Proceedings of the International Conference on Head-Driven Phrase Structure Grammar
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A construction-based analysis of Dutch verb clusters
Full text linkDutch is well-known for the formation of verb clusters. A characteristic aspect of such constructions is that the order of the verbs may differ from the order in which they are selected. Across the Dutch language area verb clusters show different types of word order variation. This paper proposes a constructivist account of word order variation in Dutch verb clusters. Linearization is not modelled in terms of the GVOR feature, after Kathol (2000). Instead, it relies on the bidimensional phrase hierarchy initiated by Ginzburg & Sag (2000), which is extended for the analysis of constructions with verb clusters. This proposal accounts for the most common instances of word order variation in Dutch verb clusters, and it can be easily adapted to model a specific variety or dialect
Modeling adnominal possession in multilingual grammar engineering
Full text linkIn this paper we describe insights gained from building an extension to the LinGO Grammar Matrix customization system to cover adnominal possessive phrases. We show how the wide range of such constructions attested in the world\u27s languages can be handled with the typical major phrase types used in HPSG and discuss the value of feature bundling in the multilingual grammar engineering context
Korean and Spanish psych-verbs: Interaction of case, theta-roles, linearization, and event structure in HPSG
Full text linkIn this paper, we argue that by making a more detailed distinction of theta-roles, while at the same time investigating the correlation of case marking, theta-role assignment, and eventuality types, we can describe different psych-verb subclasses and explain their alignment patterns in Spanish and Korean. We propose a neo-Davidsonian treatment of psych-verbs in HPSG that allows us to account for the underspecification of theta-roles which are modeled in an inheritance hierarchy for semantic relations. By assuming linking properties modeled lexically, we can constrain the properties for psych-verbs which shows the mapping of semantic arguments (i.e. experiencer, stimulus-causer, subject matter and target) to the elements in the argument structure. The type hierarchy and lexical rules proposed here capture the alternation in case marking not only of the experiencer (as traditionally assumed in the literature), but also of the stimulus. This analysis leads us to a new fourfold classification of psych-verbs for both languages
Valence-changing morphology via lexical rule composition
Full text linkI describe an analysis of valence-changing verbal morphology implemented as a library extending the LinGO Grammar Matrix customization system. This analysis is based on decomposition of these operations into rule components, which in turn are expressed as lexical rule supertypes that implement specific, isolatable constraints. I also show how common variations of these constraints can be abstracted and parameterized by their axes of variation. I then demonstrate how these constraints can be recomposed in various combinations to provide broad coverage of the typological variation of valence change found in the world’s languages. I evaluate the coverage of this library on five held-out world languages that exhibit
these phenomena, achieving 79% coverage and 2% overgeneration
Parallel affix blocks in Choctaw
Full text linkChoctaw, a Muskogean language, shows a complex set of restrictions on verbal prefixes which requires reference both to exponence and position class. An approach like that of Information-Based Morphology Crysmann and Bonami (2016) allows us to model the facts correctly.
Resumption and case: A new take on Modern Standard Arabic
Full text linkOver the past few years, there has been renewed interest in the treatment of resumption in HPSG: despite areas of convergence, e.g. the recognition of
resumptive dependencies as dependencies, as motivated by Across-the-Board (ATB) extraction, there is no unified theory to date, with differences
pertaining, e.g., to the exact formulation of amalgamation (Ginzburg and Sag, 2000), or the place of island constraints in grammar. While Borsley (2010) and Alotaibi and Borsley (2013) relegate the difference in locality of gap and resumptive dependencies to the performance system, Crysmann (2012, 2016) captures insensitivity to strong islands as part of the grammar. Harmonising existing proposals becomes even more acute, if we consider the
cross-linguistic similarity of the phenomenon, in particular, if we compare languages like Hausa and Arabic, which both feature island insensitivity to some
degree, as well as bound pronominal resumptive objects and zero pronominal resumptive subjects, to name just a few of the parallels.
