Basic Operations : minimal Syntax-Semantics

In this programmatic paper, we articulate a minimalist conception of linguistic composition, syntactic and semantic, with the aim of identifying fundamental operations invoked by the human faculty of language (HFL). On this view, all complex expressions are formed via the operation COMBINE(A, B). But this operation is not primitive: COMBINE(A, B) = LABEL[CONCATENATE(A, B)]. We take labeling to be a computationally simple but perhaps distinctively human operation that converts a mere concatenation of expressions, like A^B, into a more complex unit like [A A^B], with the subscript indicating a copy of the dominant constituent. We discuss several virtues of this spare conception of syntax. With regard to semantics, we take instances of COMBINE(A, B) to be instructions to build concepts. More specifically, we claim that concatenation is an instruction to conjoin monadic concepts, while labeling provides a vehicle for invoking thematic concepts, as indicated by the relevant labels

Segment Grammar: A formalism for incremental sentence generation

Incremental sentence generation imposes special constraints on the representation of the grammar and the design of the formulator (the module which is responsible for constructing the syntactic and morphological structure). In the model of natural speech production presented here, a formalism called Segment Grammar is used for the representation of linguistic knowledge. We give a definition of this formalism and present a formulator design which relies on it. Next, we present an object- oriented implementation of Segment Grammar. Finally, we compare Segment Grammar with other formalisms

Pure 2D picture grammars and languages

A new syntactic model, called pure two-dimensional (2D) context-free grammar (P2DCFG), is introduced based on the notion of pure context-free string grammar. The rectangular picture generative power of this 2D grammar model is investigated. Certain closure properties are obtained. An analogue of this 2D grammar model called pure 2D hexagonal context-free grammar (P2DHCFG) is also considered to generate hexagonal picture arrays on triangular grids

Extraction and integration of data from semi-structured documents into business applications

Cover title.Includes bibliographical references (p. 8).Ph. Bonnet & S. Bressan

Flat Splicing Array Grammar Systems Generating Picture Arrays

While studying the recombinant behaviour of DNA molecules, Head (1987) introduced a new operation, called splicing on words or strings, which are finite sequences of symbols. There has been intensive research using the concept of splicing on strings in the context of DNA computing, establishing important theoretical results on computational universality. A particular class of splicing, known as flat splicing on strings was recently considered and this operation was extended to provide picture array generating two-dimensional models. Making use of the operation of flat splicing on arrays, we propose here a grammar system, called flat splicing regular array grammar system (FSRAGS), as a new model of picture generation. The components of a FSRAGS generate picture arrays working in parallel using the rules of a two-phase grammar called 2RLG and with two different components of the FSRAGS communicating using the array flat splicing operations on columns and rows of the arrays. We establish some comparison results bringing out the generative power of FSRAGS and also exhibit the power of FSRAGS in generating certain “floor designs”

Language, chaos and entropy: a physical take on biolinguistics

In this paper we will try to provide arguments for the thesis that language is a physical system aiming at justificative adequacy: what architectural properties license the occurrence of certain emergent phenomena. We will claim that the derivational dynamics that can be found in language (and other systems of the mind) should be analyzed from the perspective of complex non-linear systems, as an open dynamic system. We will propose an oscillatory engine for linguistic computations, which yields cycles as a natural emergent property given mutually incompatible tendencies between output conditions: global semantic effects and local linearization requirements. This architecture, in which structure building is conditioned by irreconciliable conditions, con�figures a kind of dynamical system well known in physics: a dynamical frustration. We will attempt to show that interesting effects arise when we consider that there is a dynamical frustration at the core of cognitive dynamics