Proceedings of the International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
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What grammars are, or ought to be
Full text linkProgress toward distinguishing clearly between generative and model-theoretic syntactic frameworks has not been smooth or swift, and the obfuscatory term ˋconstraint-based\u27 has not helped. This paper reviews some elementary subregular formal language theory relevant to comparing description languages for model-theoretic grammars, generalizes the results to trees, and points out that HPSG linguists have maintained an unacknowledged and perhaps unintended allegiance to the idea of strictly local description: unbounded dependencies, in particular, are still being conceptualized in terms of plugging together local tree parts annotated with the SLASH feature. Adopting a description language with quantifiers holds out the prospect of eliminating the need for the SLASH feature. We need to ask whether that would be a good idea. Binding domain phenomena might tell us. More work of both descriptive and mathematical sorts is needed before the answer is clear
Analogy-based morphology: The Kasem number system
Full text linkThis paper presents a formalization of proportional analogy using typed feature structures, which retains all key elements of analogical models of morphology. With the Kasem number system as an example, I show that using this model it is possible to express partial analogies which are unified into complete analogies. The analysis presented is accompanied by a complete TRALE implementation
An incremental approach to gapping in Japanese
Full text linkGapping in Japanese, which is an SOV language, differs from gapping in SVO languages in that the conjuncts with the elided verbs appear in non-final position. In this paper I present an incremental approach to gapping in Japanese, where it is assumed that an argument structure type is constructed in the non-final clause(s) in the gapping construction. This type is unified with the construction type created by the final clause resulting in identical construction types for all conjuncts in the construction
Deriving reversal in Old French nominal inflection
Full text linkIn this paper, we study Old French declension, a system which exhibits
the theoretically challenging phenomenon of morphological reversal (Baerman,
2007). Furthermore, the declension system of Old French only recognises a
single exponent -s, which marks different case/number combinations in different
paradigms, contrasting with the unmarked form. We show that reversal is only
one of several syncretism patterns found in the language and propose that Old
French declension is best understood in terms of two systematic syncretisms: a
natural split between singular and plural for feminines, and a Paninian split for
masculines that systematically marks the objective plural. Reversal, and other
seemingly morphomic splits arise as a result of idiosyncrasy in the
NOM.SG cell, comprising inflection class-specific s-marking, as well as stem alternation and
overabundance. We provide a formal analysis in terms of Information-based
Morphology (Crysmann & Bonami, 2016) that effortlessly captures the systematic splits,
as well as the variation in the nominative singular. We suggest
that the high degree of idiosyncrasy in this cell paired with the reduced frequency of overt
nominative NPs when compared to objective NPs may serve
to explain why the system was actually quite short-lived
Nominalized clauses in the Grammar Matrix
Full text linkWe present an analysis of clausal nominalization developed in the context of the LinGO Grammar Matrix (Bender et al., 2002, 2010) to support the addition of subordinate clauses to the grammar customization framework. In particular, we examine the typological variation of nominalized clausal complements and nominalized clausal modifiers. To account for the range of variation in nominalized clauses across the world\u27s languages and to support linguists in exploring alternative analyses, we propose a flexible library of analyses, allowing nominalization of the clause to occur at the V, VP or S level
HPSG analysis and computational implementation of Indonesian passives
Full text linkThis study aims to analyze and develop a detailed model of syntax and semantics of passive sentences in standard Indonesian in the framework of Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG) (Pollard & Sag, 1994; Sag et al., 2003) and Minimal Recursion Semantics (MRS) (Copestake et al., 2005), explicit enough to be interpreted by a computer, focusing on implementation rather than theory. There are two main types of passive in Indonesian, following Sneddon et al. (2010, pp. 256-260) and Alwi et al. (2014, pp. 352-356), called ‘passive type 1’ (P1) and ‘passive type 2’ (P2). Both types were analyzed and implemented in the Indonesian Resource Grammar (INDRA), a computational grammar for Indonesian (Moeljadi et al., 2015)
The fine structure of clausal right-node raising constructions in Japanese
Full text linkWe examine the fine structure of clausal right-node raising constructions in Japanese, and argue that there are sentences in which a tensed verb is right-node-raised out of coordinated tensed clauses as well as sentences in which a verb stem is right-node-raised out of coordinated tenseless phrases. In the latter case, the tense morpheme has to be assumed to take a tenseless complement clause, and we note that the existence of such a structure contradicts the so-called lexicalist hypothesis, according to which a verb stem and the tense morpheme immediately following it always form a morphosyntactic constituent
Symmetry and asymmetry in the Hebrew copula construction
Full text linkThe copula construction in Hebrew has received much attention in the linguistic literature. Nevertheless, one non-canonical variant has been largely neglected. In this variant the copula, flanked by two NPs, exhibits agreement with the post-copular NP, contrary to the canonical variant, where the agreement controller is the initial NP. This phenomenon challenges the notion of subject and its relation to agreement. The current corpus-based study investigates the word order and agreement patterns exhibited by the Hebrew copular constructions and shows that their distribution is largely motivated by information structure considerations. The proposed analysis accounts for the syntactic symmetry and semantic asymmetry between the two NPs
Sign language agreement: A constraint-based perspective
Full text linkThe paper addresses verbal agreement in German sign language from a constraint-based perspective. Based on Meir\u27s Agreement Morphology Principles it presents an HPSG analysis of plain, regular and backwards agreement verbs that models the interaction between phonological (manual) features and syntactico-semantic relationships within a verbal sign by well-defined lexical restrictions. We argue that a sign-based declarative analysis can provide an elegant approach to agreement in sign language since it allows to exploit cross-modular constraints within grammar, and hence permits a direct manipulation of all relevant phonological features of a verb depending on its syntactic and semantic properties
Plural in Lexical Resource Semantics
Full text linkThe paper shows how the plural semantic
ideas of (Sternefeld, 1998) can be captured in Lexical Resource
Semantics, a system of underspecied semantics. It is argued that
Sternefeld\u27s original approach, which allows for the unrestricted
insertion of pluralisation into Logical Form, suffers from a problem
originally pointed out by Lasersohn (1989) with respect to the analysis
offered by Gillon (1987). The problem is shown to stem from repeated
pluralisation of the same verbal argument and to be amenable to a
simple solution in the proposed lexical analysis, which allows for
restricting the pluralisations that can be inserted. The paper further
develops an account of maximalisation of pluralities as needed to
obtain the correct readings for sentences with quantiers that are not
upward monotone. Such an account is absent in the orginal system in
(Sternefeld, 1998). The present account makes crucial use of the
possibility to have distinct constituents contribute identical semantic
material offered by LRS and employs it in an analysis of maximalisation
in terms of polyadic quantication