This dissertation studies leftward dislocation of object Noun Phrases in Mandarin Chinese within the framework of Government and Binding theory. Although the canonical word order in Chinese is S(ubject)-V(erb)-O(bject), it also exhibits OSV and SOV word orders. After an introduction in Ch. 1, I discuss OSV constructions in Ch.2. I argue that the S-initial object NP is moved there, since its association with a gap in the canonical object position obeys the subjacency condition. Based on several diagnostic tests, I propose that Chinese has two kinds of short-distance NP fronting: one is A’-movement and the other is A-movement. Adopting the Split Infl Hypothesis, I postulate a fully articulated clause structure for Chinese. In particular, I propose that the fronted NP in A-movement lands in [Spec AgrOP] as a kind of overt raising, while the one in A’-movement further leaves that spec position and is CP-adjoined. I also examine long-distance NP fronting, showing that it is invariably A’-movement. In Ch. 3, I investigate object shift, which yields SOV constructions. I argue that this syntactic process represents a type of A-movement, not A’-movement as concluded in previous studies. Specifically, I propose that the subject NP and the object NP in this construction overtly raise to [Spec AgrSP] and [Spec AgrOP] respectively. In Ch.4, I examine the interactions between an object wh-NP and dou, the adverb of universal quantification. I propose that wh-phrases, like indefinites, can be either presuppositional or existential. If they are within VP (i.e. remain postverbal), they are subject to existential closure and get an existential/interrogative reading. If, however, they are outside VP (i.e. shifted to the left of dou), they define the range of the quantifier dou and obtain the presuppositional/universal reading. The conclusion is that there is a strict correlation between the S-structure positions of the wh-phrase and its interpretations. The exhaustive list reading of the in-situ wh-object associated with the interrogative reading is derived from the fact that it is in the scope of dou at S-structure. In Ch. 5, I summarize the major findings of this dissertation and raise several issues for future research. / Arts, Faculty of / Linguistics, Department of / Graduate

In this thesis, I investigate the distribution and function(s) of gender in Tunisian Arabic. Based on the observation that gender can ll multiple functions and hence receive different interpretations in TA, I consider gender in this language to be subject to contextual allosemy. Allosemy is the equivalent of conditioned allomorphy at the level of LF (Wood, 2012; Marantz, 2013; Wood and Marantz, 2017) and is de ned as a phenomenon in which a single morpheme can have multiple semantic realizations. My proposal is based on the observation that the interpretation of gender is conditioned by its syntactic environment, more speci fically, by the class of the base noun and the function and interpretation of any node or abstract morpheme (e.g., number) that is parasitic of the n head hosting the class feature. The current predominant view of gender in syntactic theory is that it has a nominalizing function (Lecarme, 2002; Kihm, 2005; Lowenstamm, 2008; Acquaviva, 2009; Kramer, 2009, 2014, 2015; Hammerly, 2018). According to this view, gender is hosted on the n head, which selects the root, and assigns it a nominal category (assuming DM). However, Arabic has other uses for the feminine gender, most of them associated with number. This, I argue, originates from the diachronic trajectory of the feminine a x -a in Proto-Semitic, where it started out as a nominalizer, then a singulative a x, then a group marker, before finally marking feminine gender (Hasselbach, 2014a,b; Dali and Mathieu, 2019a). These subsequent layers of meanings associated with what is now known as gender are all present in the synchronic picture of Arabic. Through an exhaustive inventory of data and diagnostics, I show that the role of gender is pervasive within the Tunisian Arabic DP, and is not limited to nominalization. To account for these facts, I propose that gender is distributed among the different functional heads of the DP: Num, Q, D (see also Farkas 1990; Ritter 1993; Giurgea 2008; Croitor and Giurgea 2009; Steriopolo and Wiltschko 2010; Fassi Fehri 2012, 2018b,a; Dali and Mathieu 2019a). The present thesis also focuses on plurals. I show that plural markers can also be distributed along the nominal spine (Acquaviva, 2008; Harbour, 2008; Wiltschko, 2008, 2012; Butler, 2012; Mathieu, 2012, 2013, 2014; Kramer, 2016), accounting for their di erent functions (e.g., classifying, grouping, counting). These different functions associated with Arabic plurals are, I argue, due to the existence of a singulative operator that is not limited to the collective system, but is pervasive in Tunisian Arabic, as I show. Finally, these observations all suggest that one and the same abstract morpheme (e.g., the feminine and the plural) can receive different interpretations depending on the base they attach to and on their syntactic level, which motivates the allosemic analysis put forward in this thesis.

No description available.

