Government And Binding Research Articles

Development of an automatic grammar checker for Yorùbá word processing using Government and Binding Theory

Grammar checkers have been developed for well-resourced languages such as French, German and English. However, there is a dearth of automatic grammar checkers for African languages including Standard Yorùbá (SY) and consequently no standard software application. This study developed a software system for Yorùbá grammar checking. Requirements for a Yorùbá grammar checking system were investigated by gathering information on Yorùbá syntax from Textbooks and Journals. Based on the information gathered, a computational model was formulated using the theoretical framework of Government and Binding (GB). The formulated system was designed using the Context Free Grammar Tool in Automata Theory. The system was implemented using the Python programming language version 3.5 and Natural Language Tool kit (NLTK). The system was tested for accuracy using a total of three hundred sentences. In detecting grammatically correct and incorrect sentences, an accuracy of 86.67%, 88.89% and 88.89% were achieved for simple, complex and compound sentences respectively. The grammar checker has been able to function as an automatic grammatical error checker of Yorùbá digital text. Its implementation in software applications has the potential to increase the quality of Yorùbá word processing. Also, the dictionary of words created can be used in other areas of human language processing.

Faith voices resisting anti-abortion norms: Deconstructing and re-configuring transgression in Northern Ireland faith spaces

Little is known about how, in conservative societies, people of faith who support access to abortion, transgress spaces that assume anti-abortion values and norms. This qualitative study, set in Northern Ireland, seeks to identify how prochoice persons of faith transgress dominant religious positions, through the application of a Foucauldian feminist framework. Regulation of abortion in Northern Ireland vis-à-vis the UK is, and always has been, transgressive. The Abortion Act 1967, which allows for abortion in Great Britain, was never extended to Northern Ireland. Then in 2019, when abortion law in Northern Ireland was finally reformed, these reforms went above and beyond the GB framework becoming the first part of the UK to achieve decriminalisation. This legal change, introduced by Westminster, has been opposed by some policymakers in Northern Ireland who wish for anti-abortion norms to dominate. Within this context we explore how the power/knowledge nexus, and self-regulation are experienced by people of faith who are prochoice; how reverse discourse seeks to subvert hegemonic discourses; and identify lessons to be learned. Transgression results in a ‘belonging-paradox’, within which prochoice individuals feel simultaneously ‘half in, half out’ of their faith community as a result of its anti-abortion stance. Participants experienced cultural intimidation and felt silenced in faith spaces. We conclude safe that spaces for those who feel isolated due to their transgressive prochoice views, and for those unsure of their position, are essential.

Distribution and Interpretation of Overt Noun Phrases in Gokana Clause Structure: A Government-Binding Analysis

Noun phrases perform both thematic and grammatical functions. A principled analysis of their role within clause structure and discourse context is necessary for a proper understanding of language structure. This paper analyzed the distribution and interpretation of overt noun phrases in Gokana clause-structure within the framework of Government-Binding Theory. The paper found that Gokana overt Noun phrases are classifiable into anaphors, pronouns, and referential expressions. The paper showed that Gokana anaphors are of two types: reflexives and reciprocals. The reflexive noun phrase must have an antecedent in order to be interpretable which must agree with the reflexive in the nominal grammatical features of person and number. The paper found that the antecedent/reflexive pair is immune to gender agreement as the reflexive does not morphologize gender contrasts in the language. The paper claimed that a reflexive must be bound in its governing category, and cannot precede but must always follow its binder. Thus, an antecedent must constituent command (C-command) the reflexive NP and not the reverse. The paper argued that Gokana reciprocals are subject to the same distribution and interpretive constraints as reflexives except that the reciprocal noun phrase is inherently plural and requires only a plural antecedent for its interpretation. The paper claimed that Gokana pronouns do not show gender contrasts and are not locally bound in their distribution but they inherently specify certain properties of the referent and may not require an antecedent in its minimal clause but may need contextual information for a complete determination of the referent .We noted that there is no form of binding on NPs that are referential expressions and they do not have any form of pronominal or anaphoric grammatical relation in their distribution and interpretation within Gokana clause – structure.

