Showing papers on "Head (linguistics) published in 1999"

Prepositional Phrase Attachment Through a Backed-off Model

Abstract: Recent work has considered corpus-based or statistical approaches to the problem of prepositional phrase attachment ambiguity. Typically, ambiguous verb phrases of the form v np1 p np2 are resolved through a model which considers values of the four head words (v, n1, p and n2). This paper shows that the problem is analogous to n-gram language models in speech recognition, and that one of the most common methods for language modeling, the backed-off estimate, is applicable. Results on Wall Street Journal data of 84.5% accuracy are obtained using this method. A surprising result is the importance of low-count events — ignoring events which occur less than 5 times in training data reduces performance to 81.6%.

Morphology-driven syntax

Abstract: This book argues that syntactic parameters are set in a principled fashion on the basis of overt functional morphology. The main focus of the book is on the different positions of the finite verb in the Germanic SVO languages. In addition, other syntactic phenomena (null subjects, transitive expletive constructions and object shift) and other language families (Romance, Semitic and Slavic) are discussed. A common explanation for all of the discussed phenomena is proposed: If and only if the features for “person” are distinctively marked by the agreement morphology, the agreement affixes are listed separately in the lexicon and project phrases of their own in syntax where they attract the verb to the head positions and allow the specifier positions to be filled by various phonologically (un)realized elements. Special attention is given to issues of historical development and child language acquisition.

Deutsche Syntax deklarativ: Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar für das Deutsche

Abstract: A strap tightening device for cinching an elongated strap to firmly hold cargo in place on a carrier is provided. The strap tightening device includes a frame having a drum rotationally mounted thereto. The drum has a longitudinal axis of rotation and three longitudinally extending slots for receiving the strap. A locking means is provided for selectively preventing the drum from rotating in at least one direction. To utilize the device for tightening straps, the elongated strap is threaded into the drum through a first one of the slots, out of the drum through a second one of the slots, back into the drum through a third one of the slots to form a loop (between the second and third slots), and back out of the drum through the first slot. Cranking means are provided to facilitate rotating the drum about its longitudinal axis to wind the strap about the drum.

Method, apparatus, and computer readable medium for performing semantic analysis and generating a semantic structure having linked frames

Abstract: A method for performing a semantic analysis process on a computer system including a storage unit and an interface includes the steps of: receiving a syntactic tree generated from a natural language sentence text; determining whether an analysis object, which is one of nodes of the syntactic tree, is a verb phrase class which has a verb as a head or a non-verb phrase class which has mainly a noun as the head on the basis of subdivided type information of a phrase of the node with reference to first data stored in the storage unit; analyzing a relation between a verb in the analysis object and a deep case of the verb when the analysis object is the verb phrase class; analyzing a modificative relation in the analysis object when the analysis object is the non-verb phrase class; generating a semantic structure of the natural language sentence text wherein the semantic structure comprises semantic frames corresponding to nodes of the syntactic tree, at least two semantic frames of the semantic frames being linked by a head relation or a deep case relation or a modificative relation, and storing the semantic structure in the storage unit or displaying the semantic structure on a display which is connectable to the computer system via the interface.

On Double-Headedness and the Anatomy of the Clause*

Abstract: We argue that the Minimalist view of phrase structure in Chomsky 1995 should be minimally extended to allow for phrases that have more than one head, so long as the two heads have the same category features and are not attracted by a higher head. This innovation results in an elegant typology of the various kinds of syntactically distinguishable serial verb constructions (SVCs) found in Edo and related West African languages, as discovered by Stewart (1998). In particular, we claim that the different SVCs come from different choices of which phrase in the clausal structure is doubly headed: Voice, light v, or V. Moreover, details of Edo syntax allow us to make some refinements to the theory of clause structure; these include showing that Kratzer’s Voice head is distinct from Chomsky’s v head, and showing exactly where agents, themes and goal phrases are generated. Empirical evidence for our claims comes from a variety of syntactic and semantic sources, but especially from the position and interpretation of various classes of adverbs.

“Where is my brush-teeth?” Acquisition of compound nouns in a French–English bilingual child

Abstract: This study had two purposes: (i) to see if bilingual children can differentiate their languages with respect to the ability to form compound nouns and (ii) to test the validity of previous explanations of the acquisition of compounds. Compound nouns are right-headed in English and left-headed in French. If the French–English bilingual child in this study could differentiate between the two compounding rules, his compounds should show differential order based on the language of the semantic head. The analysis was based on the child's spontaneous compound productions from 2;9 to 3;3. The results showed that the language choice of the semantic head noun predicted the order of his compounds, suggesting that he had two distinct compounding rules. The pattern of errors made by the child cannot be accounted for by any previous explanation alone. It is suggested that children use various cues to learn compound structure.

