Pumping lemma and Ogden lemma for displacement context-free grammars

The pumping lemma and Ogden lemma offer a powerful method to prove that a particular language is not context-free. In 2008 Kanazawa proved an analogue of pumping lemma for well-nested multiple-context free languages. However, the statement of lemma is too weak for practical usage. We prove a stronger variant of pumping lemma and an analogue of Ogden lemma for this language family. We also use these statements to prove that some natural context-sensitive languages cannot be generated by tree-adjoining grammars.Comment: Shortened version accepted to DLT 2014 conferenc

Syntactic Competence and Processing: Constraints on Long-distance A-bar Dependencies in Bilinguals.

This dissertation investigates the syntactic competence and processing of A-bar dependencies by Sinhala native speakers in their L2 English. The specific focus is on wh-dependencies (wh-questions and relative clauses) and topicalization, given that these phenomena are syntactically distinct across the two languages. Presenting novel results from a series of psycholinguistic experiments, the study reevaluates the predictive and explanatory power of two recent hypotheses in generative SLA —the Feature Interpretability Hypothesis (FIH) and the Shallow Structure Hypothesis (SSH)— which concern the kind of ultimate attainment possible in post-childhood L2 acquisition, regarding syntactic competence and real-time processing. The first part of the dissertation is a re-evaluation of the FIH, in particular the claim that post-childhood L2 learners fail to develop native-like underlying mental representations for the target language syntax because their access to UG is restricted in the domain of uninterpretable syntactic features. Two experiments (Grammaticality Judgment and Truth-value Judgment tasks) were conducted with thirty-eight Sinhala L1/English L2 speakers and a control group of thirty-one English monolinguals. Our results are consistent with the hypothesis that highly proficient L2 speakers are capable of acquiring native-like syntactic competence even in those domains where L2 acquisition involves the mastery of a new uninterpretable feature. The fact that these L2ers have been able to overcome a poverty of the stimulus problem, imposed by both their L1 syntax and L2 input, implies that full access to UG is available in post-childhood L2 acquisition, against the predictions of the FIH. The second part of the dissertation re-evaluates a tenet of the Shallow Structure Hypothesis that in real-time processing of the target language, L2 speakers fail to build full-fledged syntactic representations, but instead over-rely on non-syntactic information (lexical semantics and contextual cues), unlike native speakers of a target language. Our results from two Self-paced Reading experiments with thirty-six bilinguals and thirty-nine monolinguals support the conclusion that advanced L2 learners are capable of building complex native-like syntactic representations during their real-time comprehension of the target language. Thus, the study concludes that neither the FIH nor the SSH can be maintained in the experimental L2 acquisition domain investigated in this dissertation.PhDLinguisticsUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/116655/1/sujeewa_1.pd

Approximate text generation from non-hierarchical representations in a declarative framework

This thesis is on Natural Language Generation. It describes a linguistic realisation system that translates the semantic information encoded in a conceptual graph into an English language sentence. The use of a non-hierarchically structured semantic representation (conceptual graphs) and an approximate matching between semantic structures allows us to investigate a more general version of the sentence generation problem where one is not pre-committed to a choice of the syntactically prominent elements in the initial semantics. We show clearly how the semantic structure is declaratively related to linguistically motivated syntactic representation — we use D-Tree Grammars which stem from work on Tree-Adjoining Grammars. The declarative specification of the mapping between semantics and syntax allows for different processing strategies to be exploited. A number of generation strategies have been considered: a pure topdown strategy and a chart-based generation technique which allows partially successful computations to be reused in other branches of the search space. Having a generator with increased paraphrasing power as a consequence of using non-hierarchical input and approximate matching raises the issue whether certain 'better' paraphrases can be generated before others. We investigate preference-based processing in the context of generation

Topics in Programming Languages, a Philosophical Analysis through the case of Prolog

[EN]Programming languages seldom find proper anchorage in philosophy of logic, language and science. is more, philosophy of language seems to be restricted to natural languages and linguistics, and even philosophy of logic is rarely framed into programming languages topics. The logic programming paradigm and Prolog are, thus, the most adequate paradigm and programming language to work on this subject, combining natural language processing and linguistics, logic programming and constriction methodology on both algorithms and procedures, on an overall philosophizing declarative status. Not only this, but the dimension of the Fifth Generation Computer system related to strong Al wherein Prolog took a major role. and its historical frame in the very crucial dialectic between procedural and declarative paradigms, structuralist and empiricist biases, serves, in exemplar form, to treat straight ahead philosophy of logic, language and science in the contemporaneous age as well. In recounting Prolog's philosophical, mechanical and algorithmic harbingers, the opportunity is open to various routes. We herein shall exemplify some: - the mechanical-computational background explored by Pascal, Leibniz, Boole, Jacquard, Babbage, Konrad Zuse, until reaching to the ACE (Alan Turing) and EDVAC (von Neumann), offering the backbone in computer architecture, and the work of Turing, Church, Gödel, Kleene, von Neumann, Shannon, and others on computability, in parallel lines, throughly studied in detail, permit us to interpret ahead the evolving realm of programming languages. The proper line from lambda-calculus, to the Algol-family, the declarative and procedural split with the C language and Prolog, and the ensuing branching and programming languages explosion and further delimitation, are thereupon inspected as to relate them with the proper syntax, semantics and philosophical élan of logic programming and Prolog

