Constraint-based Syntax 2: Week 4: Difference between revisions

From English Grammar
Jump to navigation Jump to search
(Created page with "=== Simplifying the Phrasal Type Hierarchy ===")
 
 
(17 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
=== Simplifying the Phrasal Type Hierarchy ===
<font face="Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif">
<font size="3">
 
=== Simplifying the Grammar of Ginzburg and Sag (2000) ===
 
=== Parts of Speech ===
 
Our online grammar uses the following type hierarchy for parts of speech (the values of the feature HEAD):
 
[[File:Part-of-speech-hierarchy-of-online-grammar.jpg]]
 
The hierarchy differs from that in GS in two ways:
 
# their type ''gerund'' is omitted (since we are not going to deal with gerunds in this class)
# the type ''adverb'' has been added.
 
The following table lists the parts of speech and some words belonging to them:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Type !! Full name !! Examples
|-
| ''v'' || verb || snore, like, must, to
|-
| ''c'' || complementizer || that, whether, if
|-
| ''a'' || adjective || big, new, red
|-
| ''p'' || preposition || to, of, with
|-
| ''n'' || noun || Lilly, she
|-
| ''d'' || determiner || the, a, any
|-
| ''adv'' || adverb || early, very, not
|-
|}
 
==== Head Features ====
 
The next table lists all the head features of all the parts of speech and explains their function:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Feature !! Value type!! Function of the feature
|-
| PRED(icative) || ''boolean'' || Is the sign predicative or not?
|-
|  MOD(ification) || ''mod-synsem'' || Can the sign modify and if yes, what kind of ''synsem''?
|-
|  AGR (element) || ''age'' || What are the agreement features of the sign?
|-
| VFORM (verb form) || ''vform'' || What is the verb's verb form?
|-
| AUX (iliary) || ''boolean'' || Is the verb an auxiliary?
|-
|  Neg(aged) || ''boolean'' || Is the verb negated?
|-
|  CASE || ''case'' || What case does the nominal sign carry?
|-
|  SPEC(ified) || ''sem-obj'' || What is the content of the noun specified by the determiner?
|-
|  DEG(red) || ''bool'' || Is the adjective (phrase) specified by a degree adverb?
|-
|  NOT || ''boolean'' || Is the adverb the negation ''not''?
|-
|  P(reposition)FORM || ''form'' || Which preposition is it?
|-
|}
 
==== The ''verb form'' hierarchy ====
 
The different verb forms that the framework makes available form another important aspect of the theory: 
 
[[File:GS-p24-nr10.jpg]]
 
The table below gives an overview of all verb forms with examples:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Verb form !! Full name !! Examples
|-
|  ''fin'' || finite (indicative) || is, must, dances, dance (non-third person singular), danced (past tense)
|-
| ''inf'' || infinitive || to (the infinitive marker)
|-
|  ''base'' || base form (= bare infinitive) ||be, dance, call
|-
| ''prp'' || present participle || being, dancing, calling
|-
|  ''pfp'' || perfect participle || been, danced, given
|-
|  ''pas'' || passive participle || invited, rumored, introduced
|-
|}
 
== Valence ==
 
In Week 1 we saw that all signs carry the 3 valence features SUBJ, SPR, and COMPS, which are list-valued. Corresponding to each valence feature, there is a phrase type: ''hd-subj-ph'', ''hd-spr-ph'', and ''hd-comp-ph''. As the names suggest, each phrase has a head daughter and additionally a SUBJ, SPR, or one or two COMPS daughters. The projection of these phrases is driven by the head daughter's valence features as illustrated in Week 1.
 
The linguistic objects on the valence lists (i.e. the valents) are of type ''synsem''. In order to simplify the representations of the valents, we use the following abbreviations:
 
VP = a ''phrase'' of part of speech ''v'' which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <''synsem''>
 
AP = a ''phrase'' of part of speech ''a'' which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <''synsem''>
 
S = a ''phrase'' of part of speech ''v'' which is COMPS <>, SPR <>, and SUBJ <>
 
NP = a ''phrase'' of part of speech ''n'' which is COMPS <>
 
PP =  a ''phrase'' of part of speech ''p'' which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <>
 
