Showing papers on "Phrase published in 1982"

Cross-Serial Dependencies in Dutch

Abstract: Chomsky’s argument that natural languages are not finite state languages puts a lower bound on the weak generative capacity of grammars for natural languages (Chomsky (1956)). Arguments based on weak generative capacity are useful in excluding classes of formal devices as characterizations of natural language, but they are not the only formal considerations by which this can be done. Generative grammars may also be excluded because they cannot assign the correct structural descriptions to the terminal strings of a language; in this case, the grammars are excluded on grounds of strong generative capacity. Thus, the deterministic subclasses of context-free grammars (Knuth (1965)) can be rejected because they cannot assign alternative phrase structures to represent natural language ambiguities.

Duration as a cue to the perception of a phrase boundary

Abstract: The presence of a phrase boundary is often marked in speech by phrase-final lengthening-a lengthening of the final stressed syllable of the phrase and pause at the phrase boundary. The present study investigates (a) whether listeners use the feature of phrase-final lengthening to parse syntactically ambiguous sentences such as "Kate or Pat and Tony will come," where the position of a phrase boundary after "Kate" represents one meaning, and after "Pat" another meaning, and (b) whether listeners use phrase-final lengthening directly to parse the sentence or indirectly via the effect that phrase-final lengthening has on the rhythm of the feet (the onsets of the stressed syllables) of the sentence. Four experiments are reported in which listeners are asked to judge the meaning of sentences which have been temporally manipulated so that the foot which originally did not contain the crucial phrase boundary is lengthened by (i) inserting a pause at the "false" phrase boundary [experiment I], (ii) inserting a pause and lengthening the final stressed syllable at the "false" phrase boundary [experiments II], (iii) lengthening all segments contained in the foot [experiment III], and (iv) lengthening only the conjunction within the foot [experiment IV]. The results indicate that both rhythm of the inter-stress intervals and the presence of phrase-final lengthening influence listeners' perception of a phrase boundary, although the stress rhythm appears to be the more powerful perceptual cue.

The klattalk text-to-speech conversion system

Abstract: A real time text-to-speech conversion system has been developed. Input is ordinary English spelling and/or simple numerical and algebraic expressions. Dynamic selection between a male or female output voice is under user control. The system executes a set of about 500 letter-to-sound rules to guess at the pronunciation of words that do not match a carefully selected exceptions dictionary of about 1500 words. A very simple syntactic analyzer determines probable locations of phrase and clause boundaries in order to improve the naturalness and intelligibility of input sentences. The resulting phonemic representation is converted to speech by a synthesis-by-rule program and formant synthesizer. The rule program differs from others of this type in having an extensive set of segment duration rules and many detailed rules for the synthesis of consonant-vowel transitions.

Figures of Speech: 60 Ways To Turn A Phrase

Abstract: Contents: Preface. To And or Not to And. Effective Misspelling. Missing Links and Headless Horsemen. Man Bites Dog. Reds in the Red. More Than Enough. There There. Repetition Again. Conclusion. Abbreviations. Glossary. Index.

Speech recognition system and method for an automotive vehicle

Abstract: A speech recognition system for an automotive vehicle sequentially activates at least one device having plural different operating modes in accordance with a plurality of spoken instructions without repeating the same phrase. To adjust fender mirrors, for instance, first the driver says "Mirror" while depressing a recognition switch to stop the moving mirror; secondly the driver says "Right, horizontally", thirdly the driver says "Right, vertically" after having depressed a reset switch; lastly the driver says "Stop". The speech recognition system comprises a reset switch, at least one device instruction phrase memory, plural operation-mode instruction phrase memories, and a reference pattern memory selector for selecting the device memory or an appropriate operation-mode memory, in addition to or in place of a section of a conventional speech recognizer.

Establishing generalized, productive verb-noun phrase usage in a manual language system with moderately handicapped children.

