The emergence of e5 khuan2 个款 as a sensory evidential marker in TSM

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 173-190
Author(s):  
Chinfa Lien
Keyword(s):  
Layered Structure ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Ambiguous Case ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Final Particles

Abstract This paper takes the string e5 khuan2 个款 (EK for short) as an ambiguous case to show the emergence of a grammatical function out of a lexical category. It examines the ambiguity of EK in conjunction with the analysis of its syntactic structure. It explores the collocates of EK including a range of matrix predicates and sentence-final particles. It pins down EK as a sensory evidential marker in semantic interpretation. Finally, it teases out the unique syntactic and semantic properties of EK in terms of the layered structure of sentence-final particles.

Scope Marking at the Syntax-Semantics Interface

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Veneeta Dayal ◽  
Deepak Alok
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Matrix Clause ◽  
Ongoing Research ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Wh Questions ◽  
Embedded Clauses ◽  
Embedded Clause ◽  
Semantic Properties

Natural language allows questioning into embedded clauses. One strategy for doing so involves structures like the following: [CP-1 whi [TP DP V [CP-2 … ti …]]], where a wh-phrase that thematically belongs to the embedded clause appears in the matrix scope position. A possible answer to such a question must specify values for the fronted wh-phrase. This is the extraction strategy seen in languages like English. An alternative strategy involves a structure in which there is a distinct wh-phrase in the matrix clause. It is manifested in two types of structures. One is a close analog of extraction, but for the extra wh-phrase: [CP-1 whi [TP DP V [CP-2 whj [TP…t­j­…]]]]. The other simply juxtaposes two questions, rather than syntactically subordinating the second one: [CP-3 [CP-1 whi [TP…]] [CP-2 whj [TP…]]]. In both versions of the second strategy, the wh-phrase in CP-1 is invariant, typically corresponding to the wh-phrase used to question propositional arguments. There is no restriction on the type or number of wh-phrases in CP-2. Possible answers must specify values for all the wh-phrases in CP-2. This strategy is variously known as scope marking, partial wh movement or expletive wh questions. Both strategies can occur in the same language. German, for example, instantiates all three possibilities: extraction, subordinated, as well as sequential scope marking. The scope marking strategy is also manifested in in-situ languages. Scope marking has been subjected to 30 years of research and much is known at this time about its syntactic and semantic properties. Its pragmatics properties, however, are relatively under-studied. The acquisition of scope marking, in relation to extraction, is another area of ongoing research. One of the reasons why scope marking has intrigued linguists is because it seems to defy central tenets about the nature of wh scope taking. For example, it presents an apparent mismatch between the number of wh expressions in the question and the number of expressions whose values are specified in the answer. It poses a challenge for our understanding of how syntactic structure feeds semantic interpretation and how alternative strategies with similar functions relate to each other.

scholarly journals SUSZKO’S PROBLEM: MIXED CONSEQUENCE AND COMPOSITIONALITY

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (4) ◽  
pp. 736-767 ◽  
Author(s):  
EMMANUEL CHEMLA ◽  
PAUL ÉGRÉ
Keyword(s):  
Structural Properties ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Structural Constraints ◽  
General Representation ◽  
Representation Theorems ◽  
Consequence Relation ◽  
Truth Values ◽  
General Meaning ◽  
Semantic Properties

AbstractSuszko’s problem is the problem of finding the minimal number of truth values needed to semantically characterize a syntactic consequence relation. Suszko proved that every Tarskian consequence relation can be characterized using only two truth values. Malinowski showed that this number can equal three if some of Tarski’s structural constraints are relaxed. By so doing, Malinowski introduced a case of so-called mixed consequence, allowing the notion of a designated value to vary between the premises and the conclusions of an argument. In this article we give a more systematic perspective on Suszko’s problem and on mixed consequence. First, we prove general representation theorems relating structural properties of a consequence relation to their semantic interpretation, uncovering the semantic counterpart of substitution-invariance, and establishing that (intersective) mixed consequence is fundamentally the semantic counterpart of the structural property of monotonicity. We use those theorems to derive maximum-rank results proved recently in a different setting by French and Ripley, as well as by Blasio, Marcos, and Wansing, for logics with various structural properties (reflexivity, transitivity, none, or both). We strengthen these results into exact rank results for nonpermeable logics (roughly, those which distinguish the role of premises and conclusions). We discuss the underlying notion of rank, and the associated reduction proposed independently by Scott and Suszko. As emphasized by Suszko, that reduction fails to preserve compositionality in general, meaning that the resulting semantics is no longer truth-functional. We propose a modification of that notion of reduction, allowing us to prove that over compact logics with what we call regular connectives, rank results are maintained even if we request the preservation of truth-functionality and additional semantic properties.

