Antecedent (grammar)

About: Antecedent (grammar) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 1392 publications have been published within this topic receiving 41824 citations.

An algorithm for pronominal anaphora resolution

Abstract: This paper presents an algorithm for identifying the noun phrase antecedents of third person pronouns and lexical anaphors (reflexives and reciprocals). The algorithm applies to the syntactic representations generated by McCord's Slot Grammar parser and relies on salience measures derived from syntactic structure and a simple dynamic model of attentional state. Like the parser, the algorithm is implemented in Prolog. The authors have tested it extensively on computer manual texts and conducted a blind test on manual text containing 360 pronoun occurrences. The algorithm successfully identifies the antecedent of the pronoun for 86% of these pronoun occurrences. The relative contributions of the algorithm's components to its overall success rate in this blind test are examined. Experiments were conducted with an enhancement of the algorithm that contributes statistically modelled information concerning semantic and real-world relations to the algorithm's decision procedure. Interestingly, this enhancement only marginally improves the algorithm's performance (by 2%). The algorithm is compared with other approaches to anaphora resolution that have been proposed in the literature. In particular, the search procedure of Hobbs' algorithm was implemented in the Slot Grammar framework and applied to the sentences in teh blind test set. The authors' algorithm achieves a higher rate of success (4%) than Hobbs' algorithm. The relation of the algorithm to the centering approach is discussed, as well as to models of anaphora resolution that invoke a variety of informational factors in ranking antecedent candidates.

Movement and Control

Abstract: Since the earliest days of generative grammar, control has been distinguished from raising: the latter the product of movement operations, the former the result of construal processes relating a PRO to an antecedent. This article argues that obligatory control structures are also formed by movement. Minimalism makes this approach viable by removing D-Structure as a grammatical level. Implementing the suggestion, however, requires eliminating the last vestiges of D-Structure still extant in Chomsky's (1995) version of the Minimalist Program. In particular, it requires dispensing with the θ-Criterion and adopting the view that θ-roles are featurelike in being able to license movement.

The Influence of Founding Team Company Affiliations on Firm Behavior

Abstract: This paper's argument is that founding team composition—in particular, members' prior company affiliations—shapes new firm behaviors. Firms with founding teams whose members have worked at the same company engage in exploitation because they have shared understandings and can act quickly. Conversely, founding teams whose members have worked at many different companies have unique ideas and contacts that encourage exploration. In addition, firms whose founding teams have both common and diverse prior company affiliations have advantages that allow them to grow. The results suggest team composition is an important antecedent of exploitative and explorative behavior and firm ambidexterity.

Antecedents of Organizational Slack

Abstract: Organizational slack has been widely discussed, but only in its role as an antecedent of performance, political behavior, bankruptcy, and other phenomena. A model that describes the antecedents of organizational slack is presented here. It contains three sets of predictors: environmental contingencies, organizational characteristics, and the values and beliefs of dominant coalition. Hypotheses detailing how each set of predictors leads to the development of different levels and types of slack resources are presented.

Children's Knowledge of Locality Conditions in Binding as Evidence for the Modularity of Syntax and Pragmatics

Abstract: We report three experiments concerning English-speaking children's knowledge of locality conditions in the binding of reflexives and pronouns (Principles A and B). The children tested were between the ages of 2;6 and 6;6. By age 6, children know that a reflexive must be locally bound. At the same age, however, they appear to not know that a pronoun may not be locally bound. We suggest that children are missing a pragmatic principle, not the syntactic Principle B. This hypothesis predicts that children will not accept a local antecedent for a pronoun that is a bound variable. Experiment 4 confirms this prediction. We conclude that children know the grammatical principles of binding but do not know a relevant pragmatic principle. We suggest that such dissociation in children might be a useful tool in the study of linguistic theory.