Theory Of Syntax Research Articles

A review of major nursing vocabularies and the extent to which they have the characteristics required for implementation in computer-based systems.

Building on the work of previous authors, the Computer-based Patient Record Institute (CPRI) Work Group on Codes and Structures has described features of a classification scheme for implementation within a computer-based patient record. The authors of the current study reviewed the evaluation literature related to six major nursing vocabularies (the North American Nursing Diagnosis Association Taxonomy 1, the Nursing Interventions Classification, the Nursing Outcomes Classification, the Home Health Care Classification, the Omaha System, and the International Classification for Nursing Practice) to determine the extent to which the vocabularies include the CPRI features. None of the vocabularies met all criteria. The Omaha System, Home Health Care Classification, and International Classification for Nursing Practice each included five features. Criteria not fully met by any systems were clear and non-redundant representation of concepts, administrative cross-references, syntax and grammar, synonyms, uncertainty, context-free identifiers, and language independence.

Overt Scope Marking and Covert Verb-Second

In this article I investigate certain phenomena relating to superiority, the Empty Category Principle (ECP), and scope. I propose a chain-based scope-marking convention and a new analysis of adjunction, and hypothesize that English is a covert verb-second grammar. The analysis is couched within checking theory and ultimately within the bare theory of phrase structure. I propose category-neutral(-ized) LF representations, displaying VP-recursion but lacking functional heads and their projections, and I suggest that this, in turn, allows significant simplification of index-sensitive head government conditions appearing in many contemporary formulations of the ECP.

Diachronic Syntax

Current research on diachronic syntax has yet to provide an account of syntactic change consistent with our theoretical understanding of “knowledge of language” and its acquisition. However, explanatory adequacy requires us to account for all acquisition – this includes the acquisition of grammars that diverge from their sources (i.e., change) as well as that of fully convergent grammars. This paper argues that an adequate explanation of change phenomena is unattainable given the current widespread confusion regarding such critical concepts as “language,”“language change,’” and “syntax.” It seeks to develop a coherent theory of syntactic change, which necessitates clarification of these fundamental matters. I believe that syntactic change should fall out from an adequate theory of syntax (along with a learning algorithm). This paper frames these issues within a Minimalist perspective. Finally, I present evidence that the study of change may provide valuable insights into the proper characterization of certain syntactic phenomena within current syntactic theory.

Symmetry in Syntax: Merge and Demerge

This article proposes a theory of phrase structure which is free from unmotivated stipulations as much as possible and which is also compatible with the most restrictive theory of parametric variation currently available (cf. Fukui (1995)), with a special focus on the nature and role of linear order and functional categories. A hypothesis called the "Symmetry of Derivation" is put forth, according to which the computations in the overt syntax (i.e., the pre-Spell-Out computations) and the computations in the (pre-Morphology) phonological component are "symmetric" in the sense that they form mirror images of each other. More specifically, we propose that language computation maps an array of linguistic elements to an interface representation in such a way that it starts with a lexical item (a head) proceeding in a bottom-up fashion (Merge) and at some point of this step-by-step derivational process (Spell-Out) starts "decomposing" the structures already formed in a top-down fashion ("Demerge") until the derivation reaches a completely unstructured sequence with a fixed linear order. It is shown that this symmetry principle explains the major properties of phrase structure in an elegant way. The principle accounts for the apparently universal "leftness" property of Spec in a straightforward way by attributing its leftness to the fact that a Spec, by definition, is the first maximal projection in a given phrase that the top-down computation Demerge encounters. With respect to the order between a head and its complement, which allows for cross-linguistic variation (head-initial vs. head-last), the symmetry principle predicts that the head-last order reflects the "base" order involving no relevant movement whereas the head-initial order is derived by movement, in clear contrast with Kayne's (1994) approach. The difference between head-initial English and head-last Japanese is, then, attributed to different properties of a "light verb" v (Chomsky (1995b)): v has the property of attracting V in English but not in Japanese. Numerous theoretical and empirical consequences are shown to follow in an interesting way from this hypothesis, coupled with the symmetry principle of derivations.