Abstract: Strategies for producing generalized language skills continue to be of considerable interest to those working with severely language-delayed children. Research on generalized instruction-following suggested that strategies employing linguistic elements (verbs, nouns, adjectives, etc.) arranged in systematic combination matrices were successful in producing generalized and novel responses among handicapped children. The efficacy of a training matrix in the development of expressive verb-noun phrase usage was demonstrated. Two of the three students showed considerable gains in trained responses as well as predicted, novel responses, while a third who had much less training, showed some gains. Increases were also found in the overall development of expressive language tests. This approach is discussed in relation to other experimental approaches to language development.

Analysis and synthesis of voice fundamental frequency contours of spoken sentences

Abstract: A model is presented for the analysis and synthesis of F 0 -contours of spoken sentences. It is based on a quantitative formulation of the process whereby the logarithmic fundamental frequency is controlled by the phrase and accent commands, being respectively related to the syntactic and lexical information of a sentence. Analysis of natural utterances revealed that the model can generate close approximations to observed F 0 -contours. Requirements for the accuracy of model parameters were determined by listening tests of synthetic utterances. These results indicate the model's utility in speech synthesis.

Aid for speech therapy and a method of making same

Abstract: An aid for speech therapy comprising a chart having a series of time frames of equal time intervals. Each of the time frames has an illustration of the human mouth to pictorially display the lips, tongue and jaw positions of the mouth in making a sound, word or phrase alphabetically displayed in the time frames. A sound reproducing device may also be provided to audibly reproduce the sound, word or phrase which is alphabetically displayed.

Bliss communication with speech or text output

Abstract: A multi-language, portable text-to-speech system has been developed at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm. The system contains a formant speech synthesizer on a signal processing chip, a powerful microcomputer and a variety of text input equipment. A special attachment is a 500-symbol Bliss Board. Swedish and English Bliss-to-speech programs transform a symbol string to the corresponding well-formed sentence. Bliss symbols and spelled text can be intermixed to produce either a spoken or written message. A lexicon gives the pronunciation, part of speech and other grammatical features for each Bliss symbol on the Bliss Board. This information is used in phrase structure grammar which can be modeled by a simple ATN to delimit noun, verb and prepositional phrases. Once the phrase structure is established, phrases are marked according to a transformational analysis. Referring to these phrase features, pronouns, nouns, verbs and (in Swedish) adjectives are given correct forms and pronunciations.

Word storage device for use in language interpreter

Abstract: A portable electronic language interpreter device comprises an input device for entering a specific word, an abbreviation memory device, and an access device responsive to inputs entered via the input device for addressing the abbreviation memory device to cause retrieval in connection with the specific word. The abbreviation memory device memorizes a great number of words by the usage of abbreviated code information by which a certain number of letters of the words are compressed to allow the minimization of storage capacity. Preferably, the words stored in the memory are related to spelling, meaning, a part of speech, phonetic symbols, varied forms, spelling for a phrase, the meaning for the phrase and the like.

A Comparison of the Speech of Adult Aphasic Subjects in Spontaneous and Structured Interactions

Abstract: The verbal expression of five adult aphasic subjects was compared in unstructured (spontaneous speech) and structured interactions (a picture description task) at specified intervals over the period of one year. Transcribed tape recordings were analysed to describe the subjects’ syntactic system in each language sample. The possible influence of the therapists’ speech contribution upon both interactions was assessed.A measurable and longitudinal difference was found between the subjects’ performance in the two interactions. Subjects produced the largest proportion of discrete grammatically analysable utterances in the picture description task. A further comparison of the language samples was then made. The data was examined, for example, at the levels of the clause and phrase structures used. This indicated that the subjects tended to produce a similar range and form of grammatical structures in either task. Some practical suggestions arising from these points are discussed.The presence of the picture sti...

Study of strategies used in online searching: 2. Positional Logic — an example of the importance of selecting the right Boolean operator

Abstract: In online searching, the positional logic capability has made it possible to combine terms together in any order, in a word, fragment, phrase, link, sentence, or citation relationship. The advantages and disadvantages of the strategies that can be employed are reviewed. This Boolean operator capability can permit a reduced number of search statements and should therefore make search time shorter. It is also possible to include the truncation symbol in the search statement, allowing even wider selection on one input. A study was made of alternative ways that a positional statement can be formulated. Searches for material on the topic of ‘micro‐wave integrated circuits’ were carried out with the aim of finding the most economical way of generating the maximum number of relevant items while still keeping the noise level to a minimum. It was found that the ideal method for one database was not valid for another file.

Kanji (chinese character) input device

Abstract: PURPOSE:To improve the efficiency of KANJI input operation, by displaying plural concatenated KANJIs which are prescribed to form a KANJI and phrases when said KANJI is supplied by a key operation. CONSTITUTION:An arithmetic part 3 latches scan data at a latch 5 and scans successively each column of a key switch group 8 via a decoder 6. If a key switch 8' corresponding to the head KANJI of a desired phrase is pushed under scanning, the coordinate data of the switch 8' is sent to the part 3 via an encoder 7. Then the part 3 retrieves a phrase storage part 2 in response to the coordinate data and reads out successively plural KANJIs registered previously in the form of a KANJI fed by a key input operation and a subordinate KANJI which forms a phrase together with said main KANJI. These readout KANJIs are displayed to an output device 4. Then the KANJIs which form a desired phrase are indicated by a light pen, a cursor, etc. among those displayed KANJIs. Thus a desired phrase can be selected.

Speech Prosody and Children's Perception of Sentence Organization.

Abstract: Good and poor readers in the fifth grade read and/or listened to a story in various modes of visual and auditory presentation. The major mode of interest involved simultaneous listening and reading, with normal and slightly exaggerated modelling of prosodic cues such as intonation and junctural features. No facilitative effects were observed on a multiple-choice comprehension measure; but the results of a parsing task showed that both good and poor readers readily perceived suprasegmental features in speech and used these cues effectively in identifying sentence structure. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that the poor representation of prosodic'features in written text adds to the difficulty some children experience in learning to read. Implications for reading instruction are discussed, with special attention to classroom techniques that incorporate listening activities in reading comprehension instruction. (.) this document is intended fur internal staff' distribution and use. Permission to reprint or quote from this wnrkIne document, wholly or in part, should be obtained from SWRL, 4665 Lampson Avenue, Los Alamitos, California 90720 SPEECH PROSODY AND CHILDREN'S PERCEPTION OF SENTENCE OWANIZATION David P. Snow, James H. Coots, and Karen Smith Reading comprehension requires at least two skills beyond those needed for speech reception. One of these is decoding graphic symbols. In addition, the reader must learn to organize groups of words into meaningful syntactic-semantic units. The first of these skills entails an analysis of segmental and lexical information; the other, an analysis of organization structure tying words together. However, reading instruction typically emphasizes decoding skills. This emphasis seems to reflect the belief that decoding is the only new skill that children need to acquire to transfer oral language skills to reading. However, other differences between reading and listening may affect coi1dren's development of reading comprehension skill. One of these differences is the absence of prosodic information in written text. This difference has implications for reading because prosody provides cues about the meaning and structure of sentences, such as the location of major clause and phrase boundaries, and therefore contributes to speech comprehensibility (Snow & Coots, 1981). Poor readers may have difficulty compensating for the lack of organizing (suprasegmental) cues in text. If prosodic cues are key elements in children's language comprehension, poor readers should benefit from an auditory presentation of written material. Moreover, if the specific contribution of the auditory stimulus is that it pro, vides prosodic cues for the perception of sentence structure, then poor readers ought to perceive intrasentence junctures and should

Subordination and coordination

Abstract: After three chapters on the grammatical units of word, phrase and clause, you may now be expecting a chapter on the highest unit of all on our grammatical rank scale (2.2), the SENTENCE. In fact, the sentence does not have a structure like that of lower units: sentence is simply a name for the largest stretch of language we normally consider in grammar, and which normally consists either of (a) a single clause, in which case it is known as a SIMPLE SENTENCE; or of (b) more than one clause, in which case it is known as a COMPLEX SENTENCE. In the complex sentence the clauses may be related to one another by SUBORDINATION or by COORDINATION (see 5.2).

Perception of Syntactic Stress in Alaryngeal Speech

Abstract: This project was a perceptual investigation of syntactic stress in alaryngeal speech. The ability to signal syntactic stress in American English was assessed by obtaining tape recordings of minimally differentiated noun compound-noun phrase pairs (e.g., GREENhouse vs. green HOUSE) from four normal and 16 laryngectomized speakers using four different types of alaryngeal speech. The recordings of these compounds and phrases were presented to 30 listeners for identification using a two-interval-forced-choice procedure. As expected, the four normal speakers were able to achieve high (96% or above) levels of stress contrast. The compound/phrase stress contrasts were also achieved at a high level of proficiency (93% or above) by all four conventional esophageal speakers, all four tracheoesophageal shunt speakers, all four users of the Western Electric #5 electronic artificial larynx, and two of four users of the Servox electronic artificial larynx. Comparisons were made with the results of similar experiments o...

Inputting method for kanji (chinese character)

Abstract: PURPOSE:To shorten input time by inputting reading method of KANJI (chainese character) or a phrase from a voice input device while inputting the properties of the writing order of the KANJI from a handwritten pattern input device, and by retrieving the desired KANJI or phase on the basis of those two kinds of information. CONSTITUTION:A voice input device has a function of recognizing KANJI (monosyllable) and a phrase (polysyllable). A handwritten pattern input device has a function of recognizing the properties of the writing order of the input KANJI, namely, the position, direction, length, etc., of the 1st or 2nd stroke of the JANJI. Then, reading information on the KANJI or phrase is inputted from the voice input device and at the same time, the properties of the writting order of the KANJI are inputted from the handwritten pattern input device to retrieve and limit the desired KANJI or phrase on the basis of those two kinds of information. Consequently, special training for keyboard operation is eliminated and tht time of a KANJI inputting is shrotened.

Phonology and grammar of Lòkée : A preliminary study.

Abstract: This thesis is a preliminary study of the phonology and grammar of the Lokee language. The first chapter gives a brief general introduction to the people and their language. It also outlines the theoretical framework of the study. Chapter 2 describes the phonological hierarchy, focusing primarily on the phoneme, syllable, phonological morph and phonological ward units. Chapters 3-7 describe the morpheme, word, phrase, clause and sentence units of the grammatical hierarchy respectively, presenting classes at each rank in terms of its elements of structure and showing the realization of these elements in structure. Chapter 8 is a brief description of patterning above the sentence that provides a setting to illustrate the function of the sentence. Lokee has one of the most elaborate concord-class systems among the Cross River languages of Eastern Nigeria. It is here described at the word, phrase and clause ranks of the grammatical hierarchy at which it is relevant. The thesis concludes with an appendix consisting of some sample texts that show preliminary orthography largely based on the preceding analysis of the phonology and grammar of Lokee.

Processing device of natural language

Abstract: PURPOSE:To eliminate unregistrated word effectively, by giving a correspondence to unregistrated word depending on the similarly of the word or the phrase registrated in a dictionary. CONSTITUTION:When a sentence of an object to be processed is given, a mechanical dictionary 1 is retrieved to word or phrase constituting the sentence, is consulted with the dictionary for the extraction of the attribute information. If the word or phrase not registrated in the dictionary 1 is included in the sentence which is the object to be processed and the dictionary retrieval is failed for the word or the phrase, the word or the phrase are registrated in a storage device 2 of unregistrated word as the unregistrated word. The unregistrated word in the storage device 2 is made corresponded to the word or the phrase registrated in the dictionary 1 depending on their similarly, allowing to provide the attribute to the word or phrase failed in dictionary retrieval.

