Exploring Metaphorical Senses and Word Representations for Identifying Metonyms

A metonym is a word with a figurative meaning, similar to a metaphor. Because metonyms are closely related to metaphors, we apply features that are used successfully for metaphor recognition to the task of detecting metonyms. On the ACL SemEval 2007 Task 8 data with gold standard metonym annotations, our system achieved 86.45% accuracy on the location metonyms. Our code can be found on GitHub.Comment: 9 pages, 8 pages conten

Leveraging different meronym discovery methods for bridging resolution in French

International audienceThis paper presents a statistical system for resolving bridging descriptions in French, a language for which current lexical resources have a very low overage. The system is similar to that developed for English by Poesio but it was enriched to integrate meronymic information extracted automatically from both web queries and raw text using syntactic patterns. Through various experiments on the DEDE corpus, we show that although still mediocre the performance of our system compare favorably to those obtained by Poesio for English. In addition, our evaluation indicates that the different meronym extraction methods have a cumulative effect, but that the text pattern-based extraction method is more robust and leads to higher accuracy than the web-based approach

An outline of English lexicology

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Un análisis de parecido familiar de la construcción media: un enfoque funcional-cognitivo

This doctoral dissertation aims at delimiting the lexical-semantic and discourse-pragmatic features that regulate well-formedness in middle expressions and which could legitimate the adscription of a particular nominal, verb, or adjunct to the middle construction in English. The middle construction is here analysed in terms of its prototype effects (cf. Taylor, 1995; Langacker, 2008; Sakamoto, 2001; Goldberg, 1995; and Marín Arrese, 2001 and 2013), hence accommodating not only prototypical instances but also marginal structures largely ignored in the literature. This dissertation examines the prototype effects of the middle construction by exploring the Agent-like features of the Subject entity, the aspectuality of the verb, the role of the implicit Agent, and the nature of the middle adjunct. The structures analysed here conform a family of intransitive constructions that are understood as segments on the Unergative – Middle – Ergative continuum. The idea that the middle construction can actually be considered as a prototype category accommodating central and marginal structures contrasts with the postulates of the projectionist model (cf. Pinker, 1989; Ackema and Schoorlemmer, 1994; Hale and Keyser, 2002; and Fagan, 1992). The projectionist approach cannot account for the process of lexical-constructional interaction of the middle construction in an entirely satisfactory way. This is so because it does not attend to the prototype effects and discourse-pragmatic factors surrounding the middle construction, since it merely focuses on the structural information (cf. Hundt, 2007: 60; and Lemmens, 1998: 4). Therefore, it seems to be pertinent to apply the notions of ‘family-resemblance’ (cf. Wittgenstein, 1958) and ‘prototype effects’ (cf. Taylor, 1995) to the study of the middle construction, following cognitive-linguistic perspectives such as those of Lakoff (1987), Langacker (1987, 1991, 2008), Taylor (1995), and Goldberg (1995, 2006). The theory of prototypes allows for the application of the idea of a family-resemblance relation among different but related structures in order to justify the accommodation of non-prototypical cases into the prototype category. This doctoral dissertation applies a usage-based methodology to carry out a corpus study of contextualised examples. The compilation process has been conducted through the ‘Concordance’ within the Sketch Engine tool. The total sample retrieved and analysed here is 14099 instances, based on colloconstructional schemas which combine ±Animate subject entities with 254 different verbal predicates (cf. Levin, 1993), collocated with middable adjuncts (cf. Davidse and Heyvaert, 2007). The family-resemblance analysis challenges the traditionally accepted restricting features associated with the middle construction, thus demonstrating that both central and marginal structures can be accommodated within the middle prototype category. This is due to the fact that the segments of the continuum share certain commonalities with respect to their syntactic, semantic, pragmatic and cognitive underlying schemas, as well as a functional symmetry in the underlying structure of the subject and the verb (cf. Rijkhoff, 1991, 2002, 2008a and 2008b). In addition, the family-resemblance analysis of the middle prototype category is also based on the similarities and differences found across the family members examined in terms of their processes of Compositional Cospecification (cf. Yoshimura, 1998; Yoshimura and Taylor, 2004). Such process involves the specification of the semantics of the predicate in accordance with the meaning of the nominal and the semantic value of the adjunct in the middle construction. The family of constructions analysed includes: (i) prototypical action-oriented middles; (ii) prototypical ergative-like middles; (iii) the metonymically-motivated extensions of the action-oriented prototype (namely, Locative, Means, and Circumstanceof- Instrument middles); and (iv) metonymically-motivated extensions from the ergativelike prototype (namely, Agent-Instrument and Experiencer-Subject middles). Corpus data reveal that prototypical ergative-like middles are the