DuSable Tricademy for Artistic Expression: An Application of Kinetic Architectural Design for a Performing Arts Community

The building typology for the thesis will be a campus for education in the performing arts. The site is located at the mouth of the Chicago River in Chicago, Illinois. The thesis will examine kinetic architecture as it corresponds to a performing arts community. It will challenge the principles of theater design and observe performance spaces and other functions as they change form, function, and overall appearance

Languages and Worldview

Asking and answering questions about what culture entails and examines the fundamental properties and intertwining nature of language and culture. This text explores linguistic relativity, lexical differences among languages and intercultural communication, including high and low contexts. Changes to a variety of OER works were made by Manon Allard-Kropp in the Department of Language and Cultural Studies to tailor the text to fit the needs of the Languages and World View course at the University of Missouri–St. Louis. Materials from the original sources have been combined, reorganized, and added to by the current author, and any conceptual or typographical errors are the responsibility of the current author. Sources: Anderson, Catherine. Fundamental Properties of Language. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=IDNSZYXTXFk, 2018. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/8. Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) Anderson, Catherine. Mental Grammar. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kLf0ZIkbUxE, 2018. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/12. Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) “Anthropological Culture Concept.” In Cultural Anthropology. https://wikieducator.org/. Accessed December 20, 2019. https://wikieducator.org/Cultural_Anthropology/Anth_ Perspective/Key_Concepts. Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike License Boroditsky, Lera. How Language Shapes the Way We Think. https://www.ted.com/talks/lera_ boroditsky_how_language_shapes_the_way_we_think, 2018. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/13. Creative Commons license, Attribution–NonCommercial–No Derivatives Calude, Andreea S., Alex Gendler, Mike Schell, and Addison Anderson. Does Grammar Matter? https://ed.ted.com/lessons/does-grammar-matter-andreea-s-calude, 2016. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/9. Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) Center for Deployment Psychology. Military Culture Iceberg. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=LBF6BCV1wlc, 2014. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/10. Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) Cultural Anthropology - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World. Wikibooks, 2018. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Cultural_Anthropology. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License Department of Communication, Indiana State University. “2.3: Understanding Intercultural Communication | Introduction to Public Communication.” In Introduction to Public Communication. Pressbooks; Simple book Production, 2016. http://kell.indstate.edu/ public-comm-intro/chapter/2-3-understanding-intercultural-communication/. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License Gasser, Michael. “2.6: Lexical Differences Among Languages.” In How Language Works. http://www.indiana.edu/~hlw/book.html: LibreTexts, 2015. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Anthropology/Linguistics/Book%3A_How_Language_Works_(Gasser)/2%3A_ Word_Meanings/2.6%3A_Lexical_Differences_Among_Languages. GNU Free Documentation License, Version 1.2. “Intercultural Communication.” In A Primer on Communication Studies, 2012. https://2012books.lardbucket.org/books/a-primer-on-communication-studies/s08-03- intercultural-communication.html. Creative Commons by-nc-sa 3.0 Hahn, Laura K., and Scott T. Paynton. Survey of Communication Study - Wikibooks, Open Books for an Open World, 2019. https://en.wikibooks.org/wiki/Survey_of_Communication_Study. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License Let’sTalkLanguage. Language Influences Thought? - Linguistic Relativity. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yxLBXP5sq3o, 2015. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/11. Creative Commons Attribution license (reuse allowed) LibreTexts. “3.1C: Cultural Universals - Social Sci LibreTexts.” In Sociology (Boundless), 2019. https://socialsci.libretexts.org/Bookshelves/Sociology/Book%3A_Sociology_(Boundless)/3%3A_Culture/3.1%3A_Culture_and_Society/3.1C%3A_Cultural_Universals. CC BY-NC-SA 3.0. Light, Linda. “Language.” In Perspectives: An Open Invitation to Cultural Anthropology, edited by Nina Brown, Laura Tubelle de González, and Thomas McIlwraith, 1st ed. Arlington, VA: American Anthropological Association. Accessed December 20, 2019. http://perspectives.americananthro.org/. Creative Commons License (CC-BY-NC) Pym, Anthony. Do Women and Men Use Language the Same Way? https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=Txd93vZQHWU. Accessed December 20, 2019. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/15. Creative Commons Attribution license Pym, Anthony. What Is Diglossia? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SvcM4mpNpqs. Accessed December 20, 2019. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/16. Creative Commons Attribution license TED-Ed and Krystian Aparta. One of the Most Difficult Words to Translate . . . https://www.ted.com/talks/krystian_aparta_one_of_the_most_difficult_words_to_translate/, 2016. https://irl.umsl.edu/oer/14. Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License. Tylor, Edward Burnett. Primitive Culture: Researches into the Development of Mythology, Philosophy, Religion, Art, and Custom. London: J. Murray, 1871. http://archive.org/details/ primitiveculture0171tylo. Public Domain Wikipedia contributors. “Speech Community.” In Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, August 23, 2019. https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Speech_community&oldid=912200358. Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licens