Niveles de representación e interpretación semántica

The nature of the relationship between sentence form and meaning has been an important concern in generative grammar from the inception of the program. Chomsky (1955) raised the question of whether transformations preserve meaning. The suggested answer was negative at that time, and the locus of interpretation was the T-marker, the entire derivational history. In the standard theory of Chomsky (1965), it was proposed, based on work of Katz, Fodor, and Postal, that Deep Structure, a level newly proposed in that work, is the locus of semantic interpretation, though it was acknowledged that quantifiers raise certain difficulties. Those difficulties, along with similar ones involving anaphoric relations, led to the Extended Standard Theory, where Deep and Surface Structure jointly input interpretation, and soon, with the advent of traces, Surface Structure alone. In subsequent models within the GB framework, the derived syntactic level of LF becomes the sole locus of interpretation. Finally, in more recent Minimalist Chomskyan work, there is argued to be no one level of LF; rather, semantic interpretation is interspersed among cyclic steps of the syntactic derivation, reminiscent of the LSLT proposal, though more restricted, and very similar to proposals of Jackendoff and Lasnik in the 1970's. I will try to sort through the motivations for these changes, focusing especially on the problem of quantifier interpretation.

Undergraduate writing errors in English in a generative syntactic perspective

It is widely believed that language learning, like any other human learning, involves the tendency to make of errors. (See Dulay, Burt & Krashen, 1982) Learner errors are an indication of the cognitive processes they make use of in analyzing, interpreting, and reorganizing the input they receive from the target language. Hence, learner errors are considered an integral part of language learning/acquisition. Consequently, error analysis (EA) emerged with the understanding that learner errors provide useful insights into the underlying processes of second language (L2) acquisition. From this stance, the present study examines 30 writing samples of a group of undergraduates of the Faculty of Humanities & Social Sciences, University of Ruhuna, focusing on the morpho-syntactic errors made by them. The objective of the study is to find out the types of morpho-syntactic errors made by the university undergraduates in their classroom work and assignments and to provide a Generative Syntactic explanation for them. The preference for morpho-syntactic errors over other error types is due to the fact that, by far, most of the L2 learner errors fall into this category. The selection of the Generative Syntactic approach is determined by the dearth of error analysis studies that have used this particular approach. Data analysis is done by using 10 syntactic rules and explanations in different modules of the Government and Binding (GB) theory. It is revealed that most of the errors are related to the predicates and argument structure relations, movement in embedded “Wh” questions, pronoun reference, clausal complementation, and adjacency violations. The least number of errors are related to adverb use, person-number agreement (phi-feature agreement), coordination, verbs with clausal complements, and in the use of ‘that’ complementizer.

Possible roles for semantics and syntax in a government-binding structure

As described, for example, by Hornstein, the general linguistic framework given by the contemporary government-binding theory distinguishes several levels. This paper is intended to show that a differentiation of that kind, if such levels are understood in a different manner, can be clearly consistent with some developments in current cognitive science, and, in particular, with approaches such as the one of López-Astorga, which attempts to link proposals that, in principle, can be deemed as irreconcilable, such as the mental models theory and the idea that human cognition is led by logical forms. In this way, without accepting the characteristics that usually are assigned to the levels pointed out by the government-binding theory, it is argued that the role attributed to semantics and syntax by López-Astorga can be compatible with a general structure more or less akin to the one of this last theory.

A Post-Transformational Study of Phrasal Possessive Constructions in English

This paper observes the three modules of government-binding (henceforth GB) theory which come into existence after transforming a syntactic string from D-structure to S-structure level. Transforming a syntactic structure via the process of movement leads to the appearance of a new structure, which is different from the original one at D-structure level. Here the focus is on the phrasal possessive constructions to which bounding (movement) theory, government theory, and binding theory are applied. The paper tries to provide a possible answer to the question of whether there is any relationship between the three post-transformational modules or not with respect to possessives. Also, and more importantly, it aims at indicating the extent to which possessives adhere to the modules. The paper is a theoretical one whose data is from textbooks and scholarly articles, rather than from participants. One of the outstanding conclusions is that the two modules of government theory and binding theory are highly intertwined due to sharing the structural relation of c-command.

