A Syntactic Universal and Its Consequences

2014 ◽  
Vol 45 (2) ◽  
pp. 169-225 ◽  
Author(s):  
Theresa Biberauer ◽  
Anders Holmberg ◽  
Ian Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Relativized Minimality ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Standard Models ◽  
Initial Category

This article investigates the Final-over-Final Constraint (FOFC): a head-initial category cannot be the immediate structural complement of a head-final category within the same extended projection. This universal cannot be formulated without reference to the kind of hierarchical structure generated by standard models of phrase structure. First, we document the empirical evidence: logically possible but crosslinguistically unattested combinations of head-final and head-initial orders. Second, we propose a theory, based on a version of Kayne’s (1994) Linear Correspondence Axiom, where FOFC is an effect of the distribution of a movement-triggering feature in extended projections, subject to Relativized Minimality.

Multiple object positions and how to diagnose them

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lieven Danckaert
Keyword(s):  
Structure Analysis ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Final Part ◽  
Multiple Object ◽  
Reliable Source ◽  
Extended Projection ◽  
Modal Verb ◽  
Source Of Information

This chapter addresses the question of which syntactic environment constitutes the most reliable source of information on variable object placement in Latin. The relevance of this question is illustrated by showing that very different results are obtained when one compares the rate of VO in two different syntactic contexts, namely clauses with a single synthetic verb and clauses with a modal verb and a dependent infinitive. It is argued that the OV/VO alternation is best studied to clauses with more than one verb, as in such clauses, more object positions can be unambiguously identified. The final part of the chapter is devoted to the phrase structure analysis of clauses with the modals possum ‘be able’ and debeo ‘have to’. These structures are argued to constitute monoclausal domains, in which the modals are raising predicates that originate in functional heads in the extended projection of lexical verbs.

scholarly journals Evidence or Confidence: What Really Accumulates During a Decision?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Douglas G. Lee ◽  
Giovanni Pezzulo
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Alternative Hypothesis ◽  
Decision Threshold ◽  
Drift Diffusion Model ◽  
Drift Diffusion ◽  
Evidence Accumulation ◽  
Confidence Assessment ◽  
Standard Models ◽  
Post Hoc

Assessing one's confidence in one's choices is of paramount importance to making adaptive decisions, and it is thus no surprise that humans excel in this ability. However, standard models of decision-making, such as the drift-diffusion model (DDM), treat confidence assessment as a post-hoc or parallel process that does not directly influence the choice -- the latter depends only on accumulated evidence. Here, we pursue the alternative hypothesis that what is accumulated during a decision is confidence (that the to-be selected option is the best) rather than raw evidence. Accumulating confidence has the appealing consequence that the decision threshold corresponds to a desired level of confidence for the choice, and that confidence improvements can be traded off against the resources required to secure them. We show that most previous findings on perceptual and value-based decisions traditionally interpreted from an evidence-accumulation perspective can be explained more parsimoniously from our novel confidence-driven perspective. Furthermore, we show that our novel confidence-driven DDM (cDDM) naturally generalizes to any number of decisions -- which is notoriously extemporaneous using traditional DDM or related models. Finally, we discuss future empirical evidence that could be useful in adjudicating between these alternatives.

scholarly journals A phrase structure approach to argument cluster coordination

2006 ◽  
Author(s):  
François Mouret
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Structure Approach ◽  
Alternative Approach

It has often been argued that Non-Constituent Coordinations involve ellipsis. Focussing in this paper on so-called 'Argument Cluster Coordination', we provide empirical evidence drawn from French against such elliptical analyses. We then sketch an alternative approach within HPSG, allowing non-standard constituents to be conjoined in the scope of some shared predicate. While such non-standard constituents are generally obtained by relaxing phrase structure, we propose analyzing them as non-headed constructions, deriving their unusual properties from the interplay of two different sets of constraints: those imposed by coordination and those imposed by predicates that select such clusters as arguments.

Theoretical Issues in Inflection

2018 ◽  
pp. 55-82
Author(s):  
Gregory Stump
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Word Formation ◽  
Inflectional Morphology ◽  
Semantic Composition ◽  
Word Forms ◽  
Theoretical Issues

The domains of divergence among current conceptions of inflectional morphology appertain to five fundamental issues. What are the basic units in terms of which inflectional morphology is defined? Is the morpheme a theoretically significant concept? What sort of structure do inflected word forms possess? Do they have a quasi-syntactic hierarchical structure that determines their semantic composition? What is the relation between concatenative and nonconcatenative inflectional patterns? Are they equivalent alternatives for realizing morphosyntactic content or is affixation pre-eminent, sometimes triggering nonconcatenative operations of secondary status? What is the relation between a word form’s morphosyntactic properties and their inflectional exponents? Are exponents lexically listed with their properties, or do a word form’s morphosyntactic properties trigger rules that specify their exponents? Finally, what distinguishes inflection from word formation? Are these discrete components? Is their difference purely one of function? Competing answers to these questions are examined in the light of empirical evidence.