Specifications of digital hardware systems are typically written in a natural language. The objective of this research is automatic information extraction from specifications to aid model generation for system level design automation. This is done by automatic extraction of the noun phrases and the verbs from the natural language specification statements. First, the natural language sentences are parsed using a chart parser. Then, a noun phrase and verb extractor scans these charts to obtain the noun phrases with their frequencies of occurrence. The noun phrases are then classified by semantic types. Also the verbs are automatically assigned their respective roots and classified. Finally, each sentence is summarized as a sequence of "chunks": noun phrases, verbs and prepositions. Vectors are generated from these chunks and imported into MS Excel for plotting occurrence graphs of noun phrases and verbs with respect to the sentences in which they occur. Finally, inter-term dependencies between noun phrases, and between noun phrases and verbs were studied. The frequencies of occurrence, the classification of chunks, the occurrence graphs and the inter-term dependencies together give useful information about the subject, the hardware components and the behavior of a system described by a natural language specification document. / Master of Science

The objective of this research was to extract simple noun phrases from natural language texts using two different grammars: stochastic context-free grammar (SCFG) and non-statistical context free grammar (CFG). Precision and recall were calculated to determine how many precise and correct noun phrases were extracted using these two grammars. Several text files containing sentences from English natural language specifications were analyzed manually to obtain the test-set of simple noun-phrases. To obtain precision and recall, this test-set of manually extracted noun phrases was compared with the extracted-sets of noun phrases obtained using the both grammars SCFG and CFG. A probabilistic chart parser was developed by modifying a deterministic parallel chart parser. Extraction of simple noun-phrases with the SCFG was accomplished using this probabilistic chart parser, a dictionary containing word probabilities along with the meaning, context-free grammar rules associated with rule probabilities and finally an algorithm to extract most likely parses of a sentence. The probabilistic parsing algorithm and the algorithm to determine figures of merit were implemented using C++ programming language. / Master of Science

published_or_final_version / English Studies / Master / Master of Arts

The diploma thesis analyses written academic text. Academic prose is frequently characterized as a highly complex style which is structurally elaborated, contains a large number of subordinate clauses and expresses meaning relations explicitly. However, new research (e.g. Biber & Gray, 2010) shows that complexity of academic writing occurs on the level of noun phrases which often contain extensive premodification and/or postmodification. The thesis studies noun phrase structure in research articles from two disciplines: medicine and sociology. Two articles from each discipline were selected, each yielding 50 complex noun phrases. These 200 examples were analysed with respect to their modification, its form and levels of embedding. The results were compared for both disciplines. The aim of the thesis was to describe complex noun phrase structure and identify its relation to the type of academic discipline. Key words: noun phrase, modification, academic text, sociology, medicine

A presente dissertação realiza uma investigação semântica do sintagma nominal (NP) do caboverdiano, língua falada no arquipélago de Cabo Verde, localizado na costa ocidental africana. As análises concentram-se na variedade de Santiago, ilha em que está localizada a capital do país, a cidade de Praia. Os nomes no caboverdiano, em geral, não são acompanhados de determinante e podem ser interpretados tanto como definidos quanto indefinidos. A utilização de un / uns está, em geral, associada a introdução de novos referentes, seu uso, contudo, não é frequente. Existe, ainda, a partícula kel/kes que parece veicular, entre outras coisas, definitude. Tal emprego, todavia, tampouco se dá frequentemente. O estatuto de kel, em caboverdiano, causa algumas divergências entre os pesquisadores da língua. Alguns autores advogam que ele desempenha, por vezes, o papel de artigo definido (ver, entre outros, (Alexandre and Soares, 2004), (Baptista, 2007), (Quint, 2000)). Discutiremos alguns dos trabalhos que versam sobre o sintagma nominal em caboverdiano, apresentando argumentos que corroboram ou não essa hipótese. A bem da verdade, a maioria das descrições sobre o caboverdiano não manifesta acordo quanto à existência ou não de artigo definido nessa língua. Os que afirmam sua existência parecem, muitas vezes, apresentar análises da língua centradas na descrição e análise do português, principalmente do português europeu. Diante dessa perspectiva, diversos fenômenos idiossincráticos do caboverdiano podem passar despercebidos, como no caso de uma possível contribuição ilocucional do operador uma, outro modificador do sintagma nominal. Este trabalho procura realizar uma análise do caboverdiano centrada nos fatos da própria língua, investigando as diferentes estratégias de interpretação dos nomes, bem como o papel dos elementos que compõem o sintagma nominal. / This dissertation conducts an investigation of the semantic of the noun phrase (NP) Cape Verdean language, spoken in the Cape Verde, archipelago located on the West African coast. The analysis focuses on the Santiago variety. The nouns in the Cape Verdean are generally determinerless and can be interpreted both as definite and indefinite. The introduction of new referents is generally associated with the use of un/uns, its use however is not frequent. There are also the particle kel/kes it seems vehicle, among other things, definiteness. Such employement, however, nor is often gives. The status of kel in Cape Verdean, cause some disagreement among of the language researchers. Some scholars advocate that kel may assume, sometimes, the role of a definite article (see among others (Alexandre and Soares, 2004), (Baptista, 2007), (Quint, 2000)). I will discuss several works which deal with noun phrase in Cape Verdean, revealing arguments which confirm whether or not this hypothesis. In fact, most of the Cape Verdean descriptions not show agreement on the definite article presence or absence in that language. Those who claim its existence often seem to present analysis of the Cape Verdean centered on the description and analysis of the Portuguese, especially European Portuguese. With that prospect, severals idiosyncratic phenomena of the Cape Verde may go unnotice, as in the case of a possible illocutionary contribution of the uma operator, another noun phrase modifier. This work attempt examine of the an Cape Verdean analyse focused on the language facts theirselves, investigating different strategies for nouns interpretation, as well as the elements role on the noun phrase.