Computing With Contexts A simple approach

This article describes how the use of a higher-order syntax representation of contexts [due to A. Pitts] combines smoothly with higher-order syntax for evaluation rules, so that definitions can be extended to work over contexts. This provides “for free” — without the development of any new language-specific context calculi - evaluation rules for contexts which commute with hole-filling. We have found this to be a useful technique for directly reasoning about operational equivalence. A small illustration is given based on a unique fixed-point induction principle for a notion of guarded context in a functional language.

Making Sense of Corpus Data

This paper demonstrates the essential role of corpus data in the development of a theory that explains and predicts word behavior. We make this point through a case study of verbs of sound, drawing our evidence primarily from the British National Corpus. We begin by considering pretheoretic notions of the verbs of sound as presented in corpus-based dictionaries and then contrast them with the predictions made by a theory of syntax, as represented by Chomsky's Government-Binding framework. We identify and classify the transitive uses of sixteen representative verbs of sound found in the corpus data. Finally, we consider what a linguistic account with both syntactic and lexical semantic components has to offer as an explanation of observed differences in the behavior of the sample verbs.

Interactive spoken-language processing in a hybrid connectionist system

Our SCREEN (Symbolic Connectionist Robust Enterprise for Natural Language) system analyzes real-world utterances and can be used for relatively large and complex tasks. SCREEN learns a robust flat syntax, semantics, and pragmatics representation. The system also deals with uncommon syntactic and semantic language irregularities. The system is able to produce many utterance hypotheses based on spoken input and can determine which hypotheses are most likely. SCREEN's ability to analyze spoken language, despite encountering mistakes and uncertainties, demonstrates the system's robustness and potential. Because SCREEN is a German spoken-language system, the example of spoken language that we analyze is in German. We provide a literal and, where appropriate, a more easily understood English translation of any German words and sentences that we use.

Autonomy and Functionalist Linguistics

Functional analyses of grammatical phenomena, and the functionalist approaches that promote them, are appealing to those who believe that an integrated view of language structure and language function is desirable. But functional analyses have been held to founder on basic grammatical facts that are taken to support the autonomy of grammar. The concept of autonomy is a complex one, and at least two different notions are found in current linguistic theory: arbitrariness and self-containedness. These notions of autonomy apply either to the syntactic component of the grammar, or (a more recent claim) to the grammar itself, with respect to change, use, and acquisition. The arbitrariness of syntax must be accepted; and many functional analyses are compatible with selfcontainedness. However, mixed formal/functional analyses provide an argument against the self-containedness of syntax, and in fact even many formal theories of syntax accept non-self-containedness. The arbitrariness of grammatical knowledge must also be accepted; and many functional analyses of the dynamic process affecting grammar are compatible with self-containedness. An argument against the self-containedness of grammar comes not from these functional analyses but from sociolinguistics.*

A Restrictive Theory of Agrammatic Comprehension

In this paper I propose a new, restrictive theory of Trace-Deletion in agrammatism. This theory subsumes the Trace-Deletion Hypothesis (TDH; Grodzinsky, 1984a,b, 1986, 1990), which maintains that traces are deleted from agrammatic representations and that a cognitive strategy augments the patients′ performance. This claim accounts for the pattern of loss and sparing observed in these patients′ comprehension of a wide variety of syntactic constructions and is thus important for our understanding of the neural representation of syntax. Yet there are reasons for revising the account and making it more precise, stemming from both recent empirical findings and new developments in the theory of syntax. The original TDH was based on observations of agrammatic comprehension of structures containing traces resulting from either NP- or Wh-movement. Nevertheless, heads (as opposed to phrasal projections) also move and leave traces behind. Head movement (of verbs, for instance) has come to play a central role in linguistic theory (which currently postulates a wider variety of empty categories than any previous theoretical framework). Recent findings suggest that verb movement is retained in agrammatism, indicating that a sweeping claim regarding the deletion of all empty categories is too strong. This motivates the first restrictive move, resulting in a theory that picks out a restricted set of traces-only those for which deficient performance is indeed observed. All other empty categories are left intact. Trace-Deletion is tied to Θ-positions. The second restrictive move is motivated by two types of surprising asymmetries that have recently been discovered for agrammatic comprehenders: First, agrammatic comprehension on passives of psychological predicates provides an error pattern that distinguishes this construction from agentive passive, indicating that the deficit is tied to the thematic properties of the predicate; Second, asymmetries have been observed in agrammatic comprehension of questions and quantifiers. These findings motivate a modification of the augmentative strategy, whose domain of application is restricted to referential NPs. Thus, the new account amounts to the claim that only traces in Θ-positions are deleted, and that the strategy applies to referential NPs alone. This, I argue, not only derives all the data precisely but is also conceptually superior to any previous account of agrammatism. Finally, I discuss the consequences of this account to linguistic theory, and to theories of brain/language relations.

