Recognition and Prediction for Implicit Contrastive Focus in Romanian

This paper is made up of two parts: \textbf{the first part} continues the theoretical investigations on Information Structure (IS), linguistic, and computational approaches suitable to provide solutions to the prosody prediction problem of Implicit Contrastive Focus (ICF) concept, introduced in our previous papers. ICF is meant to be the particular case but also the counterpart of the classical category of contrastive Focus at the finite clause level, as the second item in the Background-Focus pair of IS dimension. The classical contrastive Focus, which we called Explicit Contrastive Focus (ECF), is the intonationally F marked entity introduced by overt lexical contrastive markers. ICF labels the situations where contrastive intonational focusation occurs but without the lexical presence of the contrastive Focus markers! The only and main device to introduce the contrastive focusation on certain constituents is the syntactic dislocation from their specific positions in the Systemic Ordering (SO) of syntactic-semantic roles for the Romanian finite clause. The ICF problem means to obtain reliable algorithms and procedures on the Discourse-Prosody interface in order to accurately predict the contrastive Focus distribution within the Romanian ICF-type affirmative finite clause. \textbf{The second, applicative part} of the paper describes algorithms for solving the ICF problem for Romanian, trying to exploit the typically dislocated constituents in the finite clause and to predict their Prosodic Prominence (PP). Procedures for the development of intonational-prosodic patterns assigned to the ICF distribution by certain ICF estimation schemes are developed and tested for a balanced set of Romanian ICF-type affirmative finite clauses

Local and Global Parsing with Functional (F)X-bar Theory and SCD Linguistic Strategy (I.) Part I. FX-bar Schemes and Theory. Local and Global FX-bar Projections

This paper surveys latest developments of SCD (Segmentation-Cohesion-Dependency) linguistic strategy, with its basic components: FX-bar theory with local and (two extensions to) global structures, the hierarchy graph of SCD marker classes, and improved versions of SCD algorithms for segmentation and parsing of local and global text structures. Briefly, Part I brings theoretical support (predicational feature and semantic diathesis) for handing down the predication from syntactic to lexical level, introduces the new local / global FX-bar schemes (graphs) for clause-level and discourse-level, the (global extension of) dependency graph for SCD marker classes, the problem of (direct and inverse) local FX-bar projection of the verbal group (verbal complex), and the FX-bar global projections, with the special case of sub-clausal discourse segments. Part II discusses the implications of the functional generativity concept for local and global markers, with a novel understanding on the taxonomy of text parsing algorithms, specifies the SCD marker classes, both at clause and discourse level, and presents (variants of) SCD local and global segmentation / parsing algorithms, along with their latest running results

Contrastive Meanings of the Terms "Predicative" and "Predicational" in Various Linguistic Theories (II)

This paper is devoted to a problem of lexical semantics, discussing various aspects gravitating around two distinct meanings of the terms "predicative" and/or "predicational" in some important and/or of particular interest linguistic approaches, trying to build a unitary mosaic image from "rocks" representing apparently disconnected examined viewpoints on the issue. The first meaning of the two terms is of semantic nature and corresponds to those lexical categories that introduce a true predication, i.e. an event-denoting structure, within or not the context of a predicate. Similar terms fitting this meaning are (e.g.) "deverbative", "deverbal" and "(de) verbality", "deadjectival", "nominalizations" and "event nominals", "postverbal", "predicator", "predicative", "predicativity" etc., while the proper term that we advocate is "predicational". The second meaning of the above mentioned terms is assigned, in general, to those non-verbal (nominal and adjectival) categories that, together with a finite auxiliary verb complex, make up a structural, analytic predicate. Its syntactic nature corresponds to those categories and phrases that contribute to make up a (finite or non-finite) predicate, but not necessarily introducing a true predication. The two meanings are crossly pursued in several approaches of special interest, a taxonomy of the verbal and non-verbal categories based on their intrinsic feature of predicationality is proposed, and its consequences on natural language processing are briefly referred

Local and Global Parsing with Functional X-bar Theory and SCD Linguistic Strategy (II.) Part II. Functional Generative Capacity, SCD Marker Classes, and Local / Global Segmentation / Parsing Algorithms

This paper surveys latest developments of SCD (Segmentation-Cohesion-Dependency) linguistic strategy, with its basic components: FX-bar theory with local and (two extensions to) global structures, the hierarchy graph of SCD marker classes, and improved versions of SCD algorithms for segmentation and parsing of local and global text structures. Briefly, Part I brings theoretical support (predicational feature and semantic diathesis) for handing down the predication from syntactic to lexical level, introduces the new local / global FX-bar schemes (graphs) for clause-level and discourse-level, the (global extension of) dependency graph for SCD marker classes, the problem of (direct and inverse) local FX-bar projection of the verbal group (verbal complex), and the FX-bar global projections, with the special case of sub-clausal discourse segments. Part II discusses the implications of the functional generativity concept for local and global markers, with a novel understanding on the taxonomy of text parsing algorithms, specifies the SCD marker classes, both at clause and discourse level, and presents (variants of) SCD local and global segmentation / parsing algorithms, along with their latest running results