Auctions with Resale Markets: An Application to U.S. Forest Service Timber Sales

2001 ◽  
Vol 91 (3) ◽  
pp. 399-427 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip A Haile
Keyword(s):  
Willingness To Pay ◽  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Forest Service ◽  
Secondary Market ◽  
Policy Changes ◽  
Common Value ◽  
Timber Sales ◽  
Option Values ◽  
Standard Models

When bidders anticipate an opportunity for resale trade, the value of winning an auction is determined in part by the option values of buying and selling in the secondary market. One implication is that a bidder's willingness to pay at an auction increases with the expected level of competition between resale buyers. Empirical evidence from auctions of timber contracts supports this prediction and rejects standard models that ignore resale. The estimated effect is smaller after policy changes expected to diminish the prevalence of resale. Additional evidence supports the predicted presence of a common value element introduced by the resale opportunity. (JEL D44, D82, C52, L73)

On Phrase Structure building and labeling algorithms: towards a non-uniform theory of syntactic structures

2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Diego Gabriel Krivochen
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Cognitive Model ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Computational System ◽  
Syntactic Structures ◽  
Structure Building ◽  
Labeling Algorithms ◽  
Computational Procedures ◽  
The Mind ◽  
Linguistic Approach

AbstractThis paper argues that the theory of phrase structure a certain linguistic approach assumes implies taking a stance on the formal nature of the computational procedures that generate that phrase structure. We will proceed by critically evaluating theories of phrase structure and labeling -which implies taking a structure as a unit for the purposes of further computations-, and building on and opposing to the proposals we review, we will claim that syntactic objects are not computationally uniform, and therefore the computational system in charge of establishing dependencies between symbolic objects within the mind is not uniform as well. We argue in favor of a linguistic-cognitive model which dynamically chooses different grammars based on the complexity of the input, and is capable of assigning a mixed phrase marker to an object that presents more than one computational pattern. Empirical evidence is provided in favor of our approach to phrase structure building, and further implications for a theory of labeling and predication are discussed as prolegomena to further research.

scholarly journals Ultrametric Distance in Syntax

2015 ◽  
Vol 103 (1) ◽  
pp. 111-130
Author(s):  
Mark D. Roberts
Keyword(s):  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Minimum Distance ◽  
Phrase Structure ◽  
Tree Structures ◽  
Lexical Categories ◽  
Central Notion ◽  
The Matrix ◽  
Equilateral Triangles ◽  
Definition Of

Abstract Phrase structure trees have a hierarchical structure. In many subjects, most notably in taxonomy such tree structures have been studied using ultrametrics. Here syntactical hierarchical phrase trees are subject to a similar analysis, which is much simpler as the branching structure is more readily discernible and switched. The ambiguity of which branching height to choose, is resolved by postulating that branching occurs at the lowest height available. An ultrametric produces a measure of the complexity of sentences: presumably the complexity of sentences increases as a language is acquired so that this can be tested. All ultrametric triangles are equilateral or isosceles. Here it is shown that X̅ structure implies that there are no equilateral triangles. Restricting attention to simple syntax a minimum ultrametric distance between lexical categories is calculated. A matrix constructed from this ultrametric distance is shown to be different than the matrix obtained from features. It is shown that the definition of C-COMMAND can be replaced by an equivalent ultrametric definition. The new definition invokes a minimum distance between nodes and this is more aesthetically satisfying than previous varieties of definitions. From the new definition of C-COMMAND follows a new definition of of the central notion in syntax namely GOVERNMENT.

Challenges to the social motivation theory of autism: The dangers of counteracting an imprecise theory with even more imprecision

2019 ◽  
Vol 42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mirko Uljarević ◽  
Giacomo Vivanti ◽  
Susan R. Leekam ◽  
Antonio Y. Hardan
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Social Motivation ◽  
Motivation Theory ◽  
The Social

Abstract The arguments offered by Jaswal & Akhtar to counter the social motivation theory (SMT) do not appear to be directly related to the SMT tenets and predictions, seem to not be empirically testable, and are inconsistent with empirical evidence. To evaluate the merits and shortcomings of the SMT and identify scientifically testable alternatives, advances are needed on the conceptualization and operationalization of social motivation across diagnostic boundaries.

Integrating perspectives: How the development of second-personal competence lays the foundation for a second-personal morality

2020 ◽  
Vol 43 ◽  
Author(s):  
John Corbit ◽  
Chris Moore
Keyword(s):  
Empirical Evidence ◽  
Developmental Process ◽  
Focal Point ◽  
Personal Information ◽  
Personal Competence ◽  
Triadic Interactions ◽  
Personal Morality ◽  
Integrative Process

Abstract The integration of first-, second-, and third-personal information within joint intentional collaboration provides the foundation for broad-based second-personal morality. We offer two additions to this framework: a description of the developmental process through which second-personal competence emerges from early triadic interactions, and empirical evidence that collaboration with a concrete goal may provide an essential focal point for this integrative process.

Relationships between hierarchical structure and properties in macromolecular systems

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 440-443
Author(s):  
E. Baer
Keyword(s):  
Uniaxial Tension ◽  
Hierarchical Structure ◽  
Inorganic Material ◽  
Hierarchical Structures ◽  
Bone Collagen ◽  
Structure And Properties ◽  
Connective Tissues ◽  
Scale Level ◽  
Fibrous Protein ◽  
Macromolecular Systems

The most advanced macromolecular materials are found in plants and animals, and certainly the connective tissues in mammals are amongst the most advanced macromolecular composites known to mankind. The efficient use of collagen, a fibrous protein, in the design of both soft and hard connective tissues is worthy of comment. Very crudely, in bone collagen serves as a highly efficient binder for the inorganic hydroxyappatite which stiffens the structure. The interactions between the organic fiber of collagen and the inorganic material seem to occur at the nano (scale) level of organization. Epitatic crystallization of the inorganic phase on the fibers has been reported to give a highly anisotropic, stress responsive, structure. Soft connective tissues also have sophisticated oriented hierarchical structures. The collagen fibers are “glued” together by a highly hydrated gel-like proteoglycan matrix. One of the simplest structures of this type is tendon which functions primarily in uniaxial tension as a reinforced elastomeric cable between muscle and bone.

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