Proceedings of the International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
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Preposed negation in Danish
Get PDFIn Danish the base position of the negation and negated
quantifier phrases is between the subject and
the finite verb in embedded clauses. However, in embedded clauses
introduced by a non-veridical complementizer such as hvis (ˋif\u27)
or om (ˋwhether\u27) the negation and negated
quantifier phrases can also
appear between the complementizer and the subject. This phenomenon is
referred to as preposed negation. The paper investigates the structure
and semantics of this construction. It is argued that preposed
negation is no adjunction structure, but a special construction where
the negation element is a sister of the complementizer and the filler
of a filler-gap-structure. It is further argued that preposed negation is associated with negated
verum-focus of a clause lacking an (aboutness-) topic. The
negation of a verum predicate explains why preposed negation fails to license strong
negative polarity items and to rule out positive ones. The lack of a
topic explains why preposed negation is preferred with
non-referential subjects and with weak readings of
indefinite subjects and why preposed negation is incompatible with
topic-binding particles.The final section presents an HPSG-analysis of preposed
negation using Minimal Recursion Semantics (MRS)
French VN lexemes: Morphological compounding in HPSG
Get PDFAlthough the original framework of HPSG is mostly compatible with
independent theoretical claims or analyses in lexical lexeme base morphology
(Anderson 1992, Aronoff & Fudeman 2004, Beard 1995, Booij 2005,
Carstairs-McCarthy 1992, Fradin 2003, Haspelmath 2002, Matthews 1991, Plag
2003, for example), so far, most research in morphology has been done on
inflexional phenomena (Orgun & Inkelas 2002, Bonami & Boyé 2006), and few on
derivational morphology (Koenig 1999, Riehemann 1998). Yet, we believe it is
worth investigating how the formal and theoretical apparatus of HPSG deals
with capturing multilevel constraints that apply in the lexeme formation of
French Verb-Noun nominal compounds, such as as GRILLE-PAIN (lit.
grill-bread, ˋtoaster\u27), PERCE-OREILLE (lit. pierce-ear, ˋearwig\u27),
TOURNEVIS (lit. turn-screw, ˋscrewdriver\u27), or LÈCHE-VITRINE (lit.
lick-window, ˋwindow-shopping\u27). Contrary to what has often been said, we
argue VN lexemes formation comes under morphological constraints but not
under syntactic mechanisms. Our analysis integrates VN lexemes into a
multiple-dimension typed-hierarchy of lexemes and provides an account for
semantic generalizations involved in different types of lexeme formation
(compounding, derivation, and conversion)
Phraseological clauses in Constructional HPSG
Get PDFIn this paper we investigate German idioms which contain phraseologically
fixed clauses (PCl). To provide a comprehensive HPSG theory of PCls we
extend the idiom theory of Soehn 2006 in such a way that it can
distinguish different degrees of regularity in idiomatic expressions. An
in-depth analysis of two characteristic PCls shows how our two-dimensional
theory of idiomatic expressions can be applied and illustrates the scope
of the theory
Negative concord in Romanian as polyadic quantification
Get PDFIn this paper we develop an HPSG syntax-semantics of negative concord in
Romanian. We show that n-words in Romanian can best be treated as negative
quantifiers which may combine by resumption to form polyadic negative
quantifiers. Optionality of resumption explains the existence of simple
sentential negation readings alongside double negation readings. We solve
the well-known problem of defining general semantic composition rules for
translations of natural language expressions in a logical language with
polyadic quantifiers by integrating our higher-order logic in Lexical
Resource Semantics, whose constraint-based composition mechanisms directly
support a systematic syntax-semantics for negative concord with polyadic
quantification
Serial verb constructions in Chinese: A HPSG account
Get PDFThe present paper gives an account of Serial Verb Constructions (SVCs) in Mandarin Chinese. After a
typological presentation of the phenomenon, we give an overview of the Chinese data with examples of
the semantic variations of SVCs. The inventory of SVC types is classified according to causal and
temporal relations between the components. We also discuss the pragmatic conditions on the use of
SVCs as well as alternative, semantically equivalent constructions. A HPSG-analysis is proposed for
marked SVCs, which uses the interaction between aspect marking and the set of possible subordinative
relations to deduce the extra-lexical meaning of the construction. Particular attention is payed to
the syntactically peculiar SVC with shared internal arguments, which is accounted for by a
non-cancellation approach to valence requirements
On predication
Get PDFThis paper discusses copula constructions in English, German, and Danish and argues that a uniform
analysis of all copula constructions is inappropriate. I provide evidence from German that there
should be a raising variant of the copula in addition to an identificational copula. A unary schema
is provided that maps referential NPs that can be used as arguments onto predicational NPs. Data
from Danish shows that predicational NPs can be subjects in specificational structures. An account
for such specificational structures is provided and the different behaviour of predicational and
specificational structures with regard to question tags is explained. A similar contrast can be
found in German left dislocation structures, which follows from the assumptions made in this paper.
