Syntactic Ambiguity Research Articles

The relationship between working memory capacity, bilingualism, and ambiguous relative clause attachment.

Working memory (WM) capacity has been shown to influence how readers resolve syntactic ambiguities. Building on the work of Swets et al. (2007, Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 136[1], 64-81), the goal of the present study was to assess the effects of working memory and language proficiency on first language (L1) relative clause attachment decisions across three different language samples: English monolinguals, L1-L2 Spanish-English heritage bilinguals, and L1-L2 Mandarin-English bilinguals. Binomial logistic regression analyses demonstrated that low WM span is associated with a preference to attach ambiguous relative clauses higher in the syntactic structure, as reported by Swets et al. (2007), and contrary to a recency strategy. We also observed that proficiency in L1 and L2 have little effect, suggesting that relative clause attachment preferences primarily reflect the properties of the language and the working memory capacity of the comprehender.

Augmenting sentiment prediction capabilities for code-mixed tweets with multilingual transformers

People in the modern digital era are increasingly embracing social media platforms to express their concerns and emotions in the form of reviews or comments. While positive interactions within diverse communities can considerably enhance confidence, it is critical to recognize that negative comments can hurt people’s reputations and well-being. Currently, individuals tend to express their thoughts in their native languages on these platforms, which is quite challenging due to potential syntactic ambiguity in these languages. Most of the research has been conducted for resource-aware languages like English. However, low-resource languages such as Urdu, Arabic, and Hindi present challenges due to limited linguistic resources, making information extraction labor-intensive. This study concentrates on code-mixed languages, including three types of text: English, Roman Urdu, and their combination. This study introduces robust transformer-based algorithms to enhance sentiment prediction in code-mixed text, which is a combination of Roman Urdu and English in the same context. Unlike conventional deep learning-based models, transformers are adept at handling syntactic ambiguity, facilitating the interpretation of semantics across various languages. We used state-of-the-art transformer-based models like Electra, code-mixed BERT (cm-BERT), and Multilingual Bidirectional and Auto-Regressive Transformers (mBART) to address sentiment prediction challenges in code-mixed tweets. Furthermore, results reveal that mBART outperformed the Electra and cm-BERT models for sentiment prediction in code-mixed text with an overall F1-score of 0.73. In addition to this, we also perform topic modeling to uncover shared characteristics within the corpus and reveal patterns and commonalities across different classes.

A Note on Proverbs 22:16

Abstract Proverbs 22:16 is plagued by syntactical ambiguity. In the light of the history of the aphorism’s reception, this note proposes a syntactical solution to the proverb’s syntactical openness: it is an unmarked יֵשׁ of reflection, which introduces paradoxical phenomena.

‘To Be Smeared’ or ‘To Be Attached’? An Investigation of Sanskrit lipyate kāmaiḥ and Pāli lippati kāmesu in Light of Their Chinese Translations

In Buddhist translated literature, the Chinese expression bù rǎn yú yù 不染於欲 (not attached to desires) is apparently used as variant of the passive construction bù wéi yù suǒ rǎn 不為欲所染 (not tainted by desires) to translate the same Sanskrit source expression na lipyate kāmaiḥ (not being smeared by desires). An Indic parallel closer to bù rǎn yú yù 不染於欲, namely na lippati kāmesu (not being attached to desires), is found in Pāli and in some Hybrid sources. This paper argues that the Sanskrit and Pāli forms can be traced back to a common archetype akin to the Pāli form and that the -ya-present lipyate was originally used as a class IV intransitive present. Owing to use of the historical instrumental suffix -ehi as a generalised oblique plural ending in Middle Indo-Aryan, the form lipyate kāmehi (< *lipyate kāmeṣu) was eventually reanalysed as a present passive. The two variants found in Chinese translations bear witness to the semantic and grammatical ambiguity underlying the Indic source expression.