most productive group (with 6801 instances, 68.24%), followed by prototypical action-oriented-middles (with 3633 examples, 25.77%). Among the metonymically-motivated extensions, the most productive structures are Experiencer-Subject middles (with 1789 instances, 12.69%), followed by Agent-Instrument middles (with 286 examples, 2.03%), whereas the least frequent types are Locative middles (with 48 instances, 0.34%), Means middles (with 60 examples, 0.43%), and Circumstance-of-Instrument middles (with 7 instances, 0.05%). The rest of corpus examples belong to the semantic types of Destiny- and Resultoriented middles (with 1475 instances, 10.46%).El propósito de esta tesis es delimitar las características léxico-semánticas y discursivo-pragmáticas que regulan la formación de expresiones medias y que podrían legitimar la adscripción de un determinado nominal, verbo o adjunto a la construcción media inglesa. La construcción media se analiza en términos de sus efectos prototípicos (cf. Taylor, 1995; Langacker, 2008; Sakamoto, 2001; Goldberg, 1995; y Marín Arrese, 2001 y 2013), acomodando no sólo ejemplos centrales sino también estructuras marginales generalmente ignoradas en la literatura. Esta tesis doctoral examina los efectos prototípicos de la construcción media mediante la exploración de las características pseudo-agentivas de la entidad sujeto, la aspectualidad del verbo, el rol del argumento agente implícito y la naturaleza del adjunto. Las estructuras analizadas forman una familia de construcciones intransitivas que se entienden como segmentos del continuo Inergativo – Medio – Ergativo. La idea de que la construcción media, de hecho, pueda considerarse como una categoría prototípica que acomoda estructuras centrales y periféricas contrasta con los postulados del modelo proyeccionista (cf. Pinker, 1989; Ackema y Schoorlemmer, 1994; Hale y Keyser, 2002; y Fagan, 1992). Dicho modelo no puede dar cuenta del proceso de interacción léxico-construccional de la construcción media de forma satisfactoria. Esto se debe a que el modelo proyeccionista no atiende a los efectos prototípicos y los factores discursivo-pragmáticos de la construcción media, ya que se centra únicamente en la información estructural (cf. Hundt, 2007: 60; y Lemmens, 1998: 4). Por ello, parece pertinente aplicar las nociones de ‘parecido familiar’ (cf. Wittgenstein, 1958) y ‘efectos prototípicos’ (cf. Taylor, 1995) al estudio de la construcción media, siguiendo perspectivas cognitivistas tales como las de Lakoff (1987), Langacker (1987, 1991, 2008), Taylor (1995) y Goldberg (1995, 2006). La teoría de los prototipos permite la aplicación de la idea de una relación de parecido familiar entre estructuras distintas pero relacionadas, justificando así la acomodación de casos marginales dentro de la categoría prototípica. Esta tesis doctoral aplica una metodología basada en el uso para llevar a cabo un estudio de corpus de ejemplos contextualizados. El proceso de compilación se ha llevado a cabo a través de la sección ‘Concordancia’ de la herramienta Sketch Engine. La muestra total analizada aquí es de 14099 ejemplos, basados en esquemas colo-construccionales en los que se combinan entidades de sujeto ±Animadas y 254 predicados verbales distintos (cf. Levin, 1993), colocados con adverbios compatibles con la construcción media (cf. Davidse y Heyvaert, 2007). El análisis de parecido familiar cuestiona las características restrictivas tradicionalmente asociadas con la construcción media, demostrando así que tanto las estructuras centrales como las marginales pueden acomodarse dentro de la categoría prototípica media. Esto se debe a que todos los segmentos del continuo comparten ciertas semejanzas con respecto a sus esquemas subyacentes de naturaleza sintáctica, semántica, pragmática y cognitiva, así como una simetría funcional en la estructura subyacente del sujeto y el predicado (cf. Rijkhoff, 1991, 2002, 2008a y 2008b). Además, el análisis de parecido familiar de la categoría prototípica media también se basa en las similitudes y diferencias encontradas entre los miembros de la familia de estructuras examinadas en función de sus procesos de Coespecificación Composicional (cf. Yoshimura, 1998; Yoshimura y Taylor, 2004). Dicho proceso se refiere a que la semántica del verbo se especifica de acuerdo con el significado del nominal y el valor semántico del adjunto en la construcción media. La familia de construcciones analizadas incluye: (i) medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción; (ii) medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa; (iii) extensiones metonímicamente motivadas de las medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción (concretamente, locativas, de medio e instrumentales de circunstancia); y (iv) extensiones metonímicamente motivadas de las medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa (concretamente, agentivo-instrumentales y de sujeto experimentador). Los datos del corpus examinado revelan que las medias prototípicas de naturaleza ergativa son las más productivas (con 6801 ejemplos, 68.24%), seguidas de las medias prototípicas orientadas a la acción (con 3633 ejemplos, 25.77%). Entre las extensiones motivadas metonímicamente, las estructuras más productivas son las medias de sujeto experimentador (con 1789 ejemplos 12.69%), seguidas de las medias agentivo-instrumentales (con 286 ejemplos, 2.03%), mientras que las menos frecuentes pertenecen a la clase de locativas (con 48 ejemplos, 0.34%), de medio (con 60 ejemplos, 0.43%), e instrumentales de circunstancia (con 7 ejemplos, 0.05%). El resto de ejemplos del corpus pertenecen a los tipos semánticos de medias orientadas al Destino y Resultado (con 1475 ejemplos, 10.46%)

