Lexical relatedness and the lexical entry - a formal unification

Based on the notion of a lexicon with default inheritance, I address the problem of how to provide a template for lexical representations that allows us to capture the relatedness between inflected word forms and canonically derived lexemes within a broadly realizational-inferential model of morphology. To achieve this we need to be able to represent a whole host of intermediate types of lexical relatedness that are much less frequently discussed in the literature. These include transpositions such as deverbal participles, in which a word's morphosyntactic class changes (e.g. verb ⇒ adjective) but no semantic predicate is added to the semantic representation and the derived word remains, in an important sense, a "form" of the base lexeme (e.g. the 'present participle form of the verb'). I propose a model in which morphological properties are inherited by default from syntactic properties and syntactic properties are inherited from semantic properties, such as ontological category (the Default Cascade). Relatedness is defined in terms of a Generalized Paradigm Function (perhaps in reality a relation), a generalization of the Paradigm Function of Paradigm Function Morphology (Stump 2001). The GPF has four components which deliver respectively specifications of a morphological form, syntactic properties, semantic representation and a lexemic index (LI) unique to each individuated lexeme in the lexicon. In principle, therefore, the same function delivers derived lexemes as inflected forms. In order to ensure that a newly derived lexeme of a distinct word class can be inflected I assume two additional principles. First, I assume an Inflectional Specifiability Principle, which states that the form component of the GPF (which defines inflected word forms of a lexeme) is dependent on the specification of the lexeme's morpholexical signature, a declaration of the properties that the lexeme is obliged to inflect for (defined by default on the basis of morpholexical class). I then propose a Category Erasure Principle, which states that 'lower' attributes are erased when the GPF introduces a non-trivial change to a 'higher' attribute (e.g. a change to the semantic representation entails erasure of syntactic and morphological information). The required information is then provided by the Default Cascade, unless overridden by specific declarations in the GPF. I show how this model can account for a variety of intermediate types of relatedness which cannot easily be treated as either inflection or derivation, and conclude with a detailed illustration of how the system applies to a particularly interesting type of transposition in the Samoyedic language Sel'kup, in which a noun is transposed to a similitudinal adjective whose form is in paradigmatic opposition to case-marked noun forms, and which is therefore a kind of inflection

Syntactic Derivations of Samoan Predicates

This thesis gives a formal syntactic account of Samoan verbal classes. Samoan verbs may be divided into classes based on their observable syntactic behaviour (for example, case assignment, incorporation) or on their semantic properties (event structure, theta role assignment). The analysis aims to characterise these differences in terms of simple, lexically specified parameters. My objectives here are primarily theoretical, as opposed to descriptive. I intend to test the validity of certain linguistic assumptions using Samoan examples. My argument is informed by research conducted with Samoan speakers living in both Australia and Samoa

Syntactic Derivations of Samoan Predicates

This thesis gives a formal syntactic account of Samoan verbal classes. Samoan verbs may be divided into classes based on their observable syntactic behaviour (for example, case assignment, incorporation) or on their semantic properties (event structure, theta role assignment). The analysis aims to characterise these differences in terms of simple, lexically specified parameters. My objectives here are primarily theoretical, as opposed to descriptive. I intend to test the validity of certain linguistic assumptions using Samoan examples. My argument is informed by research conducted with Samoan speakers living in both Australia and Samoa

Three-place predicates in English: Towards a unification-based computationally adequate approach to Role and Reference Grammar

This paper is concerned with a computational linguistics analysis of Role and Reference Grammar [RRG] (cf. Van Valin and LaPolla 1997; Van Valin (2005) and introduces research work in progress aiming to analyze the computability of RRG. The concept of computational adequacy is introduced as an important external principle from a philosophy of science perspective to sharpen the scientific principles of the area of functional computational linguistics. In addition, a pseudo-code-based meta-language is developed in order to semi-formalize the linking algorithm from semantics to syntax. This paper will show that RRG in its current fashion is not executable on an abstract machine model - called Random Access Machine - and is therefore not computationally adequate. It is highlighted that the semantics to syntax linking algorithm as proposed in Van Valin (2005) is in fact too coarsely grained to account for the variable undergoer linking in English three-place predicates. Also, the concept of intelligent software agents is introduced in order to account for the functional linguistic approach used in RRG. It will be shown that it is possible to account for variable undergoer linking in three-place predicates using constructional schemas as developed in Nolan (2011). Based on the development of typed feature structures of thematic relations it is possible to show that semantic macroroles as developed in Van Valin (2005) are epiphenomenal. They are an unnecessary concept set on top of thematic relations, which is in conflict with the principle of economy as discussed in Van Valin and LaPolla (1997). It is shown that thematic relations are stored in inheritance networks in the mental lexicon and that they interact with constructional schemas for transfer verbs as they are developed in this paper. The concept of discourse representation structures is also of crucial importance in this paper. It will be shown that variable undergoer linking in English is based on information structure considerations. In order to develop a computationally adequate version of RRG, a revised version of the semantics to syntax linking algorithm is developed

A typology of marked-S languages

A typological study of the rare marked-S language type which overtly marks the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) while one of the arguments of transitive verbs (either A or P) is left zero-coded. The formal (overt versus zero-coding) as well as functional aspects (range of uses of individual case forms) of the phenomenon are treated. The book covers languages from the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Africa and of the North America Pacific Northwest and Pacific regions

A typology of marked-S languages

A typological study of the rare marked-S language type which overtly marks the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) while one of the arguments of transitive verbs (either A or P) is left zero-coded. The formal (overt versus zero-coding) as well as functional aspects (range of uses of individual case forms) of the phenomenon are treated. The book covers languages from the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Africa and of the North America Pacific Northwest and Pacific regions

A typology of marked-S languages

A typological study of the rare marked-S language type which overtly marks the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) while one of the arguments of transitive verbs (either A or P) is left zero-coded. The formal (overt versus zero-coding) as well as functional aspects (range of uses of individual case forms) of the phenomenon are treated. The book covers languages from the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Africa and of the North America Pacific Northwest and Pacific regions

A typology of marked-S languages

A typological study of the rare marked-S language type which overtly marks the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) while one of the arguments of transitive verbs (either A or P) is left zero-coded. The formal (overt versus zero-coding) as well as functional aspects (range of uses of individual case forms) of the phenomenon are treated. The book covers languages from the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Africa and of the North America Pacific Northwest and Pacific regions

A typology of marked-S languages

A typological study of the rare marked-S language type which overtly marks the single argument of intransitive verbs (S) while one of the arguments of transitive verbs (either A or P) is left zero-coded. The formal (overt versus zero-coding) as well as functional aspects (range of uses of individual case forms) of the phenomenon are treated. The book covers languages from the Afro-Asiatic and Nilo-Saharan languages of Africa and of the North America Pacific Northwest and Pacific regions