“The Right Despair”: Kafka’s Nihilist Technique

Kafka’s drawing style, like his writing one, is abstemious in the extreme; the question is how to characterize his criterion of subtraction. Studying the diary drawings alongside the text in which they are embedded points toward a general dynamic of deactivation—an aesthetics of disillusion in the baroque tradition of desengaño—that can be seen more clearly than read. Kafka repeatedly draws and writes about thresholds. But while his diary writing tends to thematize a perceived failure to pass from one side to another, the accompanying drawings systematically eliminate this register, and with it, all sense of directional movement or striving. The drawings operate as emblems of a passage, and so also of metapherein, in all its most iconic shapes—ladders, gates, permeable walls—but of a passage suspended at the very apex of its arc, where failure is impossible to distinguish from success. The nihilistic thrust of an aestheticized despair is here in turn negated, and the result, like Wittgenstein’s duck rabbit example, is in principle ambiguous. The essay argues that such structural ambiguity becomes a crucial feature of the literary works, which are constructed, as the diary entries themselves usually are not, in accordance with a similarly emblematic technique of double negation or “right despair.”

Abstract 4485: Identification of novel lead compounds and repurposing FDA approved drugs as telomerase inhibitors using structure-based drug designing approach and their evaluation using in-vitro and ex-vivo assays

Abstract Introduction: Upregulated telomerase activity is an established hallmark in about 85-90% of cancer malignancies making it an attractive therapeutic target. However, the development of approved small-molecule telomerase inhibitors has been impeded by a lack of structural ambiguity for decades. In our study, we have employed a molecular dynamics approach to validate the binding site of BIBR1532, an approved telomerase inhibitor in the hTERT thumb domain followed by a structure-based drug designing approach to repurpose FDA-approved drugs and identify novel lead compounds targeting the enzyme. Material and Methods: Due to the unavailability of a co-crystalized structure of BIBR1532 with the catalytic hTERT thumb domain, we employed a Molecular dynamics-based method to identify and validate the exact binding site of the inhibitor. Two pharmacophore models were generated for the putative and newly identified binding pockets which were screened virtually through an anti-cancer library and Drug Bank database. The models were validated on the basis of the fit value of the BIBR1532 and selectivity value indicating the favorable feature set required. The top hits obtained were filtered using drug-likeliness parameters like Lipinski, ADME, and TOPKAT followed by redocking into their binding site. Finally, lead molecules that were able to dock in the new pocket were validated using Molecular Dynamics (MD)simulation studies and their binding free energy was calculated using MM-PBSA calculations followed by their evaluation using in-vitro TRAP assay. Results: Structural investigation, molecular docking studies, and confirmatory molecular dynamics revealed that the exact binding site of BIBR1532 is 8.4 Å away from the reported FVYL pocket strikingly with clinically relevant and characteristic interactions conserved. We have identified five lead compounds and four lead compounds from DrugBank and the anti-cancer library respectively, that were stable in the new binding pocket based on their MD trajectory analysis, and parameters like RMSD, RMSF, H-bonds and Radius of Gyration as well as their MM-PBSA scores. The lead compounds are being evaluated in vitro using TRAP assay and ex-vivo assays. Conclusion: The study identified five existing FDA-approved drugs in the market for other diseases as potential telomerase inhibitors alongside four novel compounds that can be used for the treatment of cancer in the future after further validation studies. Citation Format: Divpreet Kaur, Madhu Chopra, Daman Saluja. Identification of novel lead compounds and repurposing FDA approved drugs as telomerase inhibitors using structure-based drug designing approach and their evaluation using in-vitro and ex-vivo assays [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting 2024; Part 1 (Regular Abstracts); 2024 Apr 5-10; San Diego, CA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2024;84(6_Suppl):Abstract nr 4485.

