Glue Semantics

Glue Semantics (Glue) is a general framework for semantic composition and the syntax–semantics interface. The framework grew out of an interdisciplinary collaboration at the intersection of formal linguistics, formal logic, and computer science. Glue assumes a separate level of syntax; this can be any syntactic framework in which syntactic structures have heads. Glue uses a fragment of linear logic for semantic composition. General linear logic terms in Glue meaning constructors are instantiated relative to a syntactic parse. The separation of the logic of composition from structural syntax distinguishes Glue from other theories of semantic composition and the syntax–semantics interface. It allows Glue to capture semantic ambiguity, such as quantifier scope ambiguity, without necessarily positing an ambiguity in the syntactic structure. Glue is introduced here in relation to four of its key properties, which are used as organizing themes: resource-sensitive composition, flexible composition, autonomy of syntax, and syntax/semantics non-isomorphism. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Linguistics, Volume 8 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

«A Baptism of Fire»: Towards a Practical Hybrid Approach for the Lexicographic Indexation of Phraseological Units with Religious Lexical Components in English and Spanish

Traditionally, researchers have had a particular interest in the study of the relationship between phraseology and lexicography [e.g., Alonso Ramos (2006); Mellado Blanco (2008); Buendía Castro and Faber (2015); Paquot (2015); Nuccorini (2020)] to the point of having labeled it a «scientific marriage» (Leroyer 2006). In addition, scholars have been increasingly interested in the semantic analysis of phraseological units (henceforth PUs) [e.g., Grčić Simeunović and de Santiago (2016) and Torijano and Recio (2019)]. Among the problems that these and several other studies have pointed out, there is the recurrent reference to inaccuracy and difficulty in indexing PUs in lexicographic resources. Although some scholars consider onomasiological approaches as an interesting starting point [e.g., Bosque (2017) and Siepmann (2008)], a systematic methodology in phraseology that includes both the semantical analysis of the entries and their indexation is still needed. We intend to address that need here through the analysis of 242 idioms (199 in Spanish and 43 in English) extracted from a 21,045-idiom database that was compiled from two phraseological dictionaries: the Diccionario fraseológico documentado del español actual (henceforth DFDEA) (Seco, Andrés et al., 2004), and the Collins COBUILD Dictionary of Idioms (henceforth CCDOI) (Sinclair and Moon 1997). The criteria employed to select the resulting analysis units were: (i) they had to include at least one lexical component related to religion, and (ii) the idiom had to be nominal or verbal. The religious component was identified semi-automatically by using the UCREL’s Semantic Analysis System (USAS) (Archer et al., 2002). The contributions of this paper are as follows: (i) it presents a lexicographic analysis of the macrostructure and microstructure of the two phraseological resources previously mentioned, (ii) it offers a model of semantic analysis for PUs with religion-related components, (iii) it proposes an alternative indexation method of PUs in lexicographic resources involving semasiological and onomasiological approaches; and finally, (iv) it shows a systematic way to use semantic and pragmatic information in order to create semantic entries for PUs. In conclusion, by closely examining said set of phraseological entries, this study sheds light on the semantic composition of Pus. It also suggests a systematic hybrid approach for their lexicographic indexation in English and Spanish.

Exclamations and their discourse effects in Japanese

This paper discusses two kinds of sentences with nante that can express exclamations in Japanese. I show that these two nante exclamations show the contrast observed between sentence exclamations and wh-exclamatives in English (Rett 2011). Based on the data, I propose that nante in the two types of sentences can be analyzed in a unified way: nante is like what in English in that it can range over a variety of categories. The semantic composition shows that the two nante sentences have different sentence types and hence different discourse effects (Farkas & Roelofsen 2017). One type is a marked assertion, and the other is a bonafide exclamative. I show the contrast using the discourse model in Farkas & Bruce (2010): the exclamative updates the speaker’s commitment, not the potential future common ground.

Differential contributions of left-hemispheric language regions to basic semantic composition

Semantic composition, the ability to combine single words to form complex meanings, is a core feature of human language. Despite growing interest in the basis of semantic composition, the neural correlates and the interaction of regions within this network remain a matter of debate. We designed a well-controlled two-word fMRI paradigm in which phrases only differed along the semantic dimension while keeping syntactic information alike. Healthy participants listened to meaningful (“fresh apple”), anomalous (“awake apple”) and pseudoword phrases (“awake gufel”) while performing an implicit and an explicit semantic task. We identified neural signatures for distinct processes during basic semantic composition. When lexical information is kept constant across conditions and the evaluation of phrasal plausibility is examined (meaningful vs. anomalous phrases), a small set of mostly left-hemispheric semantic regions, including the anterior part of the left angular gyrus, is found active. Conversely, when the load of lexical information—independently of phrasal plausibility—is varied (meaningful or anomalous vs. pseudoword phrases), conceptual combination involves a wide-spread left-hemispheric network comprising executive semantic control regions and general conceptual representation regions. Within this network, the functional coupling between the left anterior inferior frontal gyrus, the bilateral pre-supplementary motor area and the posterior angular gyrus specifically increases for meaningful phrases relative to pseudoword phrases. Stronger effects in the explicit task further suggest task-dependent neural recruitment. Overall, we provide a separation between distinct nodes of the semantic network, whose functional contributions depend on the type of compositional process under analysis.

