Proceedings of the International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
Not a member yet
468 research outputs found
Sort by
Definite meaning and definite marking
Full text linkWe look at definite marking
in Esperanto, Papiamentu, and Yiddish considering three semantically
definite contexts: the referential use of proper names and unique
nouns, as well as anaphoric definites. We argue for a
three-dimensional analysis of definiteness: an individual denotation,
an existence presupposition, and a uniqueness conventional
implicature. We present an HPSG encoding of this system and model the
central aspects of the definite marking systems of our three object
languages
An underspecification approach to Hausa resumption
Full text linkWithin recent work on the treatment of resumption
in HPSG, there is growing consensus that resumptive unbounded
dependency constructions (=UDCs) should be modelled on a par with
gap-type UDCs (Alotaibi and Borsley, 2013; Borsley, 2010; Crysmann,
2012b; Taghvaipour, 2005), using a single feature for both types of
dependencies, rather than separate features, as proposed by Vaillette
(2001a,b). Yet, authors disagree as to where exactly in the grammar
the resumptive function of pronominals should be established: while
Crysmann (2012b, 2015) advances an ambiguity approach that has
pronominal synsem objects being ambiguous between a resumptive and an
ordinary pronoun use, Borsley (2010); Alotaibi and Borsley (2013), by
contrast, treat all pronominals, resumptive or not, as ordinary
pronouns and effect their resumptive use by means of tailoring the
amalgamation principle to potentially include pronominal
indices. While their decision provides a straightforward account of
McCloskey’s generalisation that resumptives always look like the
ordinary pronouns of the language, it fails to capture the difference
in semantics between ordinary pronominal and resumptive uses. In this
paper, I shall reexamine the evidence from Hausa and propose to
synthesise the approaches put forth by Alotaibi and Borsley (2013) and
Crysmann (2012b), and propose that the potential for pronominal and
resumptive function (including their difference w.r.t. semantics and
non-local features) is captured by means of underspecification, yet
the decision as to canonical vs. non-canonical use is made at the
level of the governing head (Borsley, 2010; Alotaibi and Borsley,
2013). I shall argue that this division of labour is sufficient to
derive the correct gap-like semantics for resumptives, maintains
standard deterministic amalgamation, and, finally, provides an answer
to McCloskey’s generalisation
Reference patterns in subjunctive complement clauses of Modern Standard Arabic
Full text linkIn this paper we investigate the status of control
constructions in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA). MSA has several
embedded clause constructions, some of which resemble control in
English (and other languages). However, these constructions exhibit
some notable differences. Chief among them is the fact that the
embedded verb carries agreement features that can indicate both
coreference and disjoint reference between a matrix argument and the
understood subject of the complement clause. We conducted a thorough
corpus-based investigation of such constructions, with a special focus
on a search for obligatory control in the language. We show that our
findings contradict accepted generalizations (and predictions)
proposed by state-of-the-art theories of control, as they indicate
that there are no "real" control predicates in MSA. We outline an HPSG
analysis that accounts for the MSA data
Exhaustive object control constructions in Greek: An LFG/XLE treatment
Full text linkIn this paper we
propose an LFG/XLE treatment of Exhaustive Object Control (EOC)
constructions in Greek na clauses. We draw on data retrieved from the
Hellenic National Corpus (HNC) in order to define the verbs that allow
EOC. We treat EOC using anaphoric control. We take the subject of the
subordinate na clause (controllee) to be a PRO marked with nominative
case that is anaphorically related to the object of the matrix clause
(controller). We implement this analysis in our LFG/XLE Grammar by
adding the new feature ANAPH_C_BY
On the argument structure of raising-to-subject with passive predicates in Swedish
Full text linkThis paper concerns the argument structure analysis of
raising-to-subject with passive predicates in Swedish and other
Germanic languages. Support is given for the analysis in which the
raising-to-subject construction constitutes a regular passive, the
passive counterpart of active raising-to-object. The fact that there
does not seem to be an active counterpart for certain predicates, such
as the predicate say, as well as the fact that raising-to-subject does
not seem to be possible with the periphrastic passive in Swedish is
attributed to certain semantic restrictions on the raising-to-object
construction and the periphrastic passive construction, respectively
Transforming the AnCora corpus to HPSG
Full text linkWe present the construction of a HPSG corpus for Spanish, based
on the transformation of the AnCora Spanish corpus into a HPSG
compatible format. We describe the transformation process and the
evaluation of the resulting corpus
One of those constructions that really needs a proper analysis
Full text linkWe describe, and provide an
HPSG account of, a hitherto little studied English construction (of
which the title of the paper is an instance) involving an agreement
mismatch: a partitive construction in which a plural nominal is
apparently modified by a singular relative clause
Theoretical linguistics and grammar engineering as mutually constraining disciplines
Full text linkThis paper desribes four areas in which grammar engineers and
theoretical linguists can interact. These include: using grammar
engineering to confirm linguistic hypotheses; linguistic issues
highlighted by grammar engineering; implementation capabilities
guiding theoretical analyses; and insights into architecture
issues. It is my hope that we will see more work in these areas in the
future and more collaboration among grammar engineers and theoretical
linguists. This is an area in which HPSG and LFG as a distinct
advantage, given the strong communities and resources available
Participles, gerunds and syntactic categories
Full text linkThe phenomenon of so-called ‘mixed’
categories, whereby a word heads a phrase which appears to display
some features of one lexical category, and some features of another,
raises questions regarding the criteria used for distinguishing
syntactic categories. In this paper I critically assess some recent
work in LFG which provides ‘mixed category’ analyses. I show that
three types of evidence are typically utilized in analyses of supposed
mixed category phenomena, and I argue that two of these are not, in
fact, crucial for determining category status. I show that two
distinct phenomena have become conflated under the ‘mixed category’
heading, and argue that the term ‘mixed category’ should be reserved
for only one of these
Seminumerals, determiners and nouns in English
Full text linkA singular countable noun in
English normally requires a determiner and they should agree in
number. However, there is a type of noun phrase, such as those
thousand teachers, which does not conform to this generalisation. As
a subtype of singular countable noun, thousand requires a
determiner, but the determiner has number agreement with the head
noun teachers. The standard HPSG treatment, in which the determiner
requirement and the determiner-noun agreement are both represented in
the SPR specifications of the head noun, cannot capture this special
agreement pattern. Our analysis, in which the determiner requirement
and the determiner-noun agreement are dissociated from each other,
can provide a straightforward account of the data