A Critical Analysis of the Rights of an Accused Person During Trial in Somalia

This study focuses on critical analysis of the rights of an accused person during trial in Somalia. The rights of accused person in Somalia have become a contentious and serious issue owing to the on-going civil war in Somalia which has now lasted for two decades. The doctrinal research methodoly was used to collect and analyse the data used in the study. The relevant secondary data were collected through documetary review where relevant data was collected from different books, national and international legal statutues and scholarly publications of scholars in relation to the rights of an accused person during trial in Somalia. The study employed a systematic procedure to analyse documentary evidence and answer specific research questions in the study through repeated review, examination and interpretation of the data in order to gain meaning and empirical knowledge of the construct being studied. The study analysed the rights of an accused person under the various national laws of Somalia, the various forms of violation of the rights of an accused person in Somalia and the causes of the violation of the rights of an accused person in Somalia. The main findings of the study revealed that the various and sufficient rights of an accused person during train in Somalia, as provided by the Provisional Constitution of Somalia, 2012, and the Criminal Code Act of Somalia, 1963, include: right to liberty and security, right to be informed promptly of the offence charged, right to fair and speedy trial, right to humane treatment, the right to be presumed innocent until proven guilty, right to a fair hearing, right to defend himself or herself, right to counsel, right to be informed of the nature offense an accused person has committed, the right to an interpreter, the right to be present at the trial, right to be brought promptly before a capable court, the right to habeas corpus, the right to apply for bail, the right not to be compelled to testify against himself or herself, right to examine evidence or witnesses and the right to appeal. However, these rights are neither being promoted nor protected in Somalia; instead they are being violated in various ways which they encompass: violation of arrest procedures and unfair and cruel treatment of accused person, arbitrary arrest, denial of fair public trial, violation of trial procedures, unlawful treatment and detention of political prisoners and accused persons being caused by structural and legal ambiguity, the continuous practise of legal pluralism, the existence of broken chain in the justice system, high level of corruption and mismanagement, military interference. The study recommended that the Federal Government of Somalia through its three organs should enact new law, promote fair and procedural arrest of accused train and sensitise the people about their rights as an accused and should initiate good policies and project that can foster the promotion and protection of human rights in the sphere of accused person’s protection during and after trial in Somalia.

Anterior Mobility of the Posterior Horn of the Lateral Meniscus Is Associated With Abnormal Magnetic Resonance Imaging Findings of Anteroinferior Popliteomeniscal Fascicle and Posterosuperior Popliteomeniscal Fascicle as Well as a Clinical History of Catching or Locking Symptoms

PurposeWhen symptoms caused by hypermobility of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus (PHLM) emerge, it is difficult to know which restraints should be treated. To identify predictors of anterior mobility of the PHLM among patient demographics (age, sex), clinical characteristics (a history of catching or locking symptoms [CLS], body mass index, alignment of limb), and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) findings of four restraints (anteroinferior popliteomeniscal fascicle [aiPMF], posterosuperior popliteomeniscal fascicle [psPMF], posteroinferior popliteomeniscal fascicle [piPMF], meniscofibular ligament [MFibL]). MethodsBetween October 2010 and December 2014 patients who underwent arthroscopic measurement of mobility of the PHLM were identified. The Sakai classification was used to classify aiPMF and psPMF on MRI into the following three types: type A, the fascicle was depicted with obvious continuity and with a low-intensity band; type B, depicted with continuity but with an ambiguous intensity structure; and type C, depicted with discontinuity or not visible. Magnetic resonance images of the piPMF and MFibL were evaluated as presence or absence. The mobility of the PHLM was measured arthroscopically at traction forces of 10 and 20 N. ResultsA total of 73 patients (47 men, mean age 41.8 ± 19.3 years) were included. Multivariate regression analyses revealed aiPMF type C and psPMF types B and C to be independent factors associated with mobility at both traction forces, and CLS was an independent factor at a traction force of 20 N. Compared with that of type A, the increased mobility of aiPMF type C was 5.0 mm (P = .019) and 5.6 mm (P = .011) at 10 and 20 N, respectively, the increased mobility of psPMF type B was 2.5 mm (P = .007) and 3.5 mm (P = .0003), respectively, and the increased mobility of psPMF type C was 3.3 mm (P = .021) and 3.6 mm (P = .014), respectively. The increased mobility associated with CLS was 3.5 mm at 20 N (P = .022). ConclusionsAnterior displacement of the PHLM induced by an external traction force at 90-degree flexion of the knee joint was associated with abnormal MRI findings of anteroinferior popliteomeniscal fascicle and posterosuperior popliteomeniscal fascicle, and a history of catching or locking symptoms. Clinical RelevanceUnderstanding signs and symptoms and associated pathology in patients with symptomatic anterior mobility of the posterior horn of the lateral meniscus may help guide best treatment.