This permits us to write valence lists like the following, where the information in the brackets further specify inflectional properties of the valents which should be self-explanatory:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Example !! SUBJ !! COMPS
|-
| snores || <NP[''nom'']> || <>
|-
|  likes || <NP[''nom'']> || <NP[''acc'']>
|-
| put || <NP> || <NP[''acc''],PP>
|-
| persuade || <NP> || <NP[''acc''],VP[''inf'']>
|-
|  afraid || <NP> || <PP>
|-
| of || <> || <NP[''acc'']>
|-
|  that (C) || <> || <S[''fin'']>
|-
|}
 
== Words ==
 
So far, we have introduced the following concepts:
 
* Our grammar deals with signs which are either words or phrases. 
* Every sign belongs to a maximal part of speech, which may have features.
* Signs also have the 3 valence attributes SUBJ, SPR, and COMPS which contain a description of the syntactic and semantic information of other signs.
* These valence features drive the formation of specific phrases.
 
In preparation of a more detailed look at phrases, look at the lexical entries of the words in the table below in the online grammar. Where applicable, try out different inflectional forms, e.g. ''snores, snoring, snored'' or ''she, her''. Pay attention to the part of speech, its features, and the 3 valence features of each word:
 
[http://141.2.159.95:7002/wt/ Online Grammar for Chapter 2: HPSG Background]
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Type !! Full name !! Examples
|-
| ''v'' || verb || snore, like, must, to
|-
| ''c'' || complementizer || that, whether, if
|-
| ''a'' || adjective || big, new, red
|-
| ''p'' || preposition || to, of, with
|-
| ''n'' || noun || Lilly, she
|-
| ''d'' || determiner || the, a, any
|-
| ''adv'' || adverb || early, very, not
|-
|}
 
 
<!--
All clauses have in common that they are phrases and that they must have a content of type ''message'', as follows:
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Clause type !! Full name !! Content value !! Examples
|-
| ''decl-clause'' || declarative clause || ''austinian'' || Lilly danced.
|-
| ''inter-clause'' || interrogative clause || ''question''  || Does Lilly dance?, Who danced?
|-
| ''imp-clause'' || imperative clause || ''outcome'' || Dance!
|-
| ''excl-clause'' || exclamative clause || ''fact'' ||What a cat!, Is Lilly smart!
|-
|}
 
-->
 
<!--
==== The part of speech ''v'' ====
 
''v'' is the part of speech of all verbs and auxiliaries, including the infinitive marker ''to''. 
 
The table below is to be interpreted as follows. In the leftmost column, we find parts of speech. The top-to-bottom order represents the immediate subtype relationship, i.e. ''verbal'' is an immediate subtype of ''subst'', ''verb'' is an immediate subtype of ''verbal'', and ''v'' is an immediate subtype of ''verb''.
 
The second column lists the features introduced by each part of speech, followed in the third column by the value type of the feature, and finally a short statement of the function of the feature in distinguishing different subgroups of the part(s) of speech under discussion.
 
{| class="wikitable"
|-
! Part of speech !! Feature !! Value type!! Function of the feature
|-
| ''subst'' || PRED || ''boolean'' || Is the expression predicative or not?
|-
|  || MOD || ''mod-synsem'' || Can the expression modify and if yes, what kind of ''synsem''?
|-
| ''verbal'' || VFORM || ''vform'' || What is the verb's verb form?
|-
|  || IC || ''boolean'' || Is the expression (the head of) an independent clause?
|-
| ''verb'' || AUX || ''boolean'' || Is the expression (the head of) an auxiliary construction?
|-
|  || POL || ''boolean'' || Is the verb a polarized auxiliary (''not'', ''TOO'', ''so'')?
|-
|  || INV || ''boolean'' || Is the expression an inverted auxiliary (construction)?
|-
| ''v'' ||  ||  ||
|-
|}
 
Let us now ask what this means for expressions of part of speech ''v''. ''v'' itself does not introduce any features, but since every ''v'' is also a ''verb'', a ''verbal'', and a ''subset'', an expression of part of speech ''v'' has all the features introduced by its supertypes and the corresponding values:
 
[''v''
 
[PRED  ''boolean'']
 
[MOD    ''mod-synsem'']
 
[VFORM  ''vform'']
 
[AUX ''boolean'']
 
[POL ''boolean'']
 
