue on the contrary that donkey pronouns can be analyzed as bound variables given a distinct notion of binding. I provide a systematic comparison between the static, description-theoretic approach and Discourse Representation Theory (DRT), a representative of dynamic semantics. By exposing the inadequacy of various descriptivist theories, I motivate and argue that DRT is the better alternative. DRT is superior for being a coherent and flexible analysis of donkey pronouns, a unified analysis of pronouns in general, and an intuitively appealing model of meaning. In addition, I uncover the similarities between the situational descriptivist account and DRT. I show that when fully elaborated, the former turns out to be a notational variant of the latter. I then trace their common problems to the Lewisian assumptions of quantification and conditionals; my proposed solutions suggest non-trivial modifications to and clarifications of the underlying Lewisian framework. / text
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Bare nouns in PersianModarresi, Fereshteh 01 October 2015 (has links)
Diese Dissertation untersucht das variable Verhalten von sogenannten „bare nouns“ (Nominale ohne Artikel) im Persischen. Dieses Verhalten kann jedoch nicht verstanden werden ohne eine Reihe von entscheidenden Eigenschaften der persischen Satzstruktur zu betrachten. Dazu gehören Informationsstruktur, Prosodie und Wortstellung, sowie die semantischen und syntaktischen Funktionen verschiedener morphologischer Markierungen im Persischen. Die vorliegende Dissertation kann daher zum besseren Verständnis von satzinterner Syntax, Semantik und Prosodie des Persischen beitragen. Ich beginne meine Untersuchung mit dem Vergleich der BNs in verschiedenen Positionen mit Nominalen, die mit verschiedenen Morphemen gekennzeichnet sind. Die quasi-inkorporierten Nominale im Persischen scheinen zur Klasse der diskursintransparenten inkorporierenden Sprachen zu gehören. Doch dies scheint nicht immer zu stimmen, unter bestimmten Umständen zeigen persische BNs Diskurstransparenz. In Kapitel 3 untersuche ich daher, unter welchen Umständen BNs Diskurstransparenz zeigen und warum. In Kapitel 3 präsentiere ich einen Alternativvorschlag zu Farkas & de Swart, in dem ich darlege, dass ein BN tatsächlich einen neuen Diskursreferenten einführt. Aber der Numerus von BNs ist neutral (numerusneutralen Diskursreferenten).In der zweiten Hälfte der Dissertation wird die Interpretation von BNs in verschiedenen Positionen und mit unterschiedlichen grammatischen Funktionen diskutiert. Kapitel 4 konzentriert sich auf BNs in Objektposition. Wir stellen einen direkten Vergleich an zwischen BNs als tatsächliche BNs, d.h. Nominale, die nicht mit einem Morphem markiert sind, und Kontexten, in denen sie mit dem Morphem -ra auftreten. Ich werde argumentieren, dass -ra lediglich markiert, dass ein BN oder auch ein anderes Nominal nicht in seiner VP-internen Position interpretiert, sondern in eine VP-externe Domäne bewegt wird. Das bedeutet, das Morphem -ra ist ein syntaktisches Morphem auf Phrasenebene. / This thesis explores the variable behavior of bare nouns in Persian. Bare singular nouns realize different grammatical functions, including subject, object and indirect object. They receive different interpretations, including generic, definite and existential readings. However, the task of understanding the reasons for, and limits on, this variation cannot be achieved without understanding a number of pivotal features of Persian sentential architecture, including Information Structure, prosody, word order, and the functions of various morphological markers in Persian. With respect to the discourse transparency of Incorporated Nominals, under certain circumstances, Persian bare nouns show discourse transparency. These circumstances are examined in chapter 3, and it is proposed that bare nouns do introduce a number neutral discourse referent. This proposal is phrased within Discourse Representation Theory. In the second half of the dissertation, the interpretation of bare nouns in different positions and with different grammatical functions are discussed. Under the independently supported hypothesis of position>interpretation mapping developed by Diesing (1992), we will see the role of the suffix -ra in indicating that an object has been moved out of VP. For subjects, there is no morphological marking corresponding to –ra on objects, and we have to rely on prosody and word order to determine how a VP is interpreted using theories of the interaction of accent and syntactic structure. It is proposed that both subject and object originate within the VP, and can move out to the VP-external domain. The motivation for these movements are informational-structural in nature, relating in particular to the distinctions between given and new information, and default and non-default information structure.
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