Where do the Fluorine Atoms Go in Inorganic‐Oxide Fluorinations? A Fluorooxoborate Illustration under Terahertz Light

AbstractThe substitution of fluorine atoms for oxygen atoms/hydroxyl groups has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the physical and chemical properties of oxides/hydroxides in fluorine chemistry. However, distinguishing fluorine from oxygen/hydroxyl in the reaction products poses a significant challenge in existing characterization methods. In this study, we illustrate that terahertz (THz) spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for addressing this challenge. To this end, we investigated two fluorination reactions of boric acid, utilizing MHF2 (M=Na, C(NH2)3) as fluorine reagents. Through an interplay between THz spectroscopy and solid‐state density functional theory, we have conclusively demonstrated that fluorine atoms exclusively bind with the sp3‐boron but not with the sp2‐boron in the reaction products of Na[B(OH)3][B3O3F2(OH)2] (NaBOFH) and [C(NH2)3]2B3O3F4OH (GBF2). Based on this evidence, we have proposed a reaction pathway for the fluorinations under investigation, a process previously hindered due to structural ambiguity. This work represents a step forward in gaining a deeper understanding of the precise structures and reaction mechanisms involved in the fluorination of oxides/hydroxides, illuminated by the insights provided by THz spectroscopy.

Where do the Fluorine Atoms Go in Inorganic-Oxide Fluorinations? A Fluorooxoborate Illustration under Terahertz Light.

The substitution of fluorine atoms for oxygen atoms/hydroxyl groups has emerged as a promising strategy to enhance the physical and chemical properties of oxides/hydroxides in fluorine chemistry. However, distinguishing fluorine from oxygen/hydroxyl in the reaction products poses a significant challenge in existing characterization methods. In this study, we illustrate that terahertz (THz) spectroscopy provides a powerful tool for addressing this challenge. To this end, we investigated two fluorination reactions of boric acid, utilizing MHF2 (M=Na, C(NH2)3) as fluorine reagents. Through an interplay between THz spectroscopy and solid-state density functional theory, we have conclusively demonstrated that fluorine atoms exclusively bind with the sp3-boron but not with the sp2-boron in the reaction products of Na[B(OH)3][B3O3F2(OH)2] (NaBOFH) and [C(NH2)3]2B3O3F4OH (GBF2). Based on this evidence, we have proposed a reaction pathway for the fluorinations under investigation, a process previously hindered due to structural ambiguity. This work represents a step forward in gaining a deeper understanding of the precise structures and reaction mechanisms involved in the fluorination of oxides/hydroxides, illuminated by the insights provided by THz spectroscopy.

Ambiguous persuasion in contests

We study optimal information disclosure via an ambiguous persuasion approach in a two-player contest. The designer can precommit to an ambiguous device to influence the uninformed contestant's belief about his opponent's private type. We fully characterize the optimal ambiguous information structures when players are maxmin expected utility (MMEU) maximizers. Depending on the prior, it is optimal to either induce ambiguity or fully conceal information. We provide a necessary and sufficient condition under which an effort-maximizing organizer can benefit strictly more from using ambiguous persuasion than from using the optimal Bayesian device.

Metaphor, subjectivity and self-knowledge in Edward St. Aubyn’s novels

ABSTRACT Edward St. Aubyn shows a persistent metaphysical interest in consciousness, personal identity and psychoanalysis. Reading seven of his novels, this article investigates the relationship between what appears to be a style topic, that of metaphor, and an ontological truth, that of self-knowledge. This article contends that St. Aubyn uses metaphor’s ambiguity to structure his narrative explorations of subjectivity and metaphor’s power to create new meanings to offer absolution for his agonising characters. In the Patrick Melrose novels, metaphor is structured as a thought experiment to conduct a philosophical discussion of consciousness and personal identity. The ambiguous structure of metaphor provides a model for rival views on personal identity for Patrick to achieve self-knowledge through narrative identity. In Dunbar, the exploration of self-knowledge turns to the body. St. Aubyn situates Dunbar in the Lake District’s ambiguous environment, allowing him to regenerate an embodied subject to restore his sanity. Double Blind revisits one of St. Aubyn’s favourite subjects, psychoanalysis, and offers a concluding remark on the relationship between metaphor and subjectivity. St. Aubyn presents schizophrenia as a hermeneutic problem of making bad metaphors. He analogises the interpretive ability of psychoanalysis to gaining metaphoric competence, which promises recovery from schizophrenia.