Foundations of Generative Syntax

Part 1 The study of syntax: introduction to the study of syntax the psychological interpretation of grammar. Part 2 Introduction to formal grammar: phrase structure analysis lexical insertion a theory of phrase structure the transformational structure of NP appendix - phrase structure grammar - a formal characterization. Part 3 Recursion, movement, and bounding: wh-movement and the structure of sentential constructions syntactic islands successive cyclic movement and conditions on rules and representations appendices - a brief historical comment on island constraints, a comment on the theory of transformations. Part 4 The English verbal auxiliary system: general properties of the verbal auxiliary system a transformational analysis of the verbal auxiliary system (1) the constituent structure of the verbal string a transformational analysis of the verbal auxiliary system (2) - interrogative and negative sentences the auxiliary do. Part 5 Infinitivals, case and government: case assignment case assignment and the subject of infinitival constructions lexical case phenomena. Part 6 The analysis of empty categories: subject traces in finite clauses empty categories and thematic structure alternative conditions on NP-movement the PRO/trace distinction. Part 7 Binding theory: lexical anaphors pronouns. Part 8 Extensions of binding theory: the assignment of indices binding theory and levels of representation binding theory and empty categories in lieu of a conclusion appendices - two types of crossover, the binding theoretic approach to empty categories.

Language Acquisition after Puberty

Bridging the gap between theoretical linguistics and teaching, Judith R. Strozer explores what recent theoretical advances suggest about learning a after childhood and the implications for the design and execution of a foreign program. Strozer outlines clearly, in nontechnical language, the major concepts of modern theory, from Chomsky's theory of through the most recent discoveries about the abstract foundations of language. She explains ideas about the evolution of a cognitive structure for in the human brain, a language faculty or Universal Grammar that gives humans alone the creative ability to generate the infinite expressions of language. This innate universal schema for endows humankind with a number a very broad principles applicable to all languages. Turning to current advances in the theory of phrase structure, which has replaced our 2,000-year-old rules of grammar with highly abstract universal principles of structure, she relates the latest discoveries about the foundations of to ideas about how children learn languages. A child hearing a specific can automatically set the parameters for the rules governing that particular language, much like setting a binary switch. But our ability to access this innate mechanism automatically seems limited to childhood, until physical maturity somehow changes this brain function. Arguing that adults need to learn consciously the systems and structures of another that children acquire unconsciously, Strozer applies these latest theories about the nature of and how we learn it to the design of foreign programs for adults. She concludes with recommendations for developing a new kind of teaching program that would draw on comparative research and include new pedagogic approaches. Presenting state-of-the-art theory in easily readable terms and illustrative examples, this book will be of interest to everyone interested in the latest understanding of the relationship between the brain and language, as well as to all professionals in linguistics and education.