Polysemy in natural language : case studies on the structural description of polysemous lexemes in English, German and Turkish

EThOS - Electronic Theses Online ServiceGBUnited Kingdo

Framing university small group talk : knowledge construction through lexical concepts

PhD ThesisKnowledge construction in educational discourse continues to interest practitioners and researchers due to the conceptually “natural” connection between knowledge and learning for professional development. Frames have conceptual and practical advantages over other units of inquiry concerning meaning negotiation for knowledge construction. They are relatively stable data-structures representing prototypical situations retrieved from real world experiences, cover larger units of meaning beyond the immediate sequential mechanism at interaction, and have been inherently placed at the semantic-pragmatic interface for empirical observation. Framing in a particular context – university small group talk has been an under-researched field, while the relationship between talk and knowledge through collaborative work has been identified below/at the Higher Educational level. Involving higher level cognitive activities and distinct interactional patterns, university small group talk is worth close examination and systematic investigation. This study applies Corpus Linguistics and Interactional Linguistics approaches to examine a subset of a one-million-word corpus of university small group talk at a UK university. Specifically, it provides a detailed examination of the participants’ framing behaviours for knowledge construction through their talk of disciplinary lexical concepts. Analysis reveals how the participants draw upon schematized knowledge structures evoked by particular lexical choices and how they invoke expanded scenarios via pragmatic mappings in the ongoing interaction. Additionally, it is demonstrated how the framing moves are related to the structural uniqueness of university small group talk, the contextualized speaker roles and the institutional procedures and routines. This study deepens the understanding of the relationship between linguistically constructed knowledge and the way interlocutors conceptualize the world through institutionalized collaboration, building upon the existing research on human reliance upon structures to interpret reality at both the conceptual and the action levels. The study also addresses interaction research in Higher Educational settings, by discussing how the cognitive-communicative duality of framing is sensitive to various contextual resources, distinct discourse structures and task procedures through the group dynamics

Lingüística cognitiva y su aplicación en la enseñanza de español/L2: hacia un aprendizaje más significativo de la expresión de la emoción

