Abstract Even though languages are capable of expressing very complex generalized quantifiers such as all but seven and an even number of, the range of possible meanings for monomorphemic determiners seems to be limited to every, no, some, and numerals. In this talk …
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Evaluating Subregular Distinctions in the Complexity of Generalized Quantifiers
read moreAbstract Semantic automata were developed to compare the complexity of generalized quantifiers based on the complexity of the string languages that describe their truth conditions. An important point that has gone unnoticed so far is that …
It’s a (Sub-)Regular Conspiracy: Locality and Computation in Phonology, Morphology, Syntax, and Semantics
read moreAbstract It is commonly believed that phonology, morphology, syntax, and semantics are distinct modules of language, governed by very different principles with little common ground. Nonetheless several approaches (e.g. Government Phonology, Distributed Morphology) subscribe to the idea that at least some of …
Fragments of First-Order Logic for Linguistic Structures
read moreAbstract Logic has always played a central role in the study of natural language meaning. But logic can also be used to describe the structure of words and sentences. Recent research has revealed that these structures are so simple that they can be …
Computational Parallels Across Language Modules
read moreAbstract Linguists study a variety of aspects of language, including phonology, morphology, and syntax. It is commonly believed that those are distinct modules of language, governed by very different principles and consequently studied with very different tools. While there have been attempts at …
Morphotactics as Tier-Based Strictly Local Dependencies
read moreAbstract It is commonly accepted that morphological dependencies are finite-state in nature. We argue that the upper bound on morphological expressivity is much lower. Drawing on technical results from computational phonology, we show that a variety of morphotactic …
Morphotactics as Tier-Based Strictly Local Dependencies
read moreAbstract It is commonly accepted that morphological dependencies are finite-state in nature. We argue that the upper bound on morphological expressivity is much lower. Drawing on technical results from computational phonology, we show that a variety of morphotactic …
Dependencies in Syntax and Phonology: A Computational Comparison
Models of Adjunction in Minimalist Grammars
read moreAbstract Three closely related proposals for adding (cyclic) adjunction to Minimalist grammars are given model-theoretic definitions and investigated with respect to their linguistic and formal properties. While they differ with respect to their linguistic adequacy, they behave largely the same on a computational …
Models of Adjunction in Minimalist Grammars
read moreAbstract Three closely related proposals for adding (cyclic) adjunction to Minimalist grammars are given model-theoretic definitions and investigated with respect to their linguistic and formal properties. While they differ with respect to their linguistic adequacy, they behave largely the same on a computational …
Beyond the Apparent: Cognitive Parallels Between Syntax and Phonology
read moreAbstract One of the central changes in 20th century linguistics was the reconceptualization of language as a cognitive ability rather than merely an abstract relational system of signs —- in the terminology of Chomsky (1986), the move from E-language to I-language. This shift entails …
Computational Computational Linguistics
Locality and the Complexity of Minimalist Derivation Tree Languages
read moreAbstract Minimalist grammars provide a formalization of Minimalist syntax which allows us to study how the components of said theory affect its expressivity. A central concern of Minimalist syntax is the locality of the displacement operation Move. In Minimalist grammars, however, Move is …
Locality and the Complexity of Minimalist Derivation Tree Languages
read moreAbstract Minimalist grammars provide a formalization of Minimalist syntax which allows us to study how the components of said theory affect its expressivity. A central concern of Minimalist syntax is the locality of the displacement operation Move. In Minimalist grammars, however, Move is …
Logics of Phonological Reasoning
read moreAbstract Inspired by Kracht (2003) and Potts and Pullum (2002), who use tools from mathematical logic in their investigation of phonological theories, I develop an extendable modal logic over string structures, which in turn is used to formalize a specific phonological theory, Government …
Comparing Incomparable Frameworks: A Model Theoretic Approach to Phonology
read moreAbstract In previous work, we used techniques from mathematical logic and model theory to study and compare two phonological theories, SPE and Government Phonology. The surprising result was that Government Phonology corresponds to a very weak fragment of SPE, yet it can attain …
Towards a Factorization of String-Based Phonology
read moreAbstract Inspired by the model-theoretic approach to phonology deployed by Kracht (2003) and Potts and Pullum (2002), I develop an extendible modal logic for the investigation of phonological theories operating on (richly annotated) string structures. In contrast to previous research in this vein …
Towards a Factorization of String-Based Phonology
read moreAbstract Inspired by the model-theoretic approach to phonology deployed by Kracht (2003) and Potts and Pullum (2002), I develop an extendible modal logic for the investigation of phonological theories operating on (richly annotated) string structures. In contrast to previous research in this vein …