[INV ''boolean'']]<br>
 
<span style="color: red>Task:</span> go to [http://141.2.159.95:7001/wt/ the online grammar] and parse the following words in order to see the values for their head features:
 
a. ''like, likes, liked, liking''
 
Note that those verb forms which can serve as the complement of the verb ''be'' (the passive ''liked'' and the progressive ''liking'') are [PRED plus], whereas all the remaining forms are [PRED minus]. Also, all main verbs are [AUX ''minus''], from which it follows that they cannot occur in auxiliary constructions.
 
b. ''does''
 
The forms of the unstressed auxiliary ''do'' are the only words of English which are restricted to occurring in auxiliary constructions. Thus, they are all marked [AUX ''plus'']. Note that all the forms of the auxiliary ''do'' are finite.
 
You get two solutions when you parse ''does'', one which is [POL ''minus''] and a second one which is [POL ''plus'']. You will notice that this contrast goes along with a difference in COMPs lists of the two verbs. The non-polarized verb has a single complement, namely a VP, whereas the polarized word selects an additional complement, namely a polarized adverb (one of the words ''not'', ''TOO'', or ''so'').
 
c. ''will''
 
This is a typical modal verb. Like the other modals, it has only finite forms. Again you get two solutions, a polarized and a non-polarized one. An intriguing difference between ''will'' and the unstressed ''do'' discussed above, is that ''will'' can occur in auxiliary constructions (and then is [AUX ''plus'']), but it can also occur in constructions where main verbs can occur as well (and then, like the main verbs, will be [AUX ''minus'']. In order to be compatible with both values of the feature AUX, ''will'', it takes the neutral value [AUX ''boolean''] in its lexical entry. All verbs that can appear in auxiliary constructions except for the forms of the unstressed ''do'' behave like ''will''.
     
 
 
 
 
 
=== The Argument Realization Principle (ARP) ===
 
Recall that in GS the syntactic arguments of a word are in a sense represented twice: once on the ARG-ST (argument structure) list which, among others, is used for Binding Theory, and again on one of the valence lists SUBJ, SPR, and COMPS.  Rather than being arbitrary, the relationship between the ARG-S and the valence lists is governed by the '''Argument Realization Principle''':
 
[[File:GS-p23-nr7.jpg]]<br>
 
In words, the principle says that the ARG-ST list is the result of merging the three valence lists into one list, with the elements of the SUBJ list coming first, followed by the elements on the SPR list, followed, finally, by the elements on the COMPS list.
 
Besides the ARP, the valence properties of words depend on their part of speech. Thus, all words of part of speech ''v'' must have a SUBJ list with exactly one element on it and a SPR list which is empty. In combination with the ARP, verbs of part of speech ''v'' thus must have the following properties:
 
# The ARG-ST must have at least one element on it.
# The first element of the ARG-ST is also the single element on the SUBJ list.
# If there are additional elements on the ARG-ST, then these elements also occur on the COMPS list.
# The elements which appear both on the ARG-ST and the COMPS list, appear in the same order on both lists.
 
The following [[Exercises_on_the_Append_relation|<span style="color: red>Exercises on the  ''append'' relation</span>]] have the purpose of showing that the 4 statements above must be true.
 
[[Exercises_on_the_Argument_Realization_Principle|<span style="color: red>Exercises on the Argument Realization Principle</span>]]
 
-->
 
<br>
<br>
Navigation:
<div align="center">
[[Constraint-based_Syntax_2| '''Main page''']]  [[Constraint-based_Syntax_2:_Week_1| '''Week 1''']]    [[Constraint-based_Syntax_2:_Week_2| '''Week 2''']] &nbsp;&nbsp; [[Constraint-based_Syntax_2:_Week_3| '''Week 3''']] &nbsp;&nbsp; Week4 &nbsp;&nbsp; [[Constraint-based_Syntax_2:_Week_5| '''Week 5''']] &nbsp;&nbsp; Week6 &nbsp;&nbsp; Week7 &nbsp;&nbsp; Week8 &nbsp;&nbsp; Week9 &nbsp;&nbsp; Week10
</div>

Latest revision as of 10:02, 16 May 2017

Simplifying the Grammar of Ginzburg and Sag (2000)

Parts of Speech

Our online grammar uses the following type hierarchy for parts of speech (the values of the feature HEAD):

Part-of-speech-hierarchy-of-online-grammar.jpg

The hierarchy differs from that in GS in two ways:

  1. their type gerund is omitted (since we are not going to deal with gerunds in this class)
  2. the type adverb has been added.

