Head (linguistics)

About: Head (linguistics) is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 2540 publications have been published within this topic receiving 29023 citations. The topic is also known as: nucleus.

Modeling the Interpretation and Interpretation Ease of Noun-Noun Compounds Using a Relation Space Approach to Compound Meaning

Abstract: Modelling the Interpretation and Interpretation Ease of Noun-Noun Compounds Using a Relation Space Approach to Compound Meaning Barry Devereux (Barry.Devereux@ucd.ie) Fintan Costello (Fintan.Costello@ucd.ie) School of Computer Science and Informatics, University College Dublin Dublin, Ireland Abstract process, such as how the correct relationship between the two constituent concepts is found or constructed. In this paper, our aim is to present evidence for a more compre- hensive approach to conceptual combination, allowing us to model both the interpretation and interpretation ease aspects of noun-noun comprehension. Conceptual combination can be regarded as a process which instantiates the most plausible or most appropri- ate relationship between the two constituent words in a compound (termed the modifier word and the head word, respectively). An important issue therefore for any model of conceptual combination is the manner in which the relationship between the modifier and head of a compound is represented; indeed, previous models of conceptual combination can be classified as belonging to two types, distinguished by how they represent relations. The first type, the concept specialization approach, as- sumes that instantiating a relation for a compound in- volves modifying a slot in the representation of the head word concept (for example, see Smith, Osherson, Rips & Keane, 1988). In the second type, the relationship be- tween the two nouns is specified by means of a taxonomy of general relation categories. For example Levi (1978) describes a set of recoverably deletable predicates such as CAUSE, HAVE & FROM which are used to spec- ify the meaning of compounds. The idea that the re- lationship between the constituents in a compound can be specified by a taxonomy of semantic primitives forms the basis for representing compound meaning in an im- portant cognitive theory about conceptual combination, namely the Competition Among Relations In Nominals (CARIN) model (Gagn´e & Shoben, 1997). The concept specialization approach and the taxo- nomic approach both assume that the meaning of a com- pound can be adequately captured by a simple label (ei- ther as a slot in the head concept or as a stand-alone relation category). One of the primary theses of this pa- per is that such a simple representation of compounds is inadequate; the relations instantiated during concep- tual combination are semantically detailed entities and as such require a more complex mode of representation. Our approach assumes that relations are as complex and as semantically non-trivial as the constituent con- cepts that they link are. We therefore represent relations in a way similar to how concepts have been represented in the classification literature (e.g. Nosofsky, 1984; Kr- uschke, 1992), using exemplars which are defined as sets of values on a set of dimensions. We generate relation exemplars using a corpus study where a large, represen- In this paper, we present a computational model of conceptual combination that introduces a new repre- sentation for the meaning of compounds: the relations used to interpret compounds are represented as points or vectors in a high-dimensional relation space. Such a representational framework has many advantages over other approaches. Firstly, the high-dimensionality of the space provides a detailed description of the compound’s meaning; each of the space’s dimensions represents a semantically distinct way in which com- pound meanings can differ from each other. Secondly, the spatial representation allows for a distance metric to measure how similar of different pairs of compound meanings are to each other. We conducted a corpus study, generating vectors in this relation space rep- resenting the meanings of a large, representative set of familiar compounds. A computational model of compound interpretation that uses these vectors as a database from which to derive new relation vectors for new compounds is presented. Also presented is a model of interpretation ease: that is, the ease or rapidity with which people can comprehend compounds. Our model uses ideas from the CARIN theory of conceptual combination about the modifier noun’s role in the comprehension process; the model correlates as well as the traditional CARIN model with people’s reaction times. Keywords: Conceptual combination; noun-noun compounds; mathematical modelling; CARIN. Introduction Conceptual combination, the process that people employ when interpreting novel noun-noun compounds such as volcano science, gas crisis or penguin movie, is a non- trivial cognitive task, often requiring people to access complex knowledge about the two constituent concepts and about the world in general. For example, people can quickly and efficiently determine that the compound penguin movie refers to a movie about penguins, and not a movie by penguins (which would be the correct way to interpret the compound penguin journey), nor a movie for penguins (the correct way to interpret the compound penguin enclosure), nor any of the infinitely many other possible but implausible ways of interpret- ing that compound. Perhaps because of the complex- ity of the phenomenon, previous theories of conceptual combination have tended to focus on only some aspects of conceptual combination. For example, in Gagn´e and Shoben’s (1997) CARIN model, the focus is on mod- elling the ease and rapidity with which people interpret noun-noun compounds (as measured by reaction time), but not other features of the conceptual combination

Heads Up! Dynamic Similitude for Perception With an Object Wielded By Head or Hand

Abstract: Possibilities for behavior (i.e., affordances) can be perceived with units spanning anatomical components and external objects. For example, affordances for standing on an inclined surface can be perceived with an object held in the hand or attached to the head. We investigated whether these two person-plus-object perceptual systems exhibit the same pattern of nonlinear phase transitions in perception of this affordance. Blindfolded participants explored an inclined surface with a rod held in the hand or attached to the head and reported whether they could stand on that surface. Inclinations were presented in ascending or descending sequences. In both conditions, responses exhibited negative hysteresis – perceptual boundaries occurred at steeper angles for descending than for ascending sequences. The generalization of this pattern across components that differ in physiology, sensitivity, and experience is consistent with both the soft assembly of perceptual devices and with a dynamical systems perspective on perception of affordances.

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.

Wh-Fronting in a two-probe system

Abstract: Prior work on wh-movement has distinguished among several types of wh-fronting languages that permit distinct patterns of overt and covert movement, instantiated for example by the Slavic languages, English, and German. This paper extends the cross-linguistic typology of multiple questions by arguing that Hebrew instantiates a new kind of wh-fronting language, unlike any that are discussed in the current literature. It will show that Hebrew distinguishes between two kinds of interrogative phrases: those that are headed by a wh-word (wh-headed phrases: what, who, [DPwhich X], where, how…) and those that contain a wh-word but are headed by some other element (wh-containing phrases: [NP N of wh], [PP P wh]). We observe the special status of wh-headed phrases when one occurs structurally lower in a question than a wh-containing phrase. In that case, the wh-headed phrase can be targeted by an Agree/Attract operation that ignores the presence of the c-commanding wh-containing phrase. The paper develops an account of the sensitivity of interrogative probing operations to the head of the interrogative phrase within Cable’s (2010) Q-particle theory. It proposes that the Hebrew Q has an EPP feature which can trigger head-movement of wh to Q and that a wh-probe exists alongside the more familiar Q-probe, and shows how these two modifications to the theory can account for the intricate dataset that emerges from the paper. The emerging picture is one in which interrogative probing does not occur wholesale but rather can be sensitive to particular interrogative features on potential goals.