Linking cognitive control to language comprehension: proportion congruency effects in syntactic ambiguity resolution

ABSTRACT Two experiments investigated the effect of sustained cognitive control engagement on syntactic ambiguity resolution. Participants heard (Experiment 1) or read (Experiment 2) garden path sentences like “Put the kiwi on the rectangle on the circle”, in which “on the rectangle” could temporarily reflect either a destination of “Put” or modifier of “kiwi”, and they viewed visual arrays with a kiwi on a rectangle and an empty rectangle and circle. Cognitive control was manipulated experimentally by interleaving sentence trials among either mostly incongruent or mostly congruent Stroop trials. Across both experiments, garden path mouse cursor movements to incorrect destinations were reduced when sentence trials were interleaved among mostly incongruent Stroop trials, and in Experiment 2, garden path reading time effects were also reduced in this condition. These results suggest that a high proportion of incongruent trials supports the sustained engagement of cognitive control and causally improves sentence comprehension across (i.e. spoken and written) modalities.

Causality and signalling of garden-path sentences.

Sheaves are mathematical objects that describe the globally compatible data associated with open sets of a topological space. Original examples of sheaves were continuous functions; later they also became powerful tools in algebraic geometry, as well as logic and set theory. More recently, sheaves have been applied to the theory of contextuality in quantum mechanics. Whenever the local data are not necessarily compatible, sheaves are replaced by the simpler setting of presheaves. In previous work, we used presheaves to model lexically ambiguous phrases in natural language and identified the order of their disambiguation. In the work presented here, we model syntactic ambiguities and study a phenomenon in human parsing called garden-pathing. It has been shown that the information-theoretic quantity known as 'surprisal' correlates with human reading times in natural language but fails to do so in garden-path sentences. We compute the degree of signalling in our presheaves using probabilities from the large language model BERT and evaluate predictions on two psycholinguistic datasets. Our degree of signalling outperforms surprisal in two ways: (i) it distinguishes between hard and easy garden-path sentences (with a [Formula: see text]-value [Formula: see text]), whereas existing work could not, (ii) its garden-path effect is larger in one of the datasets (32 ms versus 8.75 ms per word), leading to better prediction accuracies. This article is part of the theme issue 'Quantum contextuality, causality and freedom of choice'.

Structural ambiguity in DPs with quantity nouns

DPs with quantity nouns (QDPs), like that amount of nuts, can combine with predicates of quantities, as in That amount of nuts is low, or with predicates of entities, as in Bo ate that amount of nuts. One account of such selectional flexibility, inspired by Selkirk (1977) and Rothstein (2009), assumes that the two types of predication are transparently encoded through two types of syntactic structures. In this paper, we draw attention to a syntactic challenge for this account of QDPs, viz.that in certain cases it requires two interpreted occurrences of an entity noun like nuts even though only one is pronounced. We argue, however, that this challenge mustbe met and cannot be avoided by abandoning the structural approach. We make this case by arguing against an alternative analysis of the selectional flexibility of QDPs developed in Scontras 2017. On this alternative, quantity predication and entity predication with QDPs are derived from a uniform syntax, and entity predication with QDPs parallels entity predication with DPs with kind, like that kind of nuts, under the classic Carlsonian account (Carlson 1977) as developed in Chierchia 1998. We argue that Scontras’ analysis is mistaken, both in positing a unified syntax for the two types of predication with QDPs, and in unifying the analysis of QDPs withthe Carlsonian analysis of kind-DPs.

