Integrating Syntactic and Prosodic Information for the Efficient Detection of Empty Categories

We describe a number of experiments that demonstrate the usefulness of prosodic information for a processing module which parses spoken utterances with a feature-based grammar employing empty categories. We show that by requiring certain prosodic properties from those positions in the input where the presence of an empty category has to be hypothesized, a derivation can be accomplished more efficiently. The approach has been implemented in the machine translation project VERBMOBIL and results in a significant reduction of the work-load for the parser.Comment: To appear in the Proceedings of Coling 1996, Copenhagen. 6 page

Language as a complex system: the case of phonetic variability

International audienceModern linguistic theories try to give an exhaustive explanation of how language works. In this perspective, each linguistic domain, such as phonetics, phonology, syntax, pragmatics, etc., is described by means of a set of rules or properties (in other words, a grammar). However, it is a long time linguists have observed that it is not possible to give a precise description of a real life utterance within a unique domain. We illustrate this problem with the case of phonetic variability and show how different domains interact. We propose then a two-level architecture in which domain interaction is implemented by means of constraints

Language as a complex system: the case of phonetic variability

International audienceModern linguistic theories try to give an exhaustive explanation of how language works. In this perspective, each linguistic domain, such as phonetics, phonology, syntax, pragmatics, etc., is described by means of a set of rules or properties (in other words, a grammar). However, it is a long time linguists have observed that it is not possible to give a precise description of a real life utterance within a unique domain. We illustrate this problem with the case of phonetic variability and show how different domains interact. We propose then a two-level architecture in which domain interaction is implemented by means of constraints

Vers une théorie cognitive de la langue basée sur les contraintes

International audienceCet article fournit des éléments d'explication pour la description des relations entre les différents domaines de l'analyse linguistique. Il propose une architecture générale en vue d'une théorie formée de plusieurs niveaux : d'un côté les grammaires de chacun des domaines et de l'autre des relations spécifiant les interactions entre ces domaines. Dans cette approche, chacun des domaines est porteur d'une partie de l'information, celle-ci résultant également de l'interaction entre les domaines

Vers une théorie cognitive de la langue basée sur les contraintes

International audienceCet article fournit des éléments d'explication pour la description des relations entre les différents domaines de l'analyse linguistique. Il propose une architecture générale en vue d'une théorie formée de plusieurs niveaux : d'un côté les grammaires de chacun des domaines et de l'autre des relations spécifiant les interactions entre ces domaines. Dans cette approche, chacun des domaines est porteur d'une partie de l'information, celle-ci résultant également de l'interaction entre les domaines

Meta-level constraints for linguistic domain interaction

International audienceThis paper presents a technique for the representation and the implementation of inter- action relations between di erent domains of linguistic analysis. This solution relies on the localization of the linguistic objects in the context. The relations are then implemented by means of interaction constraints, each domain information being expressed independently

Meta-level constraints for linguistic domain interaction

International audienceThis paper presents a technique for the representation and the implementation of inter- action relations between di erent domains of linguistic analysis. This solution relies on the localization of the linguistic objects in the context. The relations are then implemented by means of interaction constraints, each domain information being expressed independently

Quelques principes pour une grammaire multimodale non-modulaire du français

National audienceIn this paper, we introduce an approach to multimodal discourse representation and analysis, based on a unimodular constraint-based treatment. The aim of this paper is to present (i) a data representation system, and (ii) an analysis method, which allow a simple interaction between the various modalities of communication. The advantage of this method is that it allows to rigorously take into account multi-character information within a single treatment, thanks to a homogeneous representation of the objects, of their relations, and of their analysis method, according to the Property Grammars formalism.Dans cet article, nous introduisons une approche de la représentation et de l'analyse des discours multimodaux, basée sur un traitement unimodulaire par contraintes. Le but de cet article est de présenter (i) un système de représentation des données et (ii) une méthode d'analyse, permettant une interaction simplifiée entre les différentes modalités de communication. L'avantage decette méthode est qu'elle permet la prise en compte rigoureuse d'informations communicatives de natures diverses en un traitement unique, grâce à une représentation homogène des objets, de leurs relations, et de leur méthode d'analyse, selon le modèle des Grammaires de Propriétés

Towards a Quantitative Theory of Variability: Language, brain and computation

Relations between di erent components of linguistic analysis, such as prosody, morphol- ogy, syntax, semantics, discourse, etc. remains a problem for a systematic description (see [Blache03]). However, this is a main challenge not only from a theoretical point of view, but also for natural language processing, especially in human/machine communication systems or speech processing (e.g. synthesis). Several phenomena highlighting such relations has been described. This is typically the case for relations existing between prosody and syntax (see [Selkirk84], [DiCristo85] or [Bear90]). However, explanations are often empirical and excep-tionally given in the perspective of an actual theory of language. It is for example possible to specify some relations existing between topicalization and syllable duration (cf. [Doetjes02]) or between prosodic architecture and discourse organization after focus (cf. [DiCristo99]). However, the modularity perspective, which relies on the independence of linguistic compo- nents, remains the rule in this kind of description and does not support a global vision of the problem

Improving parsing by incorporating "prosodic clause boundaries" into a grammar

In written language, punctuation is used to separate main and subordinate clause. In spoken language, ambiguities arise due to missing punctuation, but clause boundaries are often marked prosodically and can be used instead. We detect PCBs (Prosodically markedClauseBoundaries) by using prosodic features (duration, intonation, energy, and pause information) with a neural network, achieving a recognition rate of 82%. PCBs are integrated into our grammar using a special syntactic category "break" that can be used in the phrase-structure rules of the grammar in a similar way as punctuation is used in grammars for written language. Whereas punctuation in most cases is obligatory, PCBs are sometimes optional. Moreover, they can in principle occur everywhere in the sentence due e.g. to hesitations or misrecognition. To cope with these problems we tested two different approaches: A slightly modified parser for word chains containing PCBs and a word graph parser that takes the probabilities of PCBs into account. Tests were conducted on a subset of infinitive subordinate clauses from a large speech database containing sentences from the domain of train table inquiries. The average number of syntactic derivations could be reduced by about 70 % even when working on recognized word graphs