Comparison of Several Data Mining Methods in Credit Card Default Prediction

LightGBM is an open-source, distributed and high-performance GB framework built by Microsoft company. LightGBM has some advantages such as fast learning speed, high parallelism efficiency and high-volume data, and so on. Based on the open data set of credit card in Taiwan, five data mining methods, Logistic regression, SVM, neural network, Xgboost and LightGBM, are compared in this paper. The results show that the AUC, F1-Score and the predictive correct ratio of LightGBM are the best, and that of Xgboost is second. It indicates that LightGBM or Xgboost has a good performance in the prediction of categorical response variables and has a good application value in the big data era.

شرۆڤەكردنى ڕستەى زمانى كوردى لە ڕوانگەى تيۆرى دەسەڵات و بەستنەوەدا

This study tries to analyze the Kurdish language, using Chomsky’s (1981) Government Binding theory, which is by itself regarded as a turning point in Chomsky’s Transformational Generative Grammar related to Universal Grammar. This approach will answer the diversity occurs in different languages according to Principles and Parameters. 
 First, Universal Grammar and its principles have been mentioned in this study. Later on, interpretations are given to the sub-theories of GB with which sentences in central Kurdish are analyzed. Besides, the level and method of the theory a long with the optional and obligatory movements are shown. Interpretations are given to different cases of noun phrase. The difference between grammatical case and theta role is indicated through examples.Again, indicating economy in expression, movement and null-constituents whose places can be filled by PRO/ pro are discussed. The distribution of pronouns to personal and demonstrative which refer back to the empty categories reveals the activeness of Kurdish as a pro-drop language.

Non-Verbal Predicate in English: Evidence from Iraqi Nominal Sentences

The fact that Iraqi nominal sentences are expressed without a verbal element has led the author to examine the status of the copula (be) in English. The aim is to reach at an explanation as to why Iraqi does not use a copula while English does. Explanation of this sort is significant because it has some direct implications on English language teaching and translation in Iraq. Using inductive method of reasoning, it has been established that tracing grammatical properties such as tense and agreement may lead to find-out the reason behind this cross-linguistic variation; and subsequently reach at a generalization that maybe applicable to other languages. The latter is an issue that remains open for further research. While placing the discussion within the parameters of the Government and Binding (GB) theory, the author concluded the reason as non-verbal predication in Iraqi, unlike English, can support a combination of these grammatical properties and thus rendering the need for a copula redundant.

Non-Verbal Predicate in English: Evidence from Iraqi Nominal Sentences

The fact that Iraqi nominal sentences are expressed without a verbal element has led the author to examine the status of the copula (be) in English. The aim is to reach at an explanation as to why Iraqi does not use a copula while English does. Explanation of this sort is significant because it has some direct implications on English language teaching and translation in Iraq. Using inductive method of reasoning, it has been established that tracing grammatical properties such as tense and agreement may lead to find-out the reason behind this cross-linguistic variation; and subsequently reach at a generalization that maybe applicable to other languages. The latter is an issue that remains open for further research. While placing the discussion within the parameters of the Government and Binding (GB) theory, the author concluded the reason as non-verbal predication in Iraqi, unlike English, can support a combination of these grammatical properties and thus rendering the need for a copula redundant.

Global Commons in the Global Brain

The next decade (present to ~2020–2025) could be characterized by large-scale labour disruption and further acceleration of income and wealth inequality due to the widespread introduction of general-purpose robotics, machine-learning software/artificial intelligence (AI) and their various interconnections within the emerging infrastructure of the ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT). In this paper I argue that such technological changes and their socioeconomic consequences signal the emergence of a global metasystem (i.e. control organization beyond markets and nation-states) and may require a qualitatively new level of political organization to guide a process of self-organization. Consequently, this paper proposes and attempts to develop a conceptual framework with the potential to aid an international political transition towards a ‘post-capitalist’ ‘post-nation state’ global world. This conceptual framework is grounded within sociotechnological theory of the ‘Global Brain’ (GB), which describes a potential future planetary organizational structure founded on distributed and open-ended intelligence; and the socioeconomic theory of the ‘Commons’, which is a paradigm describing distributed modes of organization founded upon principles of democratic management and open access. In the integration of GB theory and Commons theory this paper ultimately argues that an appropriate international response to the emerging technological revolution should include the creation of networks with both automated and collaborative components that function on ‘Global Commons’ (GC) logic (i.e. beyond both state and market logic).