[pt] Possibilidade de contribuição de uma análise contrastiva para o estabelecimento de parâmetros confiáveis e compatíveis entre línguas. O essencial e o central versus o periférico Nessa dissertação procura-se mostrar que por detrás de uma forma subjaz sempre algo mais profundo e explicitado em si mesmo e que a diversidade aparente será, muitas vezes, ilusória e de natureza epifenomenal, ou seja, essa diversidade se oriunda da interação de princípios fixos sob condições ligeiramente variantes. Através de uma amostra propõe-se mostrar o comportamento e a coocorrência de especificadores demonstrativos, possessivos e atributivos nas duas línguas, português e árabe, bem como o papel desempenhado pelo determinante artigo definido na formação de uma construção específica na língua árabe, o IDaafa, que dispensa a preposição como elemento de ligação mas traz o uso compulsório do determinante respeitadas restrições que podem ocorrer graças aos elementos constitutivos dentro do sintagma. / [en] A contrastive analysis may contribute for the establishment of reliable and compatible parameters among languages. Core always surpasses periphery and in the reality of languages one should not attain oneself to a first appearance. In our dissertation we have tried to show that behind one specific form there lies something much deeper and explicited in itself and that an apparent diversity is most of times illusory and of epiphenomenal nature, that is, this diversity stems from the interaction of fixed principles under slightly varying conditions. By means of a sample we propose to present the behavior and the coocurrence of demonstrative, possessive and attributive specifiers in the two languages, Portuguese and Arabic, as well as the role played by the determiner, the definite article, in the formation of a specific structure in the Arabic language named the IDaafa which needs no linking element such as the preposition but demands the compulsory use of the determiner, restrictions being respected thanks to the constitutive elements enrolled within the NP.

A presente dissertação realiza uma investigação semântica do sintagma nominal (NP) do caboverdiano, língua falada no arquipélago de Cabo Verde, localizado na costa ocidental africana. As análises concentram-se na variedade de Santiago, ilha em que está localizada a capital do país, a cidade de Praia. Os nomes no caboverdiano, em geral, não são acompanhados de determinante e podem ser interpretados tanto como definidos quanto indefinidos. A utilização de un / uns está, em geral, associada a introdução de novos referentes, seu uso, contudo, não é frequente. Existe, ainda, a partícula kel/kes que parece veicular, entre outras coisas, definitude. Tal emprego, todavia, tampouco se dá frequentemente. O estatuto de kel, em caboverdiano, causa algumas divergências entre os pesquisadores da língua. Alguns autores advogam que ele desempenha, por vezes, o papel de artigo definido (ver, entre outros, (Alexandre and Soares, 2004), (Baptista, 2007), (Quint, 2000)). Discutiremos alguns dos trabalhos que versam sobre o sintagma nominal em caboverdiano, apresentando argumentos que corroboram ou não essa hipótese. A bem da verdade, a maioria das descrições sobre o caboverdiano não manifesta acordo quanto à existência ou não de artigo definido nessa língua. Os que afirmam sua existência parecem, muitas vezes, apresentar análises da língua centradas na descrição e análise do português, principalmente do português europeu. Diante dessa perspectiva, diversos fenômenos idiossincráticos do caboverdiano podem passar despercebidos, como no caso de uma possível contribuição ilocucional do operador uma, outro modificador do sintagma nominal. Este trabalho procura realizar uma análise do caboverdiano centrada nos fatos da própria língua, investigando as diferentes estratégias de interpretação dos nomes, bem como o papel dos elementos que compõem o sintagma nominal. / This dissertation conducts an investigation of the semantic of the noun phrase (NP) Cape Verdean language, spoken in the Cape Verde, archipelago located on the West African coast. The analysis focuses on the Santiago variety. The nouns in the Cape Verdean are generally determinerless and can be interpreted both as definite and indefinite. The introduction of new referents is generally associated with the use of un/uns, its use however is not frequent. There are also the particle kel/kes it seems vehicle, among other things, definiteness. Such employement, however, nor is often gives. The status of kel in Cape Verdean, cause some disagreement among of the language researchers. Some scholars advocate that kel may assume, sometimes, the role of a definite article (see among others (Alexandre and Soares, 2004), (Baptista, 2007), (Quint, 2000)). I will discuss several works which deal with noun phrase in Cape Verdean, revealing arguments which confirm whether or not this hypothesis. In fact, most of the Cape Verdean descriptions not show agreement on the definite article presence or absence in that language. Those who claim its existence often seem to present analysis of the Cape Verdean centered on the description and analysis of the Portuguese, especially European Portuguese. With that prospect, severals idiosyncratic phenomena of the Cape Verde may go unnotice, as in the case of a possible illocutionary contribution of the uma operator, another noun phrase modifier. This work attempt examine of the an Cape Verdean analyse focused on the language facts theirselves, investigating different strategies for nouns interpretation, as well as the elements role on the noun phrase.