Feature-based and Model-based Semantics for English, French and German Verb Phrases

This paper considers the relative merits of using features and formal event models to characterise the semantics of English, French and German verb phrases, and con- siders the application of such semantics in machine translation. The feature-based ap- proach represents the semantics in terms of feature systems, which have been widely used in computational linguistics for representing complex syntactic structures. The paper shows how a simple intuitive semantics of verb phrases may be encoded as a feature system, and how this can be used to support modular construction of au- tomatic translation systems through feature look-up tables. This is illustrated by automated translation of English into either French or German. The paper contin- ues to formalise the feature-based approach via a model-based, Montague semantics, which extends previous work on the semantics of English verb phrases. In so doing, repercussions of and to this framework in conducting a contrastive semantic study are considered. The model-based approach also promises to provide support for a more sophisticated approach to translation through logical proof; the paper indicates further work required for the fulfilment of this promise

On the isomorphism problem of concept algebras

Weakly dicomplemented lattices are bounded lattices equipped with two unary operations to encode a negation on {\it concepts}. They have been introduced to capture the equational theory of concept algebras \cite{Wi00}. They generalize Boolean algebras. Concept algebras are concept lattices, thus complete lattices, with a weak negation and a weak opposition. A special case of the representation problem for weakly dicomplemented lattices, posed in \cite{Kw04}, is whether complete {\wdl}s are isomorphic to concept algebras. In this contribution we give a negative answer to this question (Theorem \ref{T:main}). We also provide a new proof of a well known result due to M.H. Stone \cite{St36}, saying that {\em each Boolean algebra is a field of sets} (Corollary \ref{C:Stone}). Before these, we prove that the boundedness condition on the initial definition of {\wdl}s (Definition \ref{D:wdl}) is superfluous (Theorem \ref{T:wcl}, see also \cite{Kw09}).Comment: 15 page

Analysis of the Grammatical Errors in Chinese Undergraduate Students’ Online English Writing

Learners’ language data present an interesting phenomenon that can be used to explain the processes that learners go through in the continuum of learning a second or foreign language. The aim of this study was to examine the grammatical errors in the English writing of the Chinese undergraduate students. The sample was drawn from the second-year students studying Communication in Shandong Normal University. All the second-year students studying Communication were asked to write one composition online from which a random sample of 90 scripts was selected. The study was based on the following objectives: (a) to identify and categorize the most common types of grammatical errors in the second-year undergraduate students’ English writing; (b) to find out the frequency of these errors; (c) to infer, with the help of available literature on error analysis, the possible causes of these errors; (d) to extract from the available literature on error analysis pedagogic strategies to reduce these errors.The Interlanguage Theory (Selinker, 1972) guides the interpretation and description of the phenomenon observed in the study data. Using the “Let the Error Determine the Categories” approach the errors in the following grammatical categories were identified: Noun Phrase, Verb Phrase, Preposition, Adjective, Adverb, Complementation, Word order, Concord, Negation and Clause Link.The identified errors were then described using the Error Analysis Method (Corder, 1974). The errors were determined through a consideration of the deviations of the students’ grammar from the norms of the target language (English) as described for example in Quirk et al. (1985). The data analysis showed that Verb Phrase related errors were the most frequent and the word order errors were least frequent.On the basis of the available literature on error analysis, the study discusses some causes of the errors observed and identifies some pedagogic strategies that can be used to alleviate these errors. After considering various causes, it was evident that overgeneralization was the main cause of the grammatical errors found in the English writing of these second-year undergraduate students

A system of relational syllogistic incorporating full Boolean reasoning

We present a system of relational syllogistic, based on classical propositional logic, having primitives of the following form: Some A are R-related to some B; Some A are R-related to all B; All A are R-related to some B; All A are R-related to all B. Such primitives formalize sentences from natural language like `All students read some textbooks'. Here A and B denote arbitrary sets (of objects), and R denotes an arbitrary binary relation between objects. The language of the logic contains only variables denoting sets, determining the class of set terms, and variables denoting binary relations between objects, determining the class of relational terms. Both classes of terms are closed under the standard Boolean operations. The set of relational terms is also closed under taking the converse of a relation. The results of the paper are the completeness theorem with respect to the intended semantics and the computational complexity of the satisfiability problem.Comment: Available at http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10849-012-9165-

Constructions of speech and thought representation

A lot of what humans communicate about concerns cognitive contents of various kinds produced by others or themselves: speech, thought, writing, emotional states, attitudes, hopes, and the like. Languages have developed specialized ways to structure the representation of such contents, especially in various dedicated forms of speech and thought representation. Represented content can also include embodied behavior, such as gesture, whether in cospeech gesture or in sign language. What is represented need not actually have been previously produced: represented contents can be future, hypothetical or nonexistent, and forms of so-called fictive interaction can be used in which the model of face-to-face interaction is used to talk about a variety of other meaning types. Speech and thought representation presupposes the existence of two speech events-a current and a represented one-and each comes with a speaker, defined linguistically in terms of their central deictic coordinates, I-here-now. The interplay of deictic features and different forms of structural integration can define specific types of construction, showing different degrees of access to the embedded mental space of the represented speaker's speech or thought, such as direct, indirect, and free indirect speech or thought. Social media forms of direct speech or thought merit separate investigation, as do subjective uses of reporting clauses such as I think, which form a distinct construction type, using a subset of the grammar of speech and thought representation for different purposes. This article is categorized under: Linguistics > Cognitive Linguistics > Linguistic Theory Linguistics > Language in Mind and Brain.status: publishe

Inference Rules and the Meaning of the Logical Constants

The dissertation provides an analysis and elaboration of Michael Dummett's proof-theoretic notions of validity. Dummett's notions of validity are contrasted with standard proof-theoretic notions and formally evaluated with respect to their adequacy to propositional intuitionistic logic