Arabic Dialect Syntax and Tree Adjoining Grammar

1. Arabic Dialect Syntax andTree Adjoining Grammar Owen Rambow Columbia University rambow@cs.columbia.edu

2. Overview Morphology and Syntax Phrase Structure for MSA Dialect Syntax Parsing Dialect Syntax Tree Adjoining Grammar

3. Morphology and Syntax Rich morphology crosses into syntax Pro-drop / Subject conjugation Verb subcategorization and subject/object clitics Verbtransitive+subject+object Verbintransitive+subject but not *Verbintransitive+subject+object Verbtransitive+passive+subject but not *Verbtransitive+passive+subject+object Verbintransitive+passive but not *Verbintransitive+passive+subject

4. Morphology and Syntax Morphological interactions with syntax Agreement Full: e.g. Noun-Adjective on number, gender, and definiteness Partial: e.g. Verb-Subject on gender (in VSO order) Definiteness Noun compound formation, copular sentences, etc. Nouns+DefiniteArticle, Proper Nouns, Pronouns, etc.

5. Morphology and Syntax Morphological interactions with syntax (continued) Case MSA is case marking: nominative, accusative, genitive Almost-free word order Case is often marked with optionally written short vowels This effectively limits the word-order freedom in published text Agglutination Attached prepositions create words that cross phrase boundaries ?+???????? li+Almaktabat for the-libraries [PP li [NP Almaktabat]] Some morphological analysis (minimally segmentation) is necessary even for statistical approaches to parsing

6. Sentence Structure Traditional Arabic Grammar: Two types of Arabic Sentences Verbal sentences [Verb Subject Object] (VSO) ??? ??????? ???????Wrote the-boys the-poemsThe boys wrote the poems Copular sentences [Topic Complement] ??????? ?????the-boys poetsThe boys are poets Traditional analysisTraditional analysis

7. Verbal Sentences Verb agreement in VSO with gender only ??? ?????\??????? wrote3MascSing the-boy/the-boys ???? ?????\?????? wrote3FemSing the-girl/the-girls Pronominal subjects are cliticized ????? wrote-youMascSing ????? wrote-youMascPlur ????? wrote-theyMascPlur

8. VSO vs SVO vs OVS ???? ?????????????wrote.fem the-girls the-poemsThe girls wrote the poems ???????????wrote-they.fem the-poemsThey.fem wrote the poems ?????? ???? ???????the-girls wrote-they.fem the-poemsThe girls wrote the poems ??????? ?????? ?????? the-poems wrote.fem-them the girlsThe poems, the girls wrote them

9. VSO, VOS, SVO, OVSDescriptive Generalization VSO or VOS: Agreement with subject in gender only Subject pronoun is a clitic on verb and replaces agreement SVO order has preposed subject followed by verb with subject clitic Object pronoun is a clitic on verb (does not replace subject agreement) OVS order has preposed object followed by verb with object clitic

10. VSO Phrase Structure English: vanilla case

11. VSO Phrase Structure VSO: Option 1

12. VSO Phrase Structure VSO: Option 2

13. VSO Phrase Structure VSO: Option 2

14. VSO Phrase Structure VSO: Option 2

15. SVO Phrase Structure Option 1: English phrase structure

16. SVO Phrase Structure Option 2:

17. SVO Phrase Structure Option 2:

18. SVO Phrase Structure Option 3:

19. Copular sentences [Topic Complement] Definite Topic, Indefinite Complement ????? ????the-boy poetThe boy is a poet [Auxiliary Topic Complement] Auxiliaries (kana and her sisters) Tense, Negation, Transformation, Persistence ??? ????? ????? was the-boy poet The boy was a poet ??? ????? ????? is-not the-boy poet The boy is not a poet Past tense??Past tense??

20. Copular Sentences Types of complements Noun/Adjective/Adverb ????? ??? the-boy smart The boy is smart Prepositional Phrase ????? ?? ??????? the-boy in the-library The boy is in the library Past tense??Past tense??

21. SVO, OVS as �Copular Sentence� Verb-Sentence ??????? ????? ??????? [the-boys [wrote-they poems]] The boys wrote the poems ??????? ?????? ?????? [the-poems [wrote.fem-them the girls]] The poems, the girls wrote them Copular-Sentence ????? ????? ???? [the-boy [book-his big]] The boy, his book is big

22. Common Structural Ambiguities Third masculine/feminine singular are structurally ambiguous Verb3MascSingular NounMasc Verb subject=he object=Noun Verb subject=Noun Passive and active forms are often similar in standard orthography ??? /kataba/ he wrote ???? /kutiba/ it was written

23. Overview Morphology and Syntax Phrase Structure for MSA Dialect Syntax Parsing Dialect Syntax Tree Adjