- Library Home /
- Search Collections /
- Open Collections /
- Browse Collections /
- UBC Theses and Dissertations /
- A parsing explanation of linear movement asymmetry...
Open Collections
UBC Theses and Dissertations
UBC Theses and Dissertations
A parsing explanation of linear movement asymmetry in natural language Alphonce, Carl G.
Abstract
Natural language sentences are made up of words. Groups of words which can act together as a unit are called constituents. Movement is a syntactic process which displaces a constituent from its canonical position. The moved constituent is called a filler. The position from which a filler is displaced is termed a gap. A gap is a particular type of empty category. Interestingly, a filler always appears to the left of its associated gap. My thesis is that this linearity constraint on filler-gap dependencies is not a syntactic constraint but rather a product of the parsing mechanism. I develop a parsing algorithm which can process filler-gap dependencies only if the filler is identified before the gap. What makes this possible in general is that I treat the problem of licensing and identification of empty categories during on-line processing as a case of ambiguity resolution. I develop a fine-grained typology of norninals (both overt and empty) which supports the use of underspecified representations. In turn, this permits the parser to resolve empty category ambiguities incrementally as parsing proceeds. The main results of the dissertation are as follows. The parsing algorithm presented herein offers an explanation for the curious fact that overt movement is leftward. It also explains why, in a language like Italian, postverbal DPs are preferentially interpreted as objects rather than subjects when they appear after optionally transitive verbs. There are also several predictions which arise from this work. The operation of the algorithm predicts that a prenominal relative clause is possible only in a language which permits personal pronouns to act as relative pronouns. There is also predicted to be a filled-gap effect with structures (such as left dislocation in English) for which there is an ambiguity as to whether movement has taken place. Finally, this research supports the view that the human language processing mechanism constructs a single underspecified representation, and resolves ambiguities incrementally as the parse progresses.
Item Metadata
Title |
A parsing explanation of linear movement asymmetry in natural language
|
Creator | |
Publisher |
University of British Columbia
|
Date Issued |
2000
|
Description |
Natural language sentences are made up of words. Groups of words which
can act together as a unit are called constituents. Movement is a syntactic process
which displaces a constituent from its canonical position. The moved constituent is
called a filler. The position from which a filler is displaced is termed a gap. A gap
is a particular type of empty category.
Interestingly, a filler always appears to the left of its associated gap. My
thesis is that this linearity constraint on filler-gap dependencies is not a syntactic
constraint but rather a product of the parsing mechanism.
I develop a parsing algorithm which can process filler-gap dependencies only
if the filler is identified before the gap. What makes this possible in general is that I
treat the problem of licensing and identification of empty categories during on-line
processing as a case of ambiguity resolution. I develop a fine-grained typology of
norninals (both overt and empty) which supports the use of underspecified representations.
In turn, this permits the parser to resolve empty category ambiguities
incrementally as parsing proceeds.
The main results of the dissertation are as follows. The parsing algorithm
presented herein offers an explanation for the curious fact that overt movement
is leftward. It also explains why, in a language like Italian, postverbal DPs are
preferentially interpreted as objects rather than subjects when they appear after
optionally transitive verbs. There are also several predictions which arise from this
work. The operation of the algorithm predicts that a prenominal relative clause
is possible only in a language which permits personal pronouns to act as relative
pronouns. There is also predicted to be a filled-gap effect with structures (such as
left dislocation in English) for which there is an ambiguity as to whether movement
has taken place. Finally, this research supports the view that the human language
processing mechanism constructs a single underspecified representation, and resolves
ambiguities incrementally as the parse progresses.
|
Extent |
8278943 bytes
|
Genre | |
Type | |
File Format |
application/pdf
|
Language |
eng
|
Date Available |
2009-07-27
|
Provider |
Vancouver : University of British Columbia Library
|
Rights |
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.
|
DOI |
10.14288/1.0051279
|
URI | |
Degree | |
Program | |
Affiliation | |
Degree Grantor |
University of British Columbia
|
Graduation Date |
2000-05
|
Campus | |
Scholarly Level |
Graduate
|
Aggregated Source Repository |
DSpace
|
Item Media
Item Citations and Data
Rights
For non-commercial purposes only, such as research, private study and education. Additional conditions apply, see Terms of Use https://open.library.ubc.ca/terms_of_use.