In this paper, I shall reexamine resumption (and extraction) in Modern Standard Arabic (henceforth: MSA) and propose a reanalysis that improves
on Alotaibi and Borsley (2013) in several areas: first, I shall argue that controlling the distribution of gaps and resumptives by means of case is not only
empirically under-motivated but also leads to counter-intuitive constraint specifications in the majority of cases. Second, I shall show that the case-based account of Alotaibi and Borsley (2013) can be straightforwardly supplanted with the weight-based account I proposed in Crysmann (2016): in doing this, one
does not only get a better alignment of case assignment constraints with overtly observable manifestations of case, but such an account is also general enough
to scale from case languages, such as MSA, to languages without case, such as
Hausa, or many Arabic vernaculars. Finally, I shall address case in ATB extraction and propose a refinement of the Coordination Constraint of Pollard and
Sag (1994) that accounts for exactly the kind of mismatch observed in mixed
gap/resumptive ATB extractio
Yucatecan control and lexical categories in SBCG
Full text linkThis paper explores the conundrum posed by two different control constructions in Yucatec Maya, a Mayan language spoken by around 800,000 speakers in the Yucatán Peninsula and northern Belize. Basic syntactic structure of the language is introduced, and a general SBCG treatment of control in YM is presented, alongside with an example of motion verbs as control matrices. The unruly case of intransitive subjunctive control, where the controllee appears with an unexpected status (incompletive) and without set-A morphology, is discussed and a proposal to treat it as nominalization is evaluated. The nominalization proposal is rejected based on the following grounds: (1) nominalization tends to attract definitive morphology, which is absent from intransitive subjunctive control constructions, (2) nominalization does not truly explain the lack of set-A morphology if one desires to provide a unified account of set-A morphemes, (3) verbs bereft of otherwise expected set-A morphemes have an independent motivation in the form of agent focus constructions.
The grammar signature is not part of the proceedings but can be downloaded here: grammar signature
Backward control in Modern Standard Arabic
Full text linkThis paper is the third in a series of papers dedicated to the investigation of subjunctive complement clauses in Modern Standard Arabic. It began with Arad Greshler et al.\u27s (2016) search for obligatory control predicates in the language and continued with Arad Greshler et al.\u27s (2017) empirical and theoretical investigation of the backward control construction. In this paper we show that Arad Greshler et al.\u27s (2017) findings and ultimate analysis, which is cast in a transformational framework, can be straightforwardly formalized using the existing principles and tools of HPSG. Our proposed analysis accounts for all the patterns attested with subjunctive complement clauses in Modern Standard Arabic, including instances of control and no-control
ˋˋVP\u27\u27 adverbs without a VP: The syntax of adverbs in Tongan
No full textThe Polynesian language Tongan appears to lack surface-oriented motivation for a VP constituent. Even so, adverbial elements appear in both a rightwards location and a leftwards location, superficially similar to the S-adverbs and VP-adverbs in well-studied western European languages. This paper explores how the Tongan \u27\u27VP-adverbs\u27\u27 (as well as others) can be analyzed in HPSG without a VP for those adverbs to attach to. Several kinds of analyses, representing different strands of research on the syntax of adjuncts in HPSG, are explored: a Adjuncts-as-Valents analysis, a VAL-sensitive Adjuncts-as-Selectors analysis, and a WEIGHT-sensitive Adjuncts-as-Selectors analysis. All suggest that an analysis of the adverbs without a VP is possible; a WEIGHT-sensitive Adjuncts-as-Selectors seems to have the fewest issues
English prepositional numeral constructions
Full text linkThis paper discusses the syntactic
properties of \u27prepositional numeral constructions (PNCs)\u27 in English,
which is exemplified by ‘about 250 babies’ and ‘over 16,000 animals’. In
PNCs a preposition is followed by a numeral. Previous analyses have
claimed that the preposition and the numeral make a prepositional phrase
in PNCs, but we argue that this is not a satisfactory approach. In HPSG
there are some possible analyses that might be proposed, but there are
reasons for supposing that the best analysis is one in which the
preposition is a functor, a non-head selecting a numeral head