scholarly journals The syntactic structure of the initial and final sentences

2020 ◽  
Vol 99 (3) ◽  
pp. 65-72
Author(s):  
M.K. Zhunusova ◽  
◽  
A.Zh. Sayazhanova ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Historical Period ◽  
Complex Sentences ◽  
Syntactic Features ◽  
Nominal Structure ◽  
Complex Forms ◽  
Rhetorical Questions ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Single Part

The article analyzes the key role of syntactic features in the composition of the text. It was determined that the first and last sentences of the text are syntactically diverse. Sentence words, simple, introductory, and complex sentences perform communicative, expressive, and stylistic functions in the text. The semantic and compressed structures, modality, expressiveness, and stylistic skills that are based on various structures of these sentences were studied to reveal the clarity and comprehensibility of the idea of sentences. It is emphasized that with the help of syntactic laws, by means of one-or two-part sentences that convey the idea of the text, the features of the character are briefly and concisely revealed. The features of the formation of various initial sentences are defined. The syntactic structure of initial and final sentences is different: simple, ambiguous, complete, incomplete, positive, negative. All types of single-part components are nominal, vocative, and non-articulate sentences. However, such sentences are not complex, they are mostly simple short sentences. Semantic and syntactic characteristics of initial and final sentences are described in their idiomatic, narrative, interrogative, and complex forms. It was determined by the semantic properties of rhetorical questions in the initial proposals. It should be noted that the nominal structure of the initial sentences of the text is used not only for ease of description but also for emotionality as if it is related to certain aspects of the plot or the general content of the story and affects the reader's feelings. It is believed that the authors in the initial sentences not only indicate the time or place of the event, but also describe human behavior in relation to the environment and nature, and thus allow the reader to predict the end of the story. It was ascertained that the initial and final sentences, depending on the historical period, can be used in both positive and negative meanings.

scholarly journals Plural comitative constructions in Polish

2005 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beata Trawinski
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Coordinate Structures

This paper provides a treatment of Polish Plural Comitative Constructions in the paradigm of HPSG in the tradition of Pollard and Sag (1994). Plural Comitative Constructions (PCCs) have previously been treated in terms of coordination, complementation and adjunction. The objective of this paper is to show that PCCs are neither instances of typical coordinate structures nor of typical complement or adjunct structures. It thus appears difficult to properly describe them by means of the standard principles of syntax and semantics. The analysis proposed in this paper accounts for the syntactic and semantic properties of PCCs in Polish by assuming an adjunction-based syntactic structure for PCCs, and by treating the indexical information provided by PCCs not as subject to any inheritance or composition, but as a result of applying a set of principles on number, gender and person resolution that also hold for ordinary coordinate structures.

scholarly journals The interpretation of external arguments

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jim Wood ◽  
Alec Marantz
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Semantic Properties ◽  
Semantic Values

This chapter examines the syntactic and semantic properties of heads, e.g. Voice, Appl, and little p, that add participants to events. Instead of assuming that such heads exist as distinct primitives in the functional lexicon, it is proposed that there is one such head, which can get different interpretations depending on how it is merged into the structure. The chapter’s approach attributes the relative uniformity of the expression of argument structure to the principles that interpret syntactic structure semantically; thus, syntax is truly autonomous, with the atoms of syntactic representations carrying no inherent semantic values. Once syntactic heads are absolved from the necessity of explicitly carrying certain features relevant to their interpretation, a sparse inventory of functional heads can be developed. The system is applied to a set of constructions that present distinct challenges to theories that demand a kind of transparent reflection of argument structure in underlying syntactic representations.

