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Asymmetry Theory and Asymmetry Based Parsing

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Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 532))

Abstract

We consider the properties of an integrated competence-performance model where the grammar generates the asymmetrical relations underlying linguistic expressions and the parser recovers these asymmetries. This model relates Asymmetry Theory, which is a theory of the Language Faculty, and asymmetry-based parsing, which is a theory of language use. We discuss the derivation and parsing of morphological and syntactic argument structure dependencies under the world level and above in order to show that the grammar generates these dependencies and that the parser recovers them. The integrated competence-performance model is sensitive to the configurational and featural asymmetries underlying linguistic expressions and contributes to reduce the complexity. Lastly, we draw consequences for natural language understanding.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    C-command: X c-commands Y iff X and Y are categories and X excludes Y, and every category that dominates X dominates Y. Asymmetric c-command: X asymmetrically c-commands Y, if X c-commands Y and Y does not c-command X.

  2. 2.

    http://www-appn.comp.nus.edu.sg/~rpnlpir/cgi-bin/JavaRAP/JavaRAPdemo.cgi.

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Acknowledgements

This work is supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to the Major Collaborative Research on Interface Asymmetries, grant number 214-2003-1003, and by funding from funding from the FQRSC on Dynamic Interfaces, grant number 137253 awarded to professor Anna Maria Di Sciullo, of the Department of Linguistics at the University of Quebec in Montreal. www.interfaceasymmetry.uqam.ca, www.biolinguistics.uqam.ca.

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Di Sciullo, A.M. (2015). Asymmetry Theory and Asymmetry Based Parsing. In: Fujita, H., Guizzi, G. (eds) Intelligent Software Methodologies, Tools and Techniques. SoMeT 2015. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 532. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22689-7_19

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-22689-7_19

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