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Pronoun Resolution and the Influence of Syntactic and Semantic Information on Discourse Prominence

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Anaphora: Analysis, Algorithms and Applications (DAARC 2007)

Part of the book series: Lecture Notes in Computer Science ((LNAI,volume 4410))

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Abstract

Beginning with the observation that syntactic and semantic information often coincide (i.e., subjects are often agents, objects often patients), this study investigates the possibility that preference to resolve a sentence-initial pronoun to a syntactically prominent antecedent might actually be better explained in terms of preference for resolving to a semantically prominent antecedent. The study takes Discourse Prominence Theory (Gordon and Hendrick [11,12]) as an underlying framework. Results of three psycholinguistic experiments using a self-paced reading task show that both syntactic and semantic information guide readers’ pronoun resolution preferences. This suggests a revised understanding of Discourse Prominence Theory in which the prominence of discourse referents is determined through a complex process depending on multiple linguistic factors. Results further show that the relative degree of prominence among competing candidates influences resolution processes.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gunma Prefectural Women’s University, Faculty of International Communication, Kaminote 1395-1, Tamamura-machi, Sawa-gun, Gunma Prefecture, 370-1193, Japan

    Ralph Rose

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  1. Ralph Rose
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António Branco

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Rose, R. (2007). Pronoun Resolution and the Influence of Syntactic and Semantic Information on Discourse Prominence. In: Branco, A. (eds) Anaphora: Analysis, Algorithms and Applications. DAARC 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4410. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71412-5_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71412-5_3

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-71411-8

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-71412-5

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

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