Sentence-Final Particles in Chinese

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Victor Junnan Pan
Keyword(s):  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Discourse Function ◽  
Work Related ◽  
The Core ◽  
Chinese Studies ◽  
Chinese Dialects ◽  
Traditional Grammar ◽  
Root Properties ◽  
Peripheral Domain ◽  
Final Particles

Chinese has a rich system of Sentence-Final Particles (SFPs). Traditional grammar and descriptive linguistic studies attempt to capture the precise semantic interpretation and the discourse function of each particle. Much work related to this aspect tries to find out what the core semantic interpretation of a given SFP is, how the diverse interpretations of a given SFP are developed from its core interpretation, and in what context the use of a given SFP is licit. Linguists from different disciplines have made important observations and offered various explanations. On the other hand, diachronic studies trace the origin and the evolution of each SFP, which helps understand the core semantics of SFPs in modern Chinese. Studies on different Chinese dialects also help the understanding of the meaning and the function of SFPs from a comparative perspective. Under the generative framework, SFPs are analyzed as complementizers, which are located in the peripheral domain. Both traditional grammarians and generative syntacticians are interested in patterns like the rigid order that necessarily shows whenever SFPs co-occur. They attempt to establish the hierarchical order of SFPs and identify the general principle that regulates such an order. Recent studies show that such an order is regulated by a discourse constraint related to subjectivity, according to which the higher a functional projection is located, the more directly it is for such a projection to be linked to the speaker’s attitude, the more subjective the interpretation of such a projection becomes, and the less likely it is for such a projection to be embedded. This constraint offers an explanation to the question of why only some SFPs can appear in embedded clauses whereas the others demonstrate root properties. Syntacticians are also interested in the question of how to derive the final order of SFPs. Two analyses are available: disjunction analysis and complement-to-specifier raising analysis. A more recent finding is that under the minimalist framework, each SFP heads a phase and bears an EPP feature. Complement-to-specifier raising is required as a last resort to satisfy the Extended Projection Principle (EPP). The complement of an SFP is moved to the phase edge to postpone the transfer of the phrases that are embedded within the complement, which allows these phrases to be extracted later.

scholarly journals The Syntax and Semantics of Prepositions in the Task of Automatic Interpretation of Nominal Phrases and Compounds: A Cross-Linguistic Study

2009 ◽  
Vol 35 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-228 ◽  
Author(s):  
Roxana Girju
Keyword(s):  
State Of The Art ◽  
Experimental Results ◽  
Semantic Relations ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Romance Languages ◽  
Classification Rules ◽  
Training Set ◽  
Automatic Interpretation ◽  
Linguistic Evidence ◽  
Semantic Properties

In this article we explore the syntactic and semantic properties of prepositions in the context of the semantic interpretation of nominal phrases and compounds. We investigate the problem based on cross-linguistic evidence from a set of six languages: English, Spanish, Italian, French, Portuguese, and Romanian. The focus on English and Romance languages is well motivated. Most of the time, English nominal phrases and compounds translate into constructions of the form N P N in Romance languages, where the P (preposition) may vary in ways that correlate with the semantics. Thus, we present empirical observations on the distribution of nominal phrases and compounds and the distribution of their meanings on two different corpora, based on two state-of-the-art classification tag sets: Lauer's set of eight prepositions and our list of 22 semantic relations. A mapping between the two tag sets is also provided. Furthermore, given a training set of English nominal phrases and compounds along with their translations in the five Romance languages, our algorithm automatically learns classification rules and applies them to unseen test instances for semantic interpretation. Experimental results are compared against two state-of-the-art models reported in the literature.