Rhythmic structure in music : a study of the perception of metrical and phrase structure, from a mechanistic viewpoint

Abstract: The thesis investigates the perception of musical metre and phrasing, which together form a hierarchical rhythmic structure, represented in tree-diagram form. Rather than study human perceptual processes, a mechanistic approach is adopted. It is shown that the most likely rhythmic structure of a passage can be generated largely from the pitch and durational information in scores, through the perception of certain features, termed structural characteristics, supported by some general perceptual preferences. Each characteristic is itself a perceptual preference, capable of selecting certain groupings of notes or chords as phrase groupings or highlighting particular temporally disjunct notes or chords as structural accents, each of which is a potential metrical accent. Mental connections between relatively long notes, a preference for regular metre, and the grouping of relatively close attacks establish a basic (if sometimes ambiguous) rhythmic structure, which may be modified or developed by repetition, a longer-note accompaniment, harmonic rhythm, dissonance and resolution, pitch patterning, and notated dynamics and articulation. Phrase structure influences the perception of tonality, in conjunction with the Harmonic Series, for whose contribution a tonal map is put forward. The characteristics may be temporally congruent or incongruent (cross rhythmic) and are of unequal strength, thus giving rise, in their many different configurations, to further perceptual preferences, which are illustrated by several hundred musical examples. The differences in relative strength permit metre and phrase grouping to be read qualitatively, as a product of the characteristics which generate it.

American Proper Noun Reference: The Humorous Naming of Persons, Places, and Things

Abstract: Part of th~ play related to people's names is based on the form of the name. Willard Espy, for example, brings to our attention the fact that the name Oliver Wendell Holmes contains exactly the same letters, but arranged in a different order, as does the phrase "He'll do in mellow verse. " This anagram has a kind of ironic appropriateness as does the expression' 'Hated for ill," which is-an anagram for Adolf Hitler. Robert Margolin develops a different type of name pun when he tells us that at one time many of the girls in Utah married Young, that Robinson Crusoe is responsible for the forty-hour week because he had all his work done by Friday, and that in fact there was a farmer who named his rooster Robinson, just because he Crusoe. Why do certain people have certain names? Evan Esar tells of a person whose name is Luke, because "he's not so hot." Such names as Joe Green, John S. Brooks, "Broad Shoulders" and "Swollen Foot," are not especially memorable, but in their original languages, these names are significant for they have become famous as Sydney J. Harris points out in his syndicated column, for the names above are the English versions of Guiseppe Verdi, Johann Sebastian Bach, Plato, and Oedipus Rex. Evan Esar tells that the expression used to refer to Napoleon Bonaparte can also change as the impending danger approaches:

Jimmy Carter on human rights: A thematic analysis

Abstract: The analysis of Jimmy Carter's public statements on human rights reveals a calculated attempt to infuse an ambiguous catch phrase or slogan with the symbolic power of an ultimate term.

Structured object representations

Abstract: The representations aggregates several related predicate calculus expressions into larger structures (sometimes called units) that are identified with important objects in the subject domain of the system. When information about one of these objects is needed by the system, the appropriate unit is accessed and all of the relevant facts about the object are retrieved at once. It uses the phrase structured objects to describe these representational schemes because of the heavy emphasis on the structure of the representation. Indeed the structure carries some of the representational and computational burden. Certain operations that might otherwise have been performed by explicit rule applications can be performed in a more automatic way by mechanisms that depend on the structure of the representation.

Chinese character display system

Abstract: PURPOSE:To prepare a sentence efficiently, by displaying a phrase which begins with the same reading and is high in its use frequency simultaneously when displaying a Chinese character consisting of characters having the same sound, so that the different character having the same sound or the phrase can be selected optionally. CONSTITUTION:A memory 4 which has stored Chinese characters consisting of different characters having the same sound, and phrases (sentences) beginning with the same reading (sound reading or Japanese reading) as sasid Chinese chararacters is provided on an information processor having a function for processing a Japanese sentence containing Chinese characters. Also, this information processor is provided with a means for reading out not only Chinese characters consisting of different characters having the same sound but also the phrases beginning with the same reading as said Chinese characters, from said memory 4, and displaying them on a display part 6. For instance, data as shown in the figure are stored in the memory 4 so that display as shown in the figure can be obtained, when a ''Kana'' (Japanese syllabary) character, ''TOU'' has been designated from the keyboard.