Towards a linguistic worldview for artificial languages

Wydział NeofilologiiCelem rozprawy była ocena możliwości zastosowania teorii oraz badań empirycznych formułowanych w ramach metodologii tzw. Lubelskiej Szkoły Etnolingwistycznej do lingwistycznej analizy języków sztucznych oraz zaprezentowanie ograniczeń wynikających z takiego podejścia. W części końcowej rozprawy zostały sformułowane następujące wnioski z badań: 1. Języki sztuczne nie stanowią jednolitej grupy, a ich różnorodne cechy wymuszają różne perspektywy przy próbie zastosowania paradygmatu lubelskiego. 2. Obalony został binarny podział na języki sztuczne i naturalne; zaproponowana została skala naturalności/sztuczności. 3. Językiem, który może w ramach Lubelskiej Szkoły Etnolingwistycznej być traktowany jako naturalny jest bez wątpienia esperanto. 4. Wszelkie badania języków sztucznych w ramach paradygmatu lubelskiego wymagają uwzględnienia transferu z innych języków znanych respondentom a także wpływów kulturowych. Wykazano również istnienie JOS typowego dla esperanta i konsekwentnie prezentowanego w następujących obszarach: • koncepty kulturowe związane z Ruchem; • stereotyp esperantysty.The main objective of the present dissertation was to evaluate the applicability of the theory and practice developed within the methodological framework of the so-called Ethnolinguistic School of Lublin to the linguistic analysis of artificial languages and to present the limitations of such an approach. The following research conclusions were formulated: 1. Artificial languages are not a homogeneous group, and their various characteristics necessitate different perspectives in the application of the Lublin paradigm. 2. The binary division between artificial and natural languages is disproved; a scale of naturalness/artificiality is proposed. 3. The language which may be treated as natural within the Ethnolinguistic School of Lublin is undoubtedly Esperanto. 4. Any study of artificial languages within this paradigm needs to take into account a transfer from other languages known to the respondents as well as cultural influences. The existence of a linguistic worldview typical of Esperanto and presented consistently in the following areas was proved: • cultural concepts related to the Movement • stereotype of an Esperantis

Nearly Perfect: Notes on the Failures of Salvage Linguistics

This dissertation examines the salvage era of American linguistics (c.19101940) and its focus on the extraction of knowledges and cultural artifacts from Indigenous groups whose civilizations were believed in peril. Through close readings of historical archives and published materials, I imbricate the history of these scientific collection practices through the interpretive frames of Science & Technology Studies (STS), deconstructive criticism, and postcolonial theory. I centre the project on the career of linguist-anthropologist Edward Sapir, seizing upon his belief that linguistics was more nearly perfect than other human sciencesthat linguistic methods were more akin to those of the natural sciences or formal mathematics. I employ Sapir as the chief focalizer of my work to map the changing topography of the language sciences in North America over these pivotal decades of disciplinary formation. Failure, here, offers a heuristic device to interrogate the linear logics of science and success which buttress that desire for perfection. Both conceptually and historically, the dialectics of failure and success throw into relief the vicissitudes of fieldwork, the uncertainty of patronage relationships, and the untenable promise of salvage that characterized these years. Through this approach, I present linguistics instead as a kairotic sciencefrom the Greek kairos, suggesting opportunitynot perfect, but situated vividly in the world, bound by space, identity, and time. I examine how linguists conducted their collection work through the extension of a scientific network (Chapter 1), their construction of a scientific identity to the gradual exclusion of amateurs and the reduction of informant contributions (Chapter 2), and the development of an experimental system within the temporalities of fieldwork (Chapter 3). My dissertation hence invites a critical intervention within the history linguistics to re-encounter the sciences disregarded past and re-think its shared responsibility toward Indigenous communities in the present