Applied Objects and the Syntax–Semantics Interface

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-39
Author(s):  
KYLE JERRO
Keyword(s):  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Morphological Properties ◽  
Grammatical Function ◽  
Thematic Roles ◽  
Thematic Role ◽  
Bantu Languages ◽  
Functional Head ◽  
Syntactic Position ◽  
Symmetry Properties

This paper investigates the syntax–semantics interface within the domain of the realization of applied objects in Bantu languages, and I argue that the syntactic structure and semantic contribution of a given argument-licensing functional head (here, the applicative) do not covary. Specifically, I show that in principle, both high and low applicatives can (and should) be available with any type of applicative and not tied to a specific semantics (such as transfer of possession) or thematic role, as proposed in earlier work. Furthermore, I reject the centrality of thematic roles as a component of grammar that determines the grammatical function of applied objects, and I propose instead a typology of Bantu applied objects based on their semantic and morphological properties. This approach makes several predictions about applied objects: (i) syntactic and semantic diagnostics for high and low applicatives need not pattern together, (ii) syntactic asymmetry (such as c-command) can arise for applied objects which pattern symmetrically with other diagnostics (such as passivization), and (iii) the type of an applied object does not universally capture symmetry properties cross-linguistically. The view put forward in this paper provides a framework that can better capture this type of variation with object symmetry in Bantu languages as well as language-internal facts about applied objects; more generally, this paper sheds light on the nature of the syntax–semantic interface by showing that the meaning of a functional head is not necessarily determined by its syntactic position.

For a new semiotics in Construction Grammar: A statistical analysis of the relationship between transitive syntax and semantics

2019 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Marcus Lepesqueur ◽  
Adriana Maria Tenuta
Keyword(s):  
Argument Structure ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Estimating Equation ◽  
Construction Grammar ◽  
Formal Structure ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Formal Organization ◽  
Global Pattern ◽  
Semiotic Model ◽  
Irregular Structures

Abstract By extending the notion of constructions beyond “irregular” structures, Goldberg (1995. Constructions: A construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press) made possible the analysis of clause units as a global pattern associating syntax to principles for semantic interpretation. Despite this theoretical advance, Construction Grammar’s pairing of syntactic structure and conceptual form reflects Saussure’s signifier/signified semiotic model, which poses some issues. Problems arise when a single formal structure expresses distinct semantic patterns or, conversely, when semantics persists notwithstanding formal variation. In order to approach this unstable syntax/semantics interface, this work proposes a statistical methodology to capture the correlation between syntax and Hopper and Thompson's (1980. Transitivity in grammar and discourse. Language 56(2). 251–299) parameters of transitivity. In a corpus of 7,939 clauses from 23 oral interviews, 690 randomly sampled clause units were analyzed using Generalized Estimating Equation. The data suggests that, in Brazilian Portuguese, most of those parameters are not particularly related to the prototypical transitive syntax and might be specified outside the scope of this clausal structure. Nonetheless, Affectedness is a syntax/semantic interface point that is, first, largely independent of lexical items and, second, capable of distinguishing transitive syntax from other clausal patterns. Based on this analysis, we conceive the Transitive Construction as a superordinate rule that acts upon the formal organization of a language, establishing clausal patterns both synchronically and diachronically.

scholarly journals Probabilistic Type Theory and Natural Language Semantics

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 ◽  
Author(s):  
Robin Cooper ◽  
Simon Dobnik ◽  
Shalom Lappin ◽  
Staffan Larsson
Keyword(s):  
Natural Language ◽  
Programming Languages ◽  
Type Theory ◽  
Probabilistic Reasoning ◽  
Syntactic Structure ◽  
Formal Semantics ◽  
Semantic Interpretation ◽  
Semantic Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
Learning And Cognition

Type theory has played an important role in specifying the formal connection between syntactic structure and semantic interpretation within the history of formal semantics. In recent years rich type theories developed for the semantics of programming languages have become influential in the semantics of natural language. The use of probabilistic reasoning to model human learning and cognition has become an increasingly important part of cognitive science. In this paper we offer a probabilistic formulation of a rich type theory, Type Theory with Records (TTR), and we illustrate how this framework can be used to approach the problem of semantic learning. Our probabilistic version of TTR is intended to provide an interface between the cognitive process of classifying situations according to the types that they instantiate, and the compositional semantics of natural language.

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