De-Phrase Extractability and Individual/Property Denotation

Abstract: This paper argues against a hypothesis commonly assumed in Romance linguistics, namely, that the thematic hierarchy Possessor ≺ Agent ≺ Theme regulates de-phrase extraction out of the (French) noun phrase. I propose that de-phrase asymmetries (in the domain of extraction and in other domains) correlate with an independently motivated semantic partition -- one between individual-denoting phrases (IDPs) that pick out an entity in discourse, and property-denoting phrases (PDPs) that determine a type of entity. I put forward the Nominal Denotation Hypothesis (NDH): at most one de-phrase of each type can be associated with a given noun (N) head. I subsequently demonstrate (a) that a number of problematic exceptions to the thematic hierarchy can be directly accounted for under NDH, (b) that further facets of de-phrase behaviour bearing on matters of general distribution, aspect, linear order, definiteness/specificity, and the potential/lack of potential for exhibiting scopal ambiguity (which were not accounted for in previous works relying on the thematic hierarchy) also originate in NDH, and (c) that NDH is nonetheless compatible with certain fundamental aspects of previous approaches (in both derivational and lexicalist frameworks).

Verbal Gerunds As Mixed Categories In Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar

Abstract: Grammatical categories are central to generative theories of grammar. In many ways, the study of syntax really is just the study of grammatical categories. Problems that have cropped up with the originally proposed parts of speech have been solved by decomposing them into bundles of binary features ±N and ±V. Despite this success, there remains a class of constructions, known as trans-categorial or simply mixed category constructions, which do not fit well with any refinement of the four basic categories. The chapter first discusses the properties of verbal gerunds, with particular attention paid to their status as mixed categories. Next, it reviews some of the previous proposals offered to account for verbal gerunds. Finally, the chapter presents an analysis of mixed categories as non-canonical combinations of properties from independent grammatical dimensions. The nominal nature of verbal gerunds is shown most clearly by the external distribution of verbal gerund phrases (VGerPs). Keywords: phrase structure grammar; verbal gerund phrases (VGerPs); verbal gerunds

Device and method for generating topic type summary and computer readable recording medium recording relevant method

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To generate a suitable summary without depending on a field so that a person can recognize contents described in a document including a text in a short time. SOLUTION: This topic type summary generating device is provided with a topic marker/topic key phrase extracting part 16 for extracting the topic marker of a following word clearly or non-clearly showing a topic included in an inputted document and a topic key phrase composed of the conjugate of a sentence head to be a key for determining a topic, a remarkable noun phrase extracting part 18 for extracting a remarkable noun phrase considered as the candidate of the topic based on the said topic marker and topic key phrase, a macro topic extracting part 20 for extracting a macro topic based on the extracted topic marker and remarkable noun phrase, a local topic extracting part 22 for extracting a local topic to be locally generated based on the above topic marker, topic key phrase, remarkable noun phrase and macro topic, an importance topic sentence extracting part 24 for extracting an important topic based on the macro topic and local topic and a topic summary generating part 26 for generating a summary based on the important topic sentence.

Against ‘Long Head Movement’: Lexical Insertion and the Bulgarian Auxiliary ‘BE’

Abstract: The Bulgarian alternation in which a past participle pr cedes a finite auxiliary in (1a) but follows the auxiliary in (1b) occurs in Serbo-Croat, Czech and some non-Slavic languages. It has received a variety of accounts, both syntactic (Rivero 1991, 1993, 1994; Roberts 1992, 1994; avar & Wilder 1994; Wilder & avar 1994; Bo Lkovi 1995) and prosodic (Halpern 1995; Embick & Izvorski 1995, King 1996).

Memory, power, and Bessie Head: 'A question of power'

Abstract: (1999). Memory, power and Bessie head: A question of power. World Literature Written in English: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 42-57.

Aguafiestas, metepatas y otros compuestos nominales peculiares

Abstract: This article discusses the internal structure of compounds of the limpiabotas-typte. The way that some researchers have dealt with them has focused on determining, on the one hand, which one is the nature of the first element of the compound and, on the other, how to solve the problem of having to consider them exocentric. In order to do this, it has been suggested, within the framework of an analysis of the argument structure of the above complex word, the existence of a deverbal noun as the head of the compound, in which the item agent is lexicalised without any formal representation. The ungrammaticality of phrases such as *el limpiabotas de Juan, in which the same thematic role would be represented twice, explains the suitability of the proposal, but, on the other hand, that situation does not seem to occur in sequences such as el aguafiestas o el metepatas de Juan.