A modified treatment of complex predicate formation allows for a reduction of selectional features
(that is abolishing of xcomp or vcomp) and for a uniform treatment of predicational
phrases in copula constructions and resultative secondary predicates. This yields an account for
constituent order variants that remained unexplained by earlier analyses
Accounting for underlying forms in HPSG phonology
Get PDFThe paper aims to present approach to HPSG phonology which would account for underlying forms of
phonemes. It shows some of the issues arising in monostratal analyses of phonology, and proposes a
solution based on a notion of underlying representations. The approach presented, partly inspired by
Optimality Theory, resolves cases of neutralisation and opacity by formulating constraints which
either restrict the surface representation or relate it to the underlying form
Inflectional periphrasis in Persian
Get PDFModern Persian conjugation makes use of five periphrastic constructions. We contrast the properties
of these five constructions and argue that they call for different analyses. We propose contrasting
analyses relying on the combination of an HPSG approach to feature geometry and syntactic
combination, and an approach to paradigm organization and morphological exponence based on Paradigm
Function Morphology. This combination of analytic tools allows us to treat the whole array of
periphrastic constructions as lexical in origin—no phrasal construction or multi-word lexical
entry of any kind is required
Towards an analysis of the adverbial use of German interrogative was (ˋwhat\u27)
Get PDFThe paper discusses the so-called adverbial use of the wh-pronoun
was (ˋwhat\u27), which establishes a non-standard interrogative
construction type in German. It argues that the adverbial use of was
(ˋwhat\u27) is based on the lexical properties of a categorically deficient
pronoun was (ˋwhat\u27), which bears a causal meaning. In addition,
adverbial was (ˋwhat\u27) differs from canonical argument was
(ˋwhat\u27) as it is analyzed as a functor which is generated in
clause-initial position.
By means of empirical facts mainly provided by d\u27Avis (2001) it is shown
that was (ˋwhat\u27) behaves ambivalently regarding the
wh-property: On the one hand, was (ˋwhat\u27) can introduce an
interrogative clause, but on the other hand it cannot license
wh-phrases in situ. While formally analyzing the data against the
background of existing accounts on wh-interrogatives couched in the
framework of Head-driven Phrase Structure Grammar, an analysis is developed
that separates two pieces of information to keep track of the
wh-information percolating in an interrogative clause. Whereas the
WH-value models wh-fronting and pied-piping phenomena, the QUE value
links syntactic and semantic information and thus keeps track of
wh-phrases in-situ
Phonological change and grammaticalization in HPSG: The case of French final consonants
Get PDFThis paper explores the use of HPSG for modeling historical phonological change and
grammaticalization, focusing on the evolution of the pronunciation of word-final consonants in
Modern French. The diachronic evidence is presented in detail, and interpreted as two main
transitions, first from Old French to Middle French, then from Middle French to the modern
language. The data show how the loss of final consonants, originally a phonological development in
Middle French, gave rise to the grammaticalized external sandhi phenomenon known as consonant
liaison in modern French. The stages of development are analyzed formally as a succession of HPSG
lexical schemas in which phonological representations are determined by reference to the immediately
following phonological context