Strong Generative Capacity
Strong Generative Capacity

Author: Philip H. Miller

Publisher: Center for the Study of Language and Information Publications

Published: 2000-02-28

Total Pages: 168

ISBN-13: 9781575862132

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The concept of 'strong generative capacity' (SGC) of a linguistic formalism was introduced by Chomsky in the early sixties in order to characterize descriptive capacity. However, the original definition proposed by Chomsky turned out to be unusable, especially when one wished to compare the SGC of different types of formalisms. This book provides for the first time a rigorous and useful characterization of SGC, defining it as the model theoretic semantics of linguistic formalism. Specifically, abstract interpretation domains are defined in theory-neutral set-theoretical terms, and the SGC of a theory with respect to a given interpretation domain is characterized as the range of a specific interpretation function mapping structural descriptions of that theory into elements of that domain. Interpretation domains are defined for such notions as labeled constituency, dependency, endocentricity and linking and applied to the analysis of a range of linguistic formalisms, among which context-free grammars, dependency grammars, X-bar grammars, tree-adjoining grammars, transformational grammars and categorial grammars.

Aspects of the Theory of Syntax
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax

Author: Noam Chomsky

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 1969-03-15

Total Pages: 276

ISBN-13: 9780262260503

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Chomsky proposes a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes recent developments in the descriptive analysis of particular languages into account. Beginning in the mid-fifties and emanating largely form MIT, an approach was developed to linguistic theory and to the study of the structure of particular languages that diverges in many respects from modern linguistics. Although this approach is connected to the traditional study of languages, it differs enough in its specific conclusions about the structure and in its specific conclusions about the structure of language to warrant a name, "generative grammar." Various deficiencies have been discovered in the first attempts to formulate a theory of transformational generative grammar and in the descriptive analysis of particular languages that motivated these formulations. At the same time, it has become apparent that these formulations can be extended and deepened.The major purpose of this book is to review these developments and to propose a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes them into account. The emphasis in this study is syntax; semantic and phonological aspects of the language structure are discussed only insofar as they bear on syntactic theory.

Cogitations
Cogitations

Author: Jerrold J. Katz

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 1988

Total Pages: 217

ISBN-13: 0195055500

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Arguing that the problem with Descartes's Cogito ergo sum --a famous but controversial philosophical dictum--lies in a deficiency in the theory of language and logic that Cartesian scholars have brought to the study of the Cogito, Katz here proposes that the Cogito be understood as an example of "analytic entailment," a thesis according to which a statement can be a formally valid inference without depending on a law of logic.

Logical Aspects of Computational Linguistics
Logical Aspects of Computational Linguistics

Author: Michael Moortgat

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2003-06-29

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 3540457380

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The conference series Logical Aspects of Computational Linguistics (LACL) aims at providing a forum for the presentation and discussion of current research in all the formal and logical aspects of computational linguistics. The LACL initiative started with a workshop held in Nancy (France) in 1995. Selected papers from this event have appeared as a special issue of the Journal of Logic Language and Information, Volume 7(4), 1998. In 1996, LACL shifted to the format of an international conference. LACL’96 and ’97 were both held in Nancy (France). The proceedings appeared as volumes 1328 and 1582 of the Springer Lecture Notes in Arti cial Intelligence. This volume contains selected papers of the third international conference on Logical Aspects of Computational Linguistics (LACL’98), held in Grenoble, France, from December 14 to 16, 1998. The conference was organized by the U- versity Pierre Mend es-France (Grenoble 2) together with LORIA (Laboratoire Lorrain d’Informatique et Applications, Nancy). On the basis of 33 submitted 4-page abstracts, the Program Committee selected 19 contributions for pres- tation. In addition to the selected papers, the program featured three invited talks, by Maarten de Rijke (ILLC, Amsterdam), Makoto Kanazawa (Chiba U- versity, Japan), and Fernando Pereira (AT&T Labs). After the conference, the contributors were invited to submit a full paper for the conference proceedings.

Approaches to Language: Data, Theory, and Explanation
Approaches to Language: Data, Theory, and Explanation

Author: Ángel J. Gallego

Publisher: Frontiers Media SA

Published: 2020-12-24

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 2889636682

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The study of language has changed substantially in the last decades. In particular, the development of new technologies has allowed the emergence of new experimental techniques which complement more traditional approaches to data in linguistics (like informal reports of native speakers’ judgments, surveys, corpus studies, or fieldwork). This move is an enriching feature of contemporary linguistics, allowing for a better understanding of a phenomenon as complex as natural language, where all sorts of factors (internal and external to the individual) interact (Chomsky 2005). This has generated some sort of divergence not only in research approaches, but also in the phenomena studied, with an increasing specialization between subfields and accounts. At the same time, it has also led to subfield isolation and methodological a priori, with some researchers even claiming that theoretical linguistics has little to offer to cognitive science (see for instance Edelman & Christiansen 2003). We believe that this view of linguistics (and cognitive science as a whole) is misguided, and that the complementarity of different approaches to such a multidimensional phenomenon as language should be highlighted for convergence and further development of its scientific study (see also Jackendoff 1988, 2007; Phillips & Lasnik 2003; den Dikken, Bernstein, Tortora & Zanuttini 2007; Sprouse, Schütze & Almeida 2013; Phillips 2013).

Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, 50th Anniversary Edition
Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, 50th Anniversary Edition

Author: Noam Chomsky

Publisher: MIT Press

Published: 2014-12-26

Total Pages: 295

ISBN-13: 0262527405

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The fiftieth anniversary edition of a landmark work in generative grammar that continues to be influential, with a new preface by the author. Noam Chomsky's Aspects of the Theory of Syntax, published in 1965, was a landmark work in generative grammar that introduced certain technical innovations still drawn upon in contemporary work. The fiftieth anniversary edition of this influential book includes a new preface by the author that identifies proposals that seem to be of lasting significance, reviews changes and improvements in the formulation and implementation of basic ideas, and addresses some of the controversies that arose over the general framework. Beginning in the mid-fifties and emanating largely from MIT, linguists developed an approach to linguistic theory and to the study of the structure of particular languages that diverged in many respects from conventional modern linguistics. Although the new approach was connected to the traditional study of languages, it differed enough in its specific conclusions about the structure of language to warrant a name, “generative grammar.” Various deficiencies were discovered in the first attempts to formulate a theory of transformational generative grammar and in the descriptive analysis of particular languages that motivated these formulations. At the same time, it became apparent that these formulations can be extended and deepened. In this book, Chomsky reviews these developments and proposes a reformulation of the theory of transformational generative grammar that takes them into account. The emphasis in this study is syntax; semantic and phonological aspects of the language structure are discussed only insofar as they bear on syntactic theory.

Language, Mind and Computation
Language, Mind and Computation

Author: P. Mondal

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2014-11-12

Total Pages: 239

ISBN-13: 1137449438

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This book explores how and in what ways the relationship between language, mind and computation can be conceived of, given that a number of foundational assumptions about this relationship remain unacknowledged in mainstream linguistic theory, yet continue to be the basis of theoretical developments and empirical advances.

The Formal Complexity of Natural Language
The Formal Complexity of Natural Language

Author: W.J. Savitch

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2012-12-06

Total Pages: 462

ISBN-13: 9400934017

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Ever since Chomsky laid the framework for a mathematically formal theory of syntax, two classes of formal models have held wide appeal. The finite state model offered simplicity. At the opposite extreme numerous very powerful models, most notable transformational grammar, offered generality. As soon as this mathematical framework was laid, devastating arguments were given by Chomsky and others indicating that the finite state model was woefully inadequate for the syntax of natural language. In response, the completely general transformational grammar model was advanced as a suitable vehicle for capturing the description of natural language syntax. While transformational grammar seems likely to be adequate to the task, many researchers have advanced the argument that it is "too adequate. " A now classic result of Peters and Ritchie shows that the model of transformational grammar given in Chomsky's Aspects [IJ is powerful indeed. So powerful as to allow it to describe any recursively enumerable set. In other words it can describe the syntax of any language that is describable by any algorithmic process whatsoever. This situation led many researchers to reasses the claim that natural languages are included in the class of transformational grammar languages. The conclu sion that many reached is that the claim is void of content, since, in their view, it says little more than that natural language syntax is doable algo rithmically and, in the framework of modern linguistics, psychology or neuroscience, that is axiomatic.

The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax
The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax

Author: Marcel den Dikken

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Published: 2013-07-25

Total Pages: 1412

ISBN-13: 1107354587

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Syntax – the study of sentence structure – has been at the centre of generative linguistics from its inception and has developed rapidly and in various directions. The Cambridge Handbook of Generative Syntax provides a historical context for what is happening in the field of generative syntax today, a survey of the various generative approaches to syntactic structure available in the literature and an overview of the state of the art in the principal modules of the theory and the interfaces with semantics, phonology, information structure and sentence processing, as well as linguistic variation and language acquisition. This indispensable resource for advanced students, professional linguists (generative and non-generative alike) and scholars in related fields of inquiry presents a comprehensive survey of the field of generative syntactic research in all its variety, written by leading experts and providing a proper sense of the range of syntactic theories calling themselves generative.

A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics
A Dictionary of Grammatical Terms in Linguistics

Author: R.L. Trask

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2013-04-15

Total Pages: 348

ISBN-13: 1134884206

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This dictionary of grammatical terms covers both current and traditional terminology in syntax and morphology. It includes descriptive terms, the major theoretical concepts of the most influential grammatical frameworks, and the chief terms from mathematical and computational linguistics. It contains over 1500 entries, providing definitions and examples, pronunciations, the earliest sources of terms and suggestions for further reading, and recommendations about competing and conflicting usages. The book focuses on non-theory-boumd descriptive terms, which are likely to remain current for some years. Aimed at students and teachers of linguistics, it allows a reader puzzled by a grammatical term to look it up and locate further reading with ease.