Phrasal Constructions Research Articles

Thai pragmatic constructions: The oey paradigm

A set of ‘pragmatic constructions’ is described for Thai, organized by a paradigm of phonologically similar exclamatory words. The lexical paradigm involved is used especially to express feelings associated with interpersonal relationships. Interjective material, along with its pragmatic and semantic values, is locally ensconced in a set of syntactic constructions. Thus, for these constructions, linguistic levels cohere along the lines of certain recent proposals: grammatical theory needs to accomodate phrasal constructions of varying degrees of idiomaticity, and specific pragmatic factors may need a rather direct access to the lexicon.

The effectiveness of a nonsyntactic approach to automatic phrase indexing for document retrieval

It may be possible to improve the quality of automatic indexing systems by using complex descriptors, for example, phrases, in addition to the simple descriptors (words or word stems) that are normally used in automatically constructed representations of document content. This study is directed toward the goal of developing effective methods of identifying phrases in natural language text from which good quality phrase descriptors can be constructed. The effectiveness of one method, a simple nonsyntactic phrase indexing procedure, has been tested on five experimental document collections. The results have been analyzed in order to identify the inadequacies of the procedure, and to determine what kinds of information about text structure are needed in order to construct phrase descriptors that are good indicators of document content. Two primary conclusions have been reached: (1) In the retrieval experiments, the nonsyntactic phrase construction procedure did not consistently yield substantial improvements in effectiveness. It is therefore not likely that phrase indexing of this kind will prove to be an important method of enhancing the performance of automatic document indexing and retrieval systems in operational environments. (2) Many of the shortcomings of the nonsyntactic approach can be overcome by incorporating syntactic information into the phrase construction process. However, a general syntactic analysis facility may be required, since many useful sources of phrases cannot be exploited if only a limited inventory of syntactic patterns can be recognized. Further research should be conducted into methods of incorporating automatic syntactic analysis into content analysis for document retrieval. © 1989 John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

The role of native grammars in correcting errors in second language learning

This paper describes VP2, a system that has been implemented to tutor nonnative speakers in English. This system differs from many tutoring systems by employing an explicit grammar of its user's native language. This grammar enables VP2 to customize its responses by addressing problems due to interference of the native language. The system focuses on the acquisition of English verb‐particle and verb‐prepositional phrase constructions. Its correction strategy is based upon comparison of the native language grammar with an English grammar. VP2 is a modular system: its grammar of a user's native language can easily be replaced by a grammar of another language. The problems and solutions presented in this paper are related to the more general question of how modelling previous knowledge facilitates instruction in a new skill.

Category specificity in an agrammatic patient: The relative impairment of verb retrieval and comprehension

We report our investigations of a severely agrammatic patient (ROX). A striking feature of ROX's spontaneous speech was his extremely abnormal verb phrase constructions. We established that ROX was impaired both in the retrieval and in the comprehension of action names and verbs which contrasted with his generally excellent comprehension and retrieval of nouns. First we describe his impaired performance on certain sentence comprehension tests. Secondly we document his deficits in naming common actions and our attempt to remedy his impairment. Thirdly we investigate his comprehension of semantically and thematically related nouns and verbs. ROX's agrammatism is discussed from the perspective of category specificity. It is argued that his semantic representation of verbs is impaired, and that this lexical deficit may well be at the core of this type of agrammatism.

Modifier-head or function-argument relations in phrase structure?: The evidence of some word order universals

This paper compares the predictions made by two competing general models of phrase structure for cross-language word order patterns. The first general model is categorial grammar, in which constituents contract ‘function-argument’ relations. The second is exemplified by theories such as the X-bar theory in which constituents are either heads of phrase or (various types of) modifiers of these, and hence in which the ‘modifier-head’ relation holds. It is the general differences between these two types of relations which will concern us, for they result in partially different structural groupings being assigned to the same surface constituents, and in very different node labellings. In particular ‘they embody different claims about the kinds of syntagmatic relations that hold between constituents. Functionargument relations are primarily semantically motivated, and the syntactic rules of phrasal construction are assumed to mirror these isomorphically. Modifier-head relations are typically syntactically motivated, within the context of autonomous theories of syntax. The set of word order data to be used is taken from Hawkins (1983). The question we shall address is: how well does one or the other theory succeed in describing and explaining these universal word order data? There are, of course, numerous exemplars of each of these models. Compare, for example, the categorial grammars of Ajdukiewicz (1935), Montague (1974), Vennemann (1976, 198 l), Vennemann and Harlow (1977), Keenan (1979), Keenan and Faltz (1978), Flynn (1982). Modifier-head

Some Eastern Jamiltepec Mixtec Phrase Constructions

Some Eastern Jamiltepec Mixtec Phrase Constructions

Semantics and syntax of the to possessive in English

The to possessive may be defined as that phrasal possessive construction using to which interchanges with either an inflected possessive or an of possessive or both, and with a sentence using a form of the verb have. For example:(1) father to the bride (to possessive, henceforth to-Poss)(2) bride's father (inflected possessive, henceforth gen-Poss)(3) father of the bride (of possessive, henceforth of-Poss)(4) the bride has this father.

Recptive abilities of deaf children across five modes of communication.

74 children in 7 preschool programs for the deaf were assessed in a measure of receptive communication. Subjects ranged from 48 to 72 months with a mean chronological age of 61.96 months. Hearing losses ranged from 71 to 100 decibels with a mean loss of 95.49 decibels. Subjects were tested across five modes of communication: (a) sound alone, (b) sound plus speechreading, (c) sound and speechreading plus fingerspelling, (d) sound and speechreading plus signs, and (e) the printed word. Four levels of difficulty were assessed for each mode: (a) number concepts, (b) adjective-noun phrases, (c) noun-conjunction-noun phrases, and (d) noun-verb-prepositional phrase constructions. Results suggest that the most efficient means of receptive communication was simultaneous use of sound and speechreading plus signs. Children using this system receive information at least as efficiently as other deaf children when manual components are removed. Implications of the findings are discussed.