Review on the Book of “Syntactic Disambiguation of Modern Chinese with Experimental Prosodic”

One of the essential topics in human-computer communication is the disambiguation of the Chinese language. To understand the new progress in this field, this paper introduces the commonly used disambiguation methods, including the “three-domain theory” and the atomic theory used by linguists, and the neural network disambiguation and sliding semantic string matching disambiguation used by computer engineers. After pointing out the limitations of the existing disambiguation methods, the paper introduces a new disambiguation method, disambiguation with rhythm, which is studied in the book entitled Syntactic Disambiguation of Modern Chinese with Experimental Prosodic. The paper reveals that the book Syntactic Disambiguation of Modern Chinese with Experimental Prosodic combines theoretical discussion and social needs, and provides new ideas and methods for the study of Chinese disambiguation. In one word, the book, which has changed the direction of disambiguation studies, is a masterpiece in Chinese disambiguation research.

Processing Factors Constrain Word-Order Variation in German: The Trouble with Third Constructions

A subset of German control verbs allows for the discontinuous linearization of their infinitival complements, a word-order pattern known as the “third construction” pattern. Compared to alternative word-order options (notably, extraposition), third constructions are very rare in present-day German. Here we ask whether the third construction pattern’s low occurrence frequency can be accounted for by processing factors. We report the results from a self-paced reading task and a production priming task investigating whether third constructions are difficult to comprehend, difficult to produce, or both. Our results show that the third construction pattern’s local structural ambiguity impedes comprehension, and that the pattern is also resistant to priming. We conclude that this word-order pattern is an example of a “latent” construction that is grammatically licensed but strongly dispreferred in language use because easier-to-process word-order variants are available.

On the Elusive Crystallography of Lithium-Rich Layered Oxides: Novel Structural Models.

Lithium-rich layered oxides (LRLOs) are one of the most attractive families among future positive electrode materials for the so-called fourth generation of lithium-ion batteries (LIBs). Their electrochemical performance is enabled by the unique ambiguous crystal structure that is still not well understood despite decades of research. In the literature, a clear structural model able to describe their crystallographic features is missing thereby hindering a clear rationalization of the interplay between synthesis, structure, and functional properties. Here, the structure of a specific LRLO, Li1.28 Mn0.54 Ni0.13 Co0.02 Al0.03 O2 , using synchrotron X-ray diffraction (XRD), neutron diffraction (ND), and High-Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HR-TEM), is analyzed. A systematic approach is applied to model diffraction patterns of Li1.28 Mn0.54 Ni0.13 Co0.02 Al0.03 O2 by using the Rietveld refinement method considering the R m and C2/m unit cells as the prototype structures. Here, the relative ability of a variety of structural models is compared to match the experimental diffraction pattern evaluating the impact of defects and supercells derived from the R m structure. To summarize, two possible models able to reconcile the description of experimental data are proposed here for the structure of Li1.28 Mn0.54 Ni0.13 Co0.02 Al0.03 O2 : namely a monoclinic C2/m defective lattice (prototype Li2 MnO3 ) and a monoclinic defective supercell derived from the rhombohedral R m unit cell (prototype LiCoO2 ).

Optimal Insurance with Background Risk under the Ambiguity and Belief Heterogeneity Structure

Optimal Insurance with Background Risk under the Ambiguity and Belief Heterogeneity Structure

AMBIGUITY IN SONG LYRICS OF THE BEST DAY BY TAYLOR SWIFT

The purpose of this study is to identify ambiguity in the lyrics of the song entitled "The Best Day" created and sung by Taylor Swift. This research uses descriptive methods to analyze the data. The research data was collected from the lyrics of the song "The Best Day". The result of this research shows that: There are eight ambiguities, four structural ambiguities and four lexical ambiguities in the lyrics of the song "The Best Day". Taylor Swift uses more than a few ambiguities to tell her real life as a child through her song lyrics, such as: homonymy, homophones, homographs, full homonymy, partial homonymy, polysemy, morphology, and syntax. She shares that when she was five years old, she could already feel everything that happened in her life, and she believed that her mother was not afraid of anything that harmed her, her mother would always take care of her. She also felt that her father was the greatest father in the world, always taught her how to be a strong child. Swift was also always proud of her little brother; she taught that he was better than her. This study is important to know the message or meaning that the singer or song writer wants to convey in his/her work.