Meanings and Prototypes

Meanings and Prototypes PDF Author: Sabbas L. Tsochatzidēs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781315857398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description

Meanings and Prototypes

Meanings and Prototypes PDF Author: Sabbas L. Tsochatzidēs
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781315857398
Category :
Languages : en
Pages : 584

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Book Description


The Formal Grammar of Switch-Reference (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar)

The Formal Grammar of Switch-Reference (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar) PDF Author: Daniel L Finer
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317933680
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 231

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Book Description
This book studies the syntax of switch-reference and its implications for the theory of grammar. Switch-reference, found in many genetically and geographically diverse languages, is a phenomenon whereby referential identity between subjects of hierarchically adjacent clauses is encoded by the presence of a morpheme, usually suffixed to the verb of the subordinate clause. This book argues that switch-reference should be analysed as a syntactic rather than a purely pragmatic or functional feature of language.

Production and Comprehension of Utterances (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar)

Production and Comprehension of Utterances (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar) PDF Author: I.M. Schlesinger
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317933532
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 248

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Book Description
In this volume, the author reviews the results of research on language performance and proposes a model of production and comprehension. Although recent developments in linguistics are taken into account, consideration of other requirements of a performance model leads to the conclusion that the grammar the speaker has in mind differs from the grammar as currently conceived of by most linguists. The author is also critical of recent computer simulations of language performance on the basis that they fall short of describing what goes on in human production and comprehension. The author therefore proposes that the basic issues must be rethought and new theoretical foundations reformulated, in order to arrive at a viable theory of language functioning. In developing the framework of the model presented in this book, requirements of flexibility in the performance mechanisms, the probabilistic nature of comprehension processes, and the interleaving of linguistic rules with context and knowledge of the world are emphasized.

Semantic Structures (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar)

Semantic Structures (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar) PDF Author: David L. Waltz
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317933494
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 261

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Book Description
Natural language understanding is central to the goals of artificial intelligence. Any truly intelligent machine must be capable of carrying on a conversation: dialogue, particularly clarification dialogue, is essential if we are to avoid disasters caused by the misunderstanding of the intelligent interactive systems of the future. This book is an interim report on the grand enterprise of devising a machine that can use natural language as fluently as a human. What has really been achieved since this goal was first formulated in Turing’s famous test? What obstacles still need to be overcome?

Accessing Noun-Phrase Antecedents (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar)

Accessing Noun-Phrase Antecedents (RLE Linguistics B: Grammar) PDF Author: Mira Ariel
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317933834
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 277

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Book Description
Accessing Noun-Phrase Antecedents offers a radical shift in the analysis of discourse anaphora, from a purely pragmatic account to a cognitive account, in terms of processing procedures. Mira Ariel defines referring expressions as markers signalling the degree of Accessibility in memory of the antecedent. The notion of Accessibility is explicitly defined, the crucial factors being the Salience of the antecedent, and the Unity between the antecedent and the anaphor. This analysis yields an astonishing array of new results. The precise distribution of referring expressions in actual discourse is directly predicted. Several universals of anaphoric relations are stated. Thus, although not all languages necessarily have the same markers, and nor do they assign them precisely the same function, Ariel shows that they all obey the same Accessibility marking hierarchy. This book will be compulsory reading for anyone with an interest in the semantics and pragmatics of referring expressions, in the interaction of semantics and pragmatics, and more generally in the interaction between peripheral and central cognitive systems.

Linguistic Categorization

Linguistic Categorization PDF Author: John R. Taylor
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN:
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
BL With a new final chapter which brings the book up to date First published in 1989, this book explores the far-reaching implications of Eleanor Rosch's seminal work on categorization and prototype theory, extending the application of prototype theory from lexical semantics to morphology, syntax, and phonology. It provides a readable and clearly articulated introduction to the field of Cognitive Linguistics. For the second edition John Taylor has added a chapter which updates the book, particularly in its treatment of lexical semantics.

Principle B, VP Ellipsis, and Interpretation in Child Grammar

Principle B, VP Ellipsis, and Interpretation in Child Grammar PDF Author: Rosalind Thornton
Publisher: MIT Press
ISBN: 9780262201193
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 268

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Book Description
This is the first experimental study of Principle B with verb phrase ellipsis and properties of the interpretation of empty pronouns in ellipsis. Among the universal principles are those known as the principles of the binding theory. These principles constrain the range of interpretations that can be assigned to sentences containing reflexives and reciprocals, pronouns, and referring expressions. The principle that is relevant for pronouns, Principle B, has provided a fertile ground for the study of linguistic development. Although it has long been known that children make certain kinds of errors that appear to contradict this principle, further experimental and theoretical investigation reveals that the child does know the grammatical principle, but implements the pragmatic knowledge incorrectly. In fact, discoveries concerning children's knowledge of Principle B are among the most well-known in the study of language acquisition because of the dissociation between syntactic and pragmatic knowledge (binding versus reference). In this book the authors deepen and extend the results of years of developmental investigation of Principle B by studying the interaction of Principle B with verb phrase ellipsis and properties of the interpretation of empty pronouns in ellipsis--properties of "strict" and "sloppy" interpretation. This is the first experimental study of these topics in the developmental literature. The striking results show that detailed predictions from the "pragmatic deficiency" theory seem to be correct. Many novel experimental results concern the question of how children interpret pronouns, including elided pronouns, and how they understand VP ellipsis. The authors present the necessary theoretical background on Principle B, review and critique previous accounts of childrens errors, and present a novel account of why children misinterpret pronouns. The book will thus be of interest not only to readers interested in the development of the binding theory, but to those interested in the development of interpretation and reference by children.

A Student's Dictionary of Language and Linguistics

A Student's Dictionary of Language and Linguistics PDF Author: Larry Trask
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1317859154
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 306

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Book Description
The terminology used in linguistics can be confusing for those encountering the subject for the first time. This dictionary provides accessible and authoritative explanations of the terms and concepts currently in use in all the major areas of language and linguistics, (pronunciation, word structure, sentence structure, meaning) as well as in the study of the social, anthropological, psychological and neurological aspects of language. Entries are clear and unambiguous, and helpful examples are used to clarify where appropriate. Particular attention is given to the terminology of traditional grammar. There are entries for the names of major language families, and there are also brief biographical entries for the major figures in the field, past and present. An extensive cross-referencing system makes the book easy to use: an invaluable annotated bibliography of texts on linguistics makes it an ideal guide for everyone beginning the study of language and linguistics.

Object and Absolutive in Halkomelem Salish (RLE Linguistics F: World Linguistics)

Object and Absolutive in Halkomelem Salish (RLE Linguistics F: World Linguistics) PDF Author: Donna B. Gerdts
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 131791807X
Category : Language Arts & Disciplines
Languages : en
Pages : 237

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Book Description
This book treats aspects of the syntax of Halkomelem, a Salish language spoken in southwestern British Columbia, specifically those constructions which involve objects, and seeks to accomplish two goals. First, it provides natural language fodder for the debate concerning the nature of grammatical relations and their place in syntactic theory. Second, by showing that Halkomelem draws from a familiar class of universal constructions and organizes its syntax around some simple and common parameters, the author has brought the Salish languages, which due to their phonological and morphological complexity seemed particularly fearsome, into cross-linguistic perspective.

Introducing English Semantics

Introducing English Semantics PDF Author: Charles W. Kreidler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : English language
Languages : en
Pages : 322

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Book Description
A comprehensive, accessible introduction to semantics, the study of meaning. The author shows how language organizes and expresses meanings through words, parts of words and sentences.