80 research outputs found
Stochastic Attribute-Value Grammars
Probabilistic analogues of regular and context-free grammars are well-known
in computational linguistics, and currently the subject of intensive research.
To date, however, no satisfactory probabilistic analogue of attribute-value
grammars has been proposed: previous attempts have failed to define a correct
parameter-estimation algorithm.
In the present paper, I define stochastic attribute-value grammars and give a
correct algorithm for estimating their parameters. The estimation algorithm is
adapted from Della Pietra, Della Pietra, and Lafferty (1995). To estimate model
parameters, it is necessary to compute the expectations of certain functions
under random fields. In the application discussed by Della Pietra, Della
Pietra, and Lafferty (representing English orthographic constraints), Gibbs
sampling can be used to estimate the needed expectations. The fact that
attribute-value grammars generate constrained languages makes Gibbs sampling
inapplicable, but I show how a variant of Gibbs sampling, the
Metropolis-Hastings algorithm, can be used instead.Comment: 23 pages, 21 Postscript figures, uses rotate.st
Parsing By Chunks
Introduction I begin with an intuition: when I read a sentence, I read it a chunk at a time. For example, the previous sentence breaks up something like this: (1) [I begin] [with an intuition]: [when I read] [a sentence], [I read it] [a chunk] [at a time] These chunks correspond in some way to prosodic patterns. It appears, for instance, that the strongest stresses in the sentence fall one to a chunk, and pauses are most likely to fall between chunks. Chunks also represent a grammatical watershed of sorts. The typical chunk consists of a single content word surrounded by a constellation of function words, matching a fixed template. A simple context-free grammar is quite adequate to describe the structure of chunks. By contrast, the relationships between chunks are mediated more by lexical selection than by rigid templates. Co-occurence of chunks is determined not just by their syntactic categories, but is sensitive to the precise words that head the
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A bidirectional mapping between English and CNF-based reasoners
If language is a transduction between sound and meaning, the target of semantic interpretation should be the meaning representation expected by general cognition. Automated reasoners provide the best available fully-explicit proxies for general cognition, and they commonly expect Clause Normal Form (CNF) as input. There is a well-known algorithm for converting from unrestricted predicate calculus to CNF, but it is not invertible, leaving us without a means to transduce CNF back to English. I present a solution, with possible repercussions for the overall framework of semantic interpretation
The Human Language Project
This is a "white paper" proposing the construction of a "universal corpus" containing digitizations of the world's languages. The proposed corpus is community-built and community-owned.http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64990/1/proposal.pd
The English noun phrase in its sentential aspect
Thesis (Ph. D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Linguistics and Philosophy, 1987.Title as it appears in M.I.T. Graduate list, June 1987: The English noun phrase in its sentential aspects.Bibliography: v. 2, leaves 355-363.by Steven Paul Abney.Ph.D
Boundary-Layer Instability Measurements in a Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel
Several experiments have been performed in the Boeing/AFOSR Mach-6 Quiet Tunnel at Purdue University. A 7 degree half angle cone at 6 degree angle of attack with temperature-sensitive paint (TSP) and PCB pressure transducers was tested under quiet flow. The stationary crossflow vortices appear to break down to turbulence near the lee ray for sufficiently high Reynolds numbers. Attempts to use roughness elements to control the spacing of hot streaks on a flared cone in quiet flow did not succeed. Roughness was observed to damp the second-mode waves in areas influenced by the roughness, and wide roughness spacing allowed hot streaks to form between the roughness elements. A forward-facing cavity was used for proof-of-concept studies for a laser perturber. The lowest density at which the freestream laser perturbations could be detected was 1.07 x 10(exp -2) kilograms per cubic meter. Experiments were conducted to determine the transition characteristics of a streamwise corner flow at hypersonic velocities. Quiet flow resulted in a delayed onset of hot streak spreading. Under low Reynolds number flow hot streak spreading did not occur along the model. A new shock tube has been built at Purdue. The shock tube is designed to create weak shocks suitable for calibrating sensors, particularly PCB-132 sensors. PCB-132 measurements in another shock tube show the shock response and a linear calibration over a moderate pressure range
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