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Syntax-Semantics Mapping

Syntax-Semantics Mapping. Rajat Kumar Mohanty CFILT. Outline. Conceptual constituents Lexical categories and phrasal categories Syntax and conceptual structure Internal structure of arguments Syntactic and ontological category Mapping. Conceptual Constituents.

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Syntax-Semantics Mapping

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  1. Syntax-Semantics Mapping Rajat Kumar Mohanty CFILT

  2. Outline • Conceptual constituents • Lexical categories and phrasal categories • Syntax and conceptual structure • Internal structure of arguments • Syntactic and ontological category Mapping CFILT

  3. Conceptual Constituents • The semantic structure of a sentence is built up from a hierarchical arrangement of conceptual constituents. • Each of them belongs to a major ontological category or semantic part of speech: Thing, Place, Path, Event, State, Manner, and Property • They are realized syntactically by means of major phrasal constituents (such as, NP, S, PP, AP, AdvP) CFILT

  4. Example • Bill ran into the room • Syntactic Structure: [S [NP Bill] [VP ran [PP into [NP the room]]] ] • Conceptual Structure: ([Thing Bill ], [Path TO [Place IN [Thing the room] ] ]) GO Event CFILT

  5. Unmarked realization • Thing : NP • Place and Path : PP • Property : AP • Manner : AdvP • Event and State : S CFILT

  6. Lexical Categories and Phrasal Categories • Corresponding to each lexical category (e.g., N, V, A, P, etc) there is a major phrasal category (e.g., NP, VP, AP, PP, etc.). • Each phrasal category contains a head–plus a variety of possible modifiers (typically other phrasal categories) • The phrasal category maximizes the possible modifiers of the lexical category. • E.g., [NP the enemy’s destruction of the city ] CFILT

  7. Syntax and Conceptual Structure • Every major phrasal constituent in the syntax of a sentence corresponds to a conceptual constituent (such as, THING, EVENT, PLACE, etc.). • The lexical head X of a major phrasal constituent corresponds to a function in conceptual structure. • E.g., [S [NPThe man] [VPput [NPthe book] [PPon the table] ]] CFILT

  8. EVENT THING THING PLACE PUT ( THE MAN , THE BOOK , ON THE TABLE Example • The verbput : head of the S • Subcategorizes • A subject NP • A direct object NP • A PP • Expresses a semantic function that maps three arguments into an [EVENT]. • Two [THING]s and a [PLACE]. ) CFILT

  9. Internal Structure of Arguments • The first two arguments: Man and book • Subcategorize nothing • Have no internal functional structure • Are treated as zero-place functions that map into [THING] • The head of the third argument: on • Subcategorizes an NP • Has internal functional structure • Expresses a one-place function that maps a [THING] into [PLACE] CFILT

  10. Complete Functional Structure • This sentence is regarded as a three-place relation between two [THING]s and a [PLACE], mediated by the verb put. EVENT PLACE THING THING THING PUT ( ) ) ON ( THE MAN , THE BOOK , THE MAN CFILT

  11. Syntactic and Ontological Category Mapping • The semantics of the head of the major phrasal constituent decides the ontological category. • The relationship between syntactic and ontological category is not one-to-one. • Examples • Put maps into [EVENT] • Know, believe, be map into [STATE] • Table, housemap into [THING] • Destruction map into [EVENT] • Adjectives map into [PROPERTY] • Prepositions map into [PLACE] and [PATH] CFILT

  12. Mapping a Thing into a Path • The preposition into is a function that maps a thing –the reference object – into a Path. • To satisfy the well-formedness conditions on the use of into, its sister phrase must be an NP (the syntactic condition) and must express a concept of a category Thing (the semantic condition). PATH PLACE THING TO ( ) IN ( ) THE ROOM CFILT

  13. Thematic Roles • The case of open (Are these sentences underlying related?) • John opened the door with a key. • The door was opened by John with a key. • The key opened the door. • Thematic Roles are part of the level of conceptual structure, not part of syntax. CFILT

  14. Thematic Roles • Agent: The instigator of an event • Patient: A patient is directly affected by an action • Theme: the object in motion or being located • Source: the object from which motion proceeds • usually appears structurally as the argument of the PATH-function FROM • Goal: the object to which motion proceeds • The argument of the PATH-function of TO CFILT

  15. Place- and Path-function PLACE ( [THING] ) PLACE-FUNCTION Place (e.g., in the room) TO FROM TOWARD VIA ( [THING] ) PATH Path (e.g., to the station) CFILT

  16. Examples • John passed the house EVENT PATH THING THING PASS ( ) ) VIA ( JOHN , THE HOUSE CFILT

  17. Example • John entered the room EVENT PATH THING PLACE ENTER ( ) TO ( ) THING THE ROOM JOHN , IN ( ) CFILT

  18. A few examples for discussion (in the context of UNL) • John hit Bill (theme, goal) • John threw the ball (source, theme) • Bill entered the room (theme, goal) • Bill received a letter (goal, theme) • John gave a book to Mary (source, theme, goal) • John got a book from Mary (goal, theme, source) • John promised Mary to give a book (source, goal, theme) • John order Mary to leave the place (source, goal, theme) CFILT

  19. Patient • The affected entity • Test frame: • What happened to NP was… • What Y did to NPwas… • Examples: • John hit Mary. (patient/ goal) • The car hit the tree. (patient/ goal) • Mary hit the ball into the field. (patient/ theme) • The NPs being patients do not eliminate their other roles. CFILT

  20. Actor and other thematic roles • Actor test frame: • What the NP didwas… • It is necessary to specify what moves where under whose agency • Examples: • The sun radiates heat. (Actor/ source) • John ran down the hill. (Actor/ theme) • The sponge absorbed the water. (Actor/ goal) CFILT

  21. The Tier Theory • Conceptual roles fall into two tiers: • Thematic tier (dealing with motion and location) • Action tier (dealing with Actor-Patient relationship) CFILT

  22. Informal Annotation (two tiers) • John hit Bill theme goal Actor Patient • John threw the ball source theme Actor Patient • Bill entered the room Theme goal Actor --- (no sense of a patient) CFILT

  23. Informal Annotation (two tiers) • Bill received a letter goal theme --- --- • John gave a book to Mary source theme goal Actor Patient • John got a book from Mary goal theme source Actor Patient CFILT

  24. Informal Annotation (two tiers) • Bill rolled down the hill Theme Goal Actor/Patient • What Bill did was… • What happened to Bill was.. • The wind rolled the ball down the hill --- theme goal Actor Patient • Agent: • Extrinsic instigator of an action • Volitional actor CFILT

  25. Role of Instrument • It plays the role in the means by which the Actor accomplishes the action. (with NP can be paraphrased as by means of) • The Actor acts on the instrument • The instrument acts on the Patient • Examples: • John opened the door with a key. • The door was opened by John with a key. • The key opened the door. CFILT

  26. Sources & further Readings • Jackendoff, R. 1990. Semantic Structures. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. • Jackendoff, R. 1997. Semantics and Cognition. The MIT Press, Cambridge, Mass. • Talmy, L. 1985. Force Dynamics in Language and Thought. Cognitive Science 12. • Cullicover, P. and W. Wilkins. 1986. Control, PRO and the Projection Principle. Language 62. CFILT

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