Das Werk als Entgrenzung. : Werkkomplex und Dynamik des Gesamtwerks

Im Kontext des neu aufgekommenen theoretischen Interesses für die Werkkategorie wird überwiegend das ,Einzelwerk‘ fokussiert. Im vorliegenden Aufsatz wird das heuristische Potenzial des Konzepts ,Gesamtwerk‘ als ein anderer Teil der Werkkategorie herausgearbeitet. Neben dem üblichen Aspekt eines ,Lebenswerks‘ schließt das Gesamtwerk vielfältige Werkkomplexe und Werkgruppierungen ein, die auf Produktions- oder Rezeptionsseite entstehen. Analysiert werden feste und variable Anordnungen, Ab- und Entgrenzungen zwischen Einzelwerken eines Autors, die das Gesamtwerk zu einem dynamischen Gefüge machen. Ein Werkkomplex bildet eine Zwischenstufe und ein Bindeglied zwischen ,Einzelwerk‘ und ,Gesamtwerk‘. Daher besitzt er eine besondere Relevanz für die semantische Zusammensetzung der Werkkategorie als Trias, deren Teile sich aufeinander beziehen: Opus – Werkkomplex – Œuvre.The newly arisen theoretical research on the literary work category focuses mainly on the ,single work‘. This paper argues for the heuristic potential of the ,oeuvre‘ as another part of the work category. In addition to the usual aspect of a ,life’s work‘, the oeuvre includes diverse work complexes and work groupings that emerge on the production or reception side. The paper analyzes a dynamic structure of the oeuvre: fixed and variable arrangements, boundaries and dissolution of borders between single works by the same author. A work complex forms an intermediate stage and a link between ,single work‘ and ,oeuvre‘. It therefore has a special relevance for the semantic composition of the work category as a triad, the parts of which refer to each other: single work – work complex – oeuvre.

On the Lexicographic Description of the Preposition Putyom in Modern Discourse

This article analyzes the system of meanings of the preposition putyom in modern discourse, describes the features of the semantic composition in each meaning, traces semantic links of the selected meanings with the productive name and provides their lexicographic description. The analyzed material included 609 documents of the main corpus of the Russian National Corpus for 2009–2019. The search was performed on a user subcorpus of 6,555 documents which amounted to 13,596,479 words. The complex study of 330 usage samples of the preposition putyom by means of contextual and component analyses has revealed that 167 of them were substantive, 13 adverbial and 150 prepositional ones. The lexicographic identifiers used were as follows: 1) recurrent links with the context, determining the lexico-semantic valence of the preposition putyom; 2) grammatical valence, implemented in specific syntactic links; 3) the possibility of lexical and grammatical replacement of constructions with the preposition putyom by an adverbial participle and a noun in the instrumental case; 4) possible partial synonymy relations; 5) data from lexicographic sources. The range of partial synonyms was established in accordance with the definitions in explanatory dictionaries. The analysis has shown seven meanings of the preposition putyom,grammarticalized in varying degrees, with differentiable semantic and compatibility features. Characteristic valences as well as semantic functions have been determined for each meaning and a dictionary entry proposed. It has been established that the “left” component of the preposition putyom in any implementation is a verb form or a verbal noun with procedural or productive semantics, while the “right” one is a verbal noun with procedural or effective semantics. The polysemy of the preposition putyom is predetermined by a change in hierarchy when contextual conditions change. All the meanings of the preposition putyom have a common motivating base, i.e. the 6th meaning of the noun put’ (way). The polysemy of the preposition putyom is caused by the initial semantic potential of the motivating meaning. The preposition putyom is motivated by both explicit and implicit semes of the meaning-generating noun put’ and in implication inherits the semes of its primary meaning. In all the meanings it retains this “mode of action” inherited from the motivating meaning of the noun put’. In six of seven meanings, it enters into a partial synonymy only with derivative prepositions of the genitive and dative cases and is semantically identified in these relations. The partial nature of synonymy indicates the insufficiency of a synonymous definition and requires a descriptive component inclusion.

A Frame-Based Analysis of Verbal Particles in Hungarian

The verbal particle in Hungarian raises a number of intriguing issues for any theory of the syntax-semantics interface. In this article, we aim at a formal account of the semantic contribution of various verbal particles in Hungarian and we show how the semantic representation of the clause can be compositionally derived. We will concentrate on the four frequent particles meg-, le-, el- and fel-. Our approach makes use of a formalized version of Role and Reference Grammar and the framework of decompositional frame semantics. In particular, we give a formal representation of the boundary-setting function of the verbal particle in terms of decompositional frames which builds on a scalar change analysis. We furthermore analyze the interaction of the particle with resultative adjectives and provide a formal model of how their syntactic representations drive their frame-semantic composition.

THE ARABIC LOANWORDS IN EDUCATION TERMINOLOGY: LINGUISTIC AND STATISTICAL ANALYSIS

This article describes one of the methods for studying the lexical and semantic composition of the language. This method allows determining the number of linguistic units, their frequency and classifes them by proceeding from the basic types of semantic relations. Statistical and semantic analysis of a language enables us to determine the relationship between the original and borrowed parts of the vocabulary of the language. A part of the vocabulary of the Uzbek language, which consisted of Arabic and Persian words in the period of the 30-90s, was replaced by Russian-international borrowings. This article is devoted to the coverage of the method of linguisticstatistical analysis of borrowed Arabic words used in the education system of Uzbekistan. Besides, we conducted their statistical analysis. We have extracted Arabic words – Nouns used in education from the dictionary of the Uzbek language. Also, compound verbs were extracted, one of the components of which is borrowed from the Arabic language. We have examined 397 lexical units used in the feld of education borrowed from the Arabic language. We have studied them in terms of their frequency. We have made a statistical analysis based on the dictionary of the Uzbek language and regulatory documents on education. The reasons for the frequent use of Arabic lexemes in education determined. We divided borrowings from the Arabic language into groups according to their semantic and lexical characteristics