The following table lists the parts of speech and some words belonging to them:

Type Full name Examples
v verb snore, like, must, to
c complementizer that, whether, if
a adjective big, new, red
p preposition to, of, with
n noun Lilly, she
d determiner the, a, any
adv adverb early, very, not

Head Features

The next table lists all the head features of all the parts of speech and explains their function:

Feature Value type Function of the feature
PRED(icative) boolean Is the sign predicative or not?
MOD(ification) mod-synsem Can the sign modify and if yes, what kind of synsem?
AGR (element) age What are the agreement features of the sign?
VFORM (verb form) vform What is the verb's verb form?
AUX (iliary) boolean Is the verb an auxiliary?
Neg(aged) boolean Is the verb negated?
CASE case What case does the nominal sign carry?
SPEC(ified) sem-obj What is the content of the noun specified by the determiner?
DEG(red) bool Is the adjective (phrase) specified by a degree adverb?
NOT boolean Is the adverb the negation not?
P(reposition)FORM form Which preposition is it?

The verb form hierarchy

The different verb forms that the framework makes available form another important aspect of the theory:

GS-p24-nr10.jpg

The table below gives an overview of all verb forms with examples:

Verb form Full name Examples
fin finite (indicative) is, must, dances, dance (non-third person singular), danced (past tense)
inf infinitive to (the infinitive marker)
base base form (= bare infinitive) be, dance, call
prp present participle being, dancing, calling
pfp perfect participle been, danced, given
pas passive participle invited, rumored, introduced

Valence

In Week 1 we saw that all signs carry the 3 valence features SUBJ, SPR, and COMPS, which are list-valued. Corresponding to each valence feature, there is a phrase type: hd-subj-ph, hd-spr-ph, and hd-comp-ph. As the names suggest, each phrase has a head daughter and additionally a SUBJ, SPR, or one or two COMPS daughters. The projection of these phrases is driven by the head daughter's valence features as illustrated in Week 1.

The linguistic objects on the valence lists (i.e. the valents) are of type synsem. In order to simplify the representations of the valents, we use the following abbreviations:

VP = a phrase of part of speech v which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <synsem>

AP = a phrase of part of speech a which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <synsem>

S = a phrase of part of speech v which is COMPS <>, SPR <>, and SUBJ <>

NP = a phrase of part of speech n which is COMPS <>

PP = a phrase of part of speech p which is COMPS <> , SPR <>, and SUBJ <>

This permits us to write valence lists like the following, where the information in the brackets further specify inflectional properties of the valents which should be self-explanatory:

Example SUBJ COMPS
snores <NP[nom]> <>
likes <NP[nom]> <NP[acc]>
put <NP> <NP[acc],PP>
persuade <NP> <NP[acc],VP[inf]>
afraid <NP> <PP>
of <> <NP[acc]>
that (C) <> <S[fin]>

Words

So far, we have introduced the following concepts:

  • Our grammar deals with signs which are either words or phrases.
  • Every sign belongs to a maximal part of speech, which may have features.
  • Signs also have the 3 valence attributes SUBJ, SPR, and COMPS which contain a description of the syntactic and semantic information of other signs.
  • These valence features drive the formation of specific phrases.

In preparation of a more detailed look at phrases, look at the lexical entries of the words in the table below in the online grammar. Where applicable, try out different inflectional forms, e.g. snores, snoring, snored or she, her. Pay attention to the part of speech, its features, and the 3 valence features of each word:

Online Grammar for Chapter 2: HPSG Background

Type Full name Examples
v verb snore, like, must, to
c complementizer that, whether, if
a adjective big, new, red
p preposition to, of, with
n noun Lilly, she
d determiner the, a, any
adv adverb early, very, not





Navigation: 

 Main page    Week 1      Week 2     Week 3    Week4     Week 5    Week6    Week7    Week8    Week9    Week10
Retrieved from "https://www.english-linguistics.de/grammarparadise/wiki/index.php?title=Constraint-based_Syntax_2:_Week_4&oldid=1165"