Making sense of compound nouns : a study of word relatedness in telugu

Abstract: Lexical development is typically viewed as elaboration, differentiation, and integration of semantic codes—codes that signify the meanings embodied in the words. Our earlier work based on 50 noun + noun (NN) compounds in Telugu has shown that children in the age group 8–14 years exhibit clear-cut developmental trends in producing and segmenting the NN compound nouns and generating words that are related in meaning to the target compounds. The database for the present study is drawn from our earlier work, and it consists of 1800 words reported to be related in meaning to the 50 target compound nouns by 36 children (12 III grade children, 12 VI grade children, and 12 IX grade children) and 600 words produced by 12 adults. A thorough analysis of the individual word associations generated by the subjects revealed that children tended to generate: (1) compounds with the same head word as the target word but with a new modifier word, (2) novel compounds that have phonetic/phonological association with the target words, most of which are actually nonwords in the language; and (3) new single-stem nouns and new compounds that are considerably fewer in number than those produced by adult subjects. Some of the theoretical and pedagogical implications of the differences in performance of children vs. adult subjects in the encoding of word meanings in an experimental context are discussed in this paper.

Machine translation device/method and recording medium with recorded machine translation program

Abstract: PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To correctly translate abbreviation symbols in parentheses when they exist in an original by analyzing the constitution of the original based on the result of a parenthesis part recognition means recognizing a word part as a noun phrase and a division means and generating the translated sentence of target language based on an analyzed result. SOLUTION: A translation control part 14 takes out one sentence being a translation object from an original/translated sentence storage part 2 by the instruction of translation execution and sends it to a morpheme analysis part 3. A dictionary retrieval part 4 retrieves the registered word of a word dictionary 12 for a morpheme which the morpheme analysis part 3 analyzes and obtains necessary data. When a character string in parentheses is the head characters of several words existing before the parenthesis writing, a parenthesis recognition part 5 treats it as a noun phrase. When plural parts of speech are considered, a multiple parts of speech dissolution part 6 decides the rule of analysis by a rule dictionary 13. A syntax analysis part 7 specifies syntax in accordance with the rule and a conversion part 9 converts the objective sentence of translation into the system of target language. A target language generation part 10 generates the translated sentence.

Memory, Power and Bessie Head: A Question of Power.

Abstract: (1999). Memory, power and Bessie head: A question of power. World Literature Written in English: Vol. 38, No. 1, pp. 42-57.

Stereogrammetry; personalizing computer game character

Abstract: Two images of a user's head are scanned and sent to a central processing station via the Internet. The central station processes the two images stereogrammetrically to provide a partial three-dimensional image of the user's head, and then matches this with a stored generic head image, distorts the stored image if necessary, and combines the two to provide a complete three-dimensional image. The three-dimensional image is then used to provide animated characters, having the head of the user, which are sent back to the user's computer via the Internet, for use in conventional computer games.

Komplexe Präpositionalphrasen mit postponierten direktionalem Kopf: 1300

Abstract: This study demonstrates that there are two types of complex prepositional phrases in German with directional meaning. One type consists of a series of embedded prepositional phrases in which a hierarchically higher constituent in the configuration modifies a lower phrase (cf. uber die Felder auf den Hugel, aus der Tur ins Nachbarhaus). A second type of complex directional phrase contains a (simple or complex) adverbial head which selects a preposed prepositional phrase as its predicative' complement (cf. unter der Brucke durch, in den Wald hinein). Attention is given primarily to the last type and the semantic restrictions placed on the preposed complement by the adverbial head. These restrictions are also shown to be responsible for the case relationships in this type of phrase, i.e. the dative in unter der Brucke (durch) but the accusative in in den Wald (hinein)

. . . While Canada faces the issue head-on.

Abstract: Canada is rapidly becoming an international leader in xenotransplantation. The country’s xenotransplantation research activity has intensified over the last 12 months and now the Canadian government is gearing up to run a public consultation exercise on animalto-human transplants, in addition to developing an international thinktank on the procedure. Based on the recommendations of the National Forum on Xenotransplantation held in Ottawa in November 1997 and sponsored by Health Canada, the country’s national health body, Canada will host a gathering of international experts on xenotransplantation in Meech Lake, Quebec, in mid-June. This preliminary meeting—to be cochaired by Stachan Donnelly of the Hastings Center in New York State, and Farkhonda Hassan, a member of the Senate of Egypt—will establish a mandate for a twoyear, international panel on xenotransplantation. The panel will comprise 12–15 individuals from around the world, and is expected to hold its first meeting in September. Most of the planning for the June meeting has been done by veterinarian Betsy MacGregor, coordinator of Industry Canada’s National Biotechnology Advisory Committee, and Fritz Bach of Harvard Medical School. Such is the commitment of the Canadian government to establishing a policy on xenotransplantation that in addition to Health Canada’s sponsorship of the Meech Lake meeting, it is also financing the public consultation exercise, which is due to report its findings in 18 months. Furthermore, Industry Canada, another arm of the government, is funding a two-year sabbatical for MacSpanish researchers reject xeno moratorium...