Syntactic Complexity of Circular Semi-Flower Automata

We investigate the syntactic complexity of certain types of finitely generated submonoids of a free monoid. In fact, we consider those submonoids which are accepted by circular semi-flower automata (CSFA). Here, we show that the syntactic complexity of CSFA with at most one `branch point going in' (bpi) is linear. Further, we prove that the syntactic complexity of $n$-state CSFA with two bpis over a binary alphabet is $2n(n+1)$

Agent, causer and instrument PPs in Greek : implications for verbal structure

In this paper we investigate the distribution of PPs related to external arguments (agent, causer, instrument, causing event) in Greek. We argue that their distribution supports an analysis, according to which agentive/instrument and causer PPs are licensed by distinct functional heads, respectively. We argue against a conceivable alternative analysis, which links agentivity and causation to the prepositions themselves. We furthermore identify a particular type of Voice head in Greek anticausative realised by non-active Voice morphology

On plurals and plurality

In this paper, I will revisit cross-linguistic differences in the morpho-syntactic behavior of plurality. It has been argued that certain properties, e.g. the lack of pluralia tantum in some languages, differentiate between different types of plurals. This in turn suggests that plurals occupy different positions in the functional spine of the noun phrase. In this paper, I will review this evidence and show how the properties under discussion can receive alternative explanations, pointing to a more uniform approach to the morpho-syntactic representation of plurality than assumed by some researchers. With respect to pluralia tantum, I will argue that they indeed instantiate lexical plurality, but their cross-linguistic distribution is not as clear-cut as has been described in the literature

Design and implementation of the visual davinci language

A visual language, called Visual DaVinci is presented in this article, along with its implementation most important aspects. Visual DaVinci was specially developed for structured programming initial teaching at computer sciences courses of studies. It uses the control flow paradigm by specifying diagrams similar to the Nassi-Schneiderman one, thus forcing the development of a structured code. Diagrams are automatically derived to textual code, which can be modified by the programmer. It also allows a textual development of the code, with a restricted syntax that also requires the generation of a structured code and the keeping of certain rules regarding programming style. Syntactic verification and execution are based on the code, in order to free language efficiency from its visual nature.Eje: Ateneo de profesores universitarios de computaciión. Informática educativaRed de Universidades con Carreras en Informática (RedUNCI

Highs and Lows in English Attachment

Grillo and Costa (2014) claim that Relative-Clause attachment ambiguity resolution is largely dependent on whether or not a Pseudo-Relative interpretation is available. Data from Italian, and other languages allowing Pseudo-Relatives, support this hypothesis. Pseudo-Relative availability, however, covaries with the semantics of the main predicate (e.g., perceptual vs. stative). Experiment 1 assesses whether this predicate distinction alone can account for prior attachment results by testing it with a language that disallows Pseudo-Relatives (i.e. English). Low Attachment was found independent of Predicate-Type. Predicate-Type did however have a minor modulatory role. Experiment 2 shows that English, traditionally classified as a Low Attachment language, can demonstrate High Attachment with sentences globally ambiguous between a Small-Clause and a reduced Relative-Clause interpretation. These results support a grammatical account of previous effects and provide novel evidence for the parser’s preference of a Small-Clause over a Restrictive interpretation, crosslinguistically

Typological parameters of genericity

Different languages employ different morphosyntactic devices for expressing genericity. And, of course, they also make use of different morphosyntactic and semantic or pragmatic cues which may contribute to the interpretation of a sentence as generic rather than episodic. [...] We will advance the strong hypo thesis that it is a fundamental property of lexical elements in natural language that they are neutral with respect to different modes of reference or non-reference. That is, we reject the idea that a certain use of a lexical element, e.g. a use which allows reference to particular spatio-temporally bounded objects in the world, should be linguistically prior to all other possible uses, e.g. to generic and non-specific uses. From this it follows that we do not consider generic uses as derived from non-generic uses as it is occasionally assumed in the literature. Rather, we regard these two possibilities of use as equivalent alternative uses of lexical elements. The typological differences to be noted therefore concern the formal and semantic relationship of generic and non-generic uses to each other; they do not pertain to the question of whether lexical elements are predetermined for one of these two uses. Even supposing we found a language where generic uses are always zero-marked and identical to lexical sterns, we would still not assume that lexical elements in this language primarily have a generic use from which the non-generic uses are derived. (Incidentally, none of the languages examined, not even Vietnamese, meets this criterion.