Metrics Today I: An Introduction

Almost thirty years ago Morris Halle and Samuel Keyser (1966) published their seminal article on Chaucer's prosody, thereby laying the foundation for generative metrics, which was to dominate the study of versification for over a quarter of a century. However, this is not to say that all metrical studies issued during this period followed the generative model. Rather, as in the field of linguistics, while followers of this tradition were extremely prolific, they did tend to ignore other, nongenerative approaches. So, if anyone interested in metrics happened to come across (or deliberately looked up) one of the articles on metrics in College English, Poetics, Language, or Linguistics Inquiry, s/he would no doubt have thought that this was the only kind of metrics that flourished. Besides raising many new questions, generative metrics also came up with numerous answers to long-standing questions. As most of the scholars working in the field were linguists, metrics benefited from the new insights of generative phonology, above all, from the famous SPE (Sound Pattern of English) model of Chomsky and Halle (1968), the most explicit formulation of a theory of linear phonology. Since this type of phonology originated in the framework of generative grammar, it is not surprising that some of the basic claims of generative grammar were also postulated by generative metrics. It should be remembered that the first formulation of generative metrics appeared only a year after the 1965 publication of Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, a cornerstone of modern linguistics. Although some critics maintain

A Formal Semantics of Data Flow Diagrams

Abstract This paper presents a formal semantics of data flow diagrams as used in Structured Analysis, based on an abstract model for data flow transformations. The semantics consists of a collection of VDM functions, transforming an abstract syntax representation of a data flow diagram into an abstract syntax representation of a VDM specification. Since this transformation is executable, it becomes possible to provide a software analyst/designer with two ‘views’ of the system being modelled: a graphical view in terms of a data flow diagram, and a textual view in terms of a VDM specification. In this paper emphasis is on the motivation for the choices made in the transformation. The main aspects of the transformation itself are described using annotated VDM functions with some examples.

A Theory of Language and Information: A Mathematical Approach

I Introduction: Overview Method II Theory of syntax: A theory of sentences Language structure: The system created by the constraints Metalinguistic apparatus within language On the mathematics of language III Grammatical analysis: Analysis of sentences Analysis of the set of sentences IV Subsets of sentences: Sentence sequences Sublanguages V Interpretation: Information The nature and development of language Index

Lexicografia i models lingüístics: les teories lingüístiques i el lèxic

In this paper a discussion is offered of the relation between linguistic theories and lexica. It is shown that linguistic theories imply particular approaches to the lexicon from which particular ways of conceiving the lexicographer’s work can be inferred. To this end a few linguistic theoretical models are examined and their idea of the lexicon is reviewed. Obviously it is beyond the scope of this paper to discuss the approach to lexicon of all different linguistic theories developed during this century. Consequently a few models have been chosen for examination which nonethe l ess are quite representative of the main phases of the recent history of linguistics. After a very short discussion of the characteristics of traditional grammar, the paper starts the discussion with structuralism and then moves over to the examination of some of the linguistic theories that can be broadly considered «generative»; three bas i c stages in the development of Chomsky’s approach are reviewed, i.e., the ones represented by Syntactic structures, Aspects of the theory of syntax, and Lectures on government and binding; and finally the discussion ends with an examination of LFG ( Lexical-functional grammar) and HPSG (Head-driven phrase structure grammar) which are two of the emerging theories are that have originated in the linguistic millieus most influenced by computational lingu i stics.

Pieces of Minds in Psycholinguistics: Steven Pinker, Kenneth Wexler, and Noam Chomsky A Series of Interviews Conducted by Jean A. Rondal

This is the third of a series of interviews featuring Steven Pinker, Noam Chomsky, and Kenneth Wexler, three giant figures in the fields of linguistics, psycholinguistics, and cognitive science. The first two interviews appeared in earlier issues of this journal (Vol. 28, Issue 4, pp. 459–480; Vol. 29, Issue 1, pp. 85–104).Kenneth Wexler teaches and does his experimental work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is well known for his innovative work on language learnability (i.e. the problem of how correct linguistic representations can be attained given the limited data available to the child), which has led to considerable changes in linguistic and psycholinguistic theories and research orientations. More recently, Professor Wexler (in association with Hagit Borer) developed what they call a maturation theory of syntax, suggesting basically, in opposition to the continuity hypothesis, that the formal principles available to the child to fix his grammar mature (i.e. different principles are available at different stages of development).In the interview, Kenneth Wexler speaks about his learnability work, its origins, and how he sees linguistic and psycholinguistic research and theories today. He comments on questions about his maturational point of view in syntax development.The interview took place in Irvine (California) in May of 1988, and was subsequently revised. I am very grateful to Ken Wexler for his kind collaboration. Along with the text of the interview, the reader will find some information on Professor Wexler's background as well as a selected list of his publications.