The present dissertation, within the field of Cognitive Linguistics applied to Spanish/L2 teaching, presents a collection of 13 published and under-review papers. Among the motivations that have guided this work is the lack of experimental research within the field of CL and Spanish/L2 instruction that presents empirical evidence of the benefits of bringing these two disciplines together. Based on a prior cognitive and contrastive analysis of frequent constructions (i.e., psych verbs, metaphorical expressions with ponerse and tocar, and ironic utterances ), a series of empirical studies are conducted with Spanish/L2 learners at different proficiency levels, from beginner to advanced. The linguistic constructions under study have several aspects in common. First, they are used to express emotions; second, their acquisition in an instructional setting has been considered a real challenge; and third, their inclusion in the curriculum has been heretofore rather neglected. A wide variety of corpora has been used for the analysis of the target constructions: from textbooks, which are the material to which learners are most directly exposed, to corpora from Sketch Engine, Twitter, and interviews with native speakers, among others. Based on findings and in search for further empirical validation, an innovative CL pedagogy has been designed and further implemented at different levels with a large number of students at a North American university. As a novelty, L2 learner performance has been evaluated via assessment tests that, in coherence with the theoretical approach adopted and in line with its cognitive-based pedagogical application, have been carefully designed. Overall, results from the empirical studies examining the effects of a CL-based methodology for both pedagogical material and assessment test design yield statistically positive effects for the cognitive group in comprehension and production tasks at each proficiency level. These promising findings reveal the productivity of this method, as the learning of the target forms scaffolds and, as a result, learners’ communicative, metaphorical, and ironic competences are enhanced. The inclusion of a broader range of psych-verbs at lower levels, of change -of-state and tactile constructions through metaphor awareness, and of verbal ironic cues in the Spanish/L2 curriculum along with their treatment from a CL perspective are advocated. Such an approach should be put into practice in the day-to-day L2 classroom experience and in empirical research looking at the effects of a CL pedagogy. The positive findings in this research highlight the importance of embracing a CL-inspired method for Spanish/L2 teaching and assessing. They also call for a methodological change in the type of assessment. Such transformation requires the learning of Spanish –a language at great expansion– to build from linguistic assumptions from which it is possible to operate. Furthermore, the empirical studies here reported contribute to the small but growing body of literature that researches L2s other than English

Natural language processing for semiautomatic semantics extractio: encyclopedic entry disambiguation and relationship extraction using wikipedia and wordnet

Tesis doctoral inédita. Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, Escuela Politécnica Superior, septiembre de 200

Towards a textual theory of metonymy: a semiotic approach to the nature and role of metonymy in text

This thesis argues that the scope of metonymy throughout history remains severely reduced to a process of word substitution and the signifying potential of the trope is limited to lexical representation. The study therefore proposes a semiotic approach to take the trope beyond this limitation and to develop a textual theory to the trope. A background study related to how metonymy is treated in previous studies is therefore necessary. This review of literature covers a long period starting from ancient Greece and going up to the present day. Chapters one and two of this thesis, which give this general background, show that the hypothesis is to a large extent valid. The thesis then examines another related hypothesis which is that metonymy is semiotic in nature and a semiotic approach to metonymy will solve the problem of reductionism in the treatment of this trope. Chapter three is devoted to an examination of this hypothesis. It shows that a semiotic approach to metonymy is not only possible but also crucial. The semiotic approach to metonymy basically concerns the treatment of metonymy as a sign which cuts across three domains of representation. These are the domain of words, the domain of concepts and the domain of things or objects. The last domain is itself treated from a semiotic perspective to stand for the domain of context at large. on the basis of this semiotic approach to metonymy a textual model of metonymic relations in text is constructed. this model is put to the test in chapter four. here the metonymic relations of form for form, form for concept, form for thing, thing for form and concept for form are brought to bear on the formal and semantic connectedness of text. in chapter five the metonymic relations of concept for concept, concept for thing, thing for thing and thing for concept are used to explain how these metonymic relations interact to provide a linkage between language, cognition and context