Genitive Case in the Arabic Construct State Construction

This paper investigates the internal structure of Construct State (CS) construction in Standard Arabic (SA) in an attempt to argue that genitive Case in this construction is structural. In Government and Binding (GB) theory, Chomsky (1981, 1986) distinguishes two types of Case: structural and inherent. He defines structural Case in terms of a structural relation between Case assigner and Case assignee, whereas inherent Case is defined in terms of a thematic relation between Case assigner and Case assignee. This distinction between structural and inherent Case is maintained in the Minimalist Program (MP). Chomsky (1986, 1995) argues that nominative and accusative Cases are structural, whereas genitive Case, whether prenominal or postnominal, is inherent. Chomsky's assumption that genitive Case is inherent has raised several problems. Alexiadou and Wilder (1998) and others such as, Roberts (1997), Sorin (2002), Jeong (2003), argue that prenominal genitive in English is structural. Their arguments are based on the similarities between prenominal genitives and clausal subjects which are structurally marked. In Hebrew, Siloni (1997) argues that genitive Case is structural. Likewise, Ouhalla (1991), Fehri (1993) and Kremers (2003) argue that genitive Case in SA is structural. Based on the main characteristics of CS construction in SA as well as nominalization, this study argues that genitive Case in Arabic CS construction is structural.

The Shona Subject Relation: Some Selectional Principles

This article presents some selection principles of the subject relation in Shona, a southern Bantu language spoken in Zimbabwe. The selectional principles are based on the morphological and semantic characteristics of the preverbal noun phrase (NP). The data for this investigation came from the authors who are native speakers of two main Shona dialects, namely, Zezuru and Karanga. Data was analysed using the projection principle, a branch of government and binding (GB) theory, as well as the seven selectional principles established in well researched languages. It came out that no single selectional rule can cater for all the possible Shona sentences. We demonstrate that seven selectional principles are required for a holistic account of the subject relation in Shona. We also show that there are instances where the selectional rules contradict. As a result, we suggest a hierarchy of reliability to cater for this: namely, thematic or semantic reasons > PAH selection > morphological reasons > topicality in word order > intransitivity assumption > dummy subject. As there are few descriptive and theoretical studies on Shona syntax, this research recommends more studies on this subject. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n27p1592

Formal Description of Arabic Syntactic Structure in the Framework of the Government and Binding Theory

The research focus in our paper is twofold: (a) to examine the extent to which simple Arabic sentence structures comply with the Government and Binding Theory (GB), and (b) to implement a simple Arabic Context Free Grammar (CFG) parser to analyze input sentence structures to improve some Arabic Natural Language Processing (ANLP) Applications. Here we present a parser that employs Chomsky's Government and Binding (GB) theory to better understand the syntactic structure of Arabic sentences. We consider different simple word orders in Arabic and show how they are derived. We analyze different sentence orders including Subject-Verb-Object (SVO), Verb-Object-Subject (VOS), Verb-Subject-Object (VSO), nominal sentences, nominal sentences beginning with inna (and sisters) and question sentences. We tackle the analysis of the structures to develop syntactic rules for a fragment of Arabic grammar. We include two sets of rules: (1) rules on sentence structures that do not account for case and (2) rules on sentence structures that account for case of Noun Phrases (NPs). We present an implementation of the grammar rules in Prolog. The experiments revealed high accuracy in case assignment in Modern Standard Arabic (MSA) in the light of GB theory especially when the input sentences are tagged with identification of end cases.

The Interpretation of “Tlhahisoleseding” v/s “Tlhahisolesedi”

This study seeks to question the continuous usage of the compound locative noun 'tlhahisoleseding' (information) as the basic noun. The paper argues that 'tlhahisoleseding' (information) is a locative noun (an adverb of place) derived from the noun 'tlhahisolesedi' (information) and should not be used as an equivalent term for information but 'tlhahisolesedi' instead. The basic principles of compound or complex nouns formation were scrutinised; and the implications of suffixal morpheme -eng/-ng in changing basic nouns into locative nouns. The suffixal uses of -eng/-ng in other Sesotho word categories is presented. The Theory of Government and Binding (GB) and its sub theories were applied. The outcomes of the study show that 'tlhahisoleseding' is a locative noun whereas 'tlhahisolesedi' is a basic compound noun which has a reading of information. The morphological analysis of these 'alternating' nouns shows that they produce different meaning in Sesotho sentences.

Paraconsistency and Plausible Argumentation in Generative Grammar: A Case Study

While the analytical philosophy of science regards inconsistent theories as disastrous, Chomsky allows for the temporary tolerance of inconsistency between the hypotheses and the data. However, in linguistics there seem to be several types of inconsistency. The present paper aims at the development of a novel metatheoretical framework which provides tools for the representation and evaluation of inconsistencies in linguistic theories. The metatheoretical model relies on a system of paraconsistent logic and distinguishes between strong and weak inconsistency. Strong inconsistency is destructive in that it leads to logical chaos. In contrast, weak inconsistency may be constructive, because it is capable of accounting for the simultaneous presence of seemingly incompatible structures. However, paraconsistent logic cannot grasp the dynamism of the emergence and resolution of weak inconsistencies. Therefore, the metatheoretical approach is extended to plausible argumentation. The workability of this metatheoretical model is tested with the help of a detailed case study on an analysis of discontinuous constituents in Government-Binding Theory.

‘It’ subject constructions in Xitsonga

This article examines the referential and the non-referential pronoun ‘it’ subject constructions in Xitsonga, both of which manifest themselves in different forms and contexts. The various forms of the referential subject pronoun follow the class grouping of the antecedent noun or noun-equivalent from which the pronoun is morphosyntactically derived. Specifically, ten forms of the referential subject ‘it’ are distinguished in Xitsonga. These are wona, rona, xona, yona, rona, byona, kona, kona, kona and dyona. It is argued that the form of the non-referential pronoun is informed by the types of clauses in which it occurs. The form ku (it is) appears in subject constructions pinpointing weather clauses, and the form i (it is) occurs in subject expressions referring to time, distances, clefts, identity as well as in noun/infinitive constructions. This article holds that ‘it’ is a subject construction in Xitsonga, and that the referential subject is a semantic-bearing element, whereas the non-referential subject is an empty constituent. This study differs from other studies within the Bantu language family in that it examines the notion of subjecthood from three different theoretical frameworks: the functionalist-typological approach, markedness theory, and theta as a sub-theory of Government and Binding (GB) theory.

Grammar Frameworks In Intelligent CALL

Most recent work in ICALL has tended to focus on syntactic structure. Clearly the grammar formalism chosen for such systems is of some importance. However, as this paper argues, little consideration seems to have been paid to such matters beyond the question of computational efficiency. Following previous work, the paper further argues for choosing a formalism that potentially meshes with work in SLA. Of all the main grammar formalisms being developed, GB theory, with its emphasis on Universal Grammar, has had the most impact on SLA research. Recent advances in "principle based" parsing now make possible the integration of such work into ICALL.

Aspects of empty categories in Xhosa within the theory of Government andBinding

The main purpose of this paper is to explore various agreement phenomena in Xhosa within the government-binding (GB) framework of generative grammar. The principles of the null subject parameter postulated in (Chomsky 1981), which accounts for the absence of an overt subject in phonetic representation, are shown to extend to the analysis of agreement phenomena in J.nosa which are characteristic of Bantu languages in general. In the proposed analyses the empty pronominal nonanaphor (pro) plays a crucial role. In particular it is argued that, apart from occurring as subject and object., pro can appear as the head of an NP, and as the complement of prepositions, the possessive morpheme ~, and the copulative.