Perspectives on Phrase Structure: Heads and Licensing

Part 1 Heads: a case for emerging functional categories, J. Kornfilt two functional categories in noun phrases - evidence from modern Hebrew, E. Ritter on the position of subjects, H. Contreras phrase structure of ellipsis in English, A. Lobeck alignment of arguments in adjective phrases, T. Stowell. Part 2 Licensing: syntactic licensing and sub-categorization, S.D. Rothstein adjunct-predicate licensing and D-structure, T.R. Rapoport a phrase structure theory for tertiaries, T. Ernst relative clauses, licensing and the nature of derivation, D. Lebeaux generalized transformations and the D-structure position of adjuncts, M. Speas.

The Analysis and Cognition of Basic Melodic Structures: The Implication-Realization Model

Eugene Narmour formulates a comprehensive theory of melodic syntax to explain cognitive relations between melodic tones at their most basic level. Expanding on the theories of Leonard B. Meyer, the author develops one parsimonious, scaled set of rules modeling implication and realization in all the primary parameters of music. Through an elaborate and original analytic symbology, he shows that a kind of genetic code governs the perception and cognition of melody. One is an automatic, brute system operating on stylistic primitives from the bottom up. The other constitutes a learned system of schemata impinging on style structures from the top down. The theoretical constants Narmour uses are context-free and, therefore, applicable to all styles of melody. He places considerable emphasis on the listener's cognitive performance (that is, fundamental melodic perception as opposed to acquired musical competence). He concentrates almost exclusively on low-level, note-to-note relations. The result is a highly generalized theory useful in researching all manner of psychological and music-theoretic problems concerned with the analysis and cognition of melody. In this innovative, landmark book, a distinguished music theorist draws extensively from a variety of disciplines, in particular from cognitive psychology and music theory, to develop an elegant and persuasive framework for the understanding of melody. This book should be read by all scholars with a serious interest in music.--Diana Deutsch, Editor, Music Perception

Role and reference grammar

Role and Reference Grammar (RRG) is a typologically oriented, structural-functional theory of syntax. It is monostratal and postulates a direct mapping between the syntactic and semantic representations of a sentence. Discourse pragmatics is involved in this mapping, and it may have different effects in the linking in different languages. RRG posits a semantically based theory of phrase structure, integrates information structure into structural representations, rejects traditional grammatical relations, and postulates a richer and more elaborate theory of complex sentences than other theories. It also aims at psychological reality, with respect to both processing and acquisition.

The origin and developmemt of generative semantics

SummaryAgainst the background of the controversial and polarized work of Frederick Newmeyer and Robin Tolmach Lakoff, this paper chronicles the early development of generative semantics, an internal movement within the transformational model of Chomsky’sAspects of the Theory of Syntax. The first suggestions toward the movement, whose cornerstone was the obliteration of the syntax-semantics boundary, were by George Lakoff in 1963. But it was the work conducted under the informal banner of “Abstract Syntax” by Paul Postal that began the serious investigations leading to such an obliteration. Lakoff was an active participant in that research, as were Robin Tolmach Lakoff, John Robert (“Háj”) Ross and James D. McCawley. Through their combined efforts, particularly those of McCawley on semantic primitives and lexical insertion, generative semantics took shape in 1967: positing a universal base, importing notions from predicate calculus, decomposing lexical structure, and, most contentiously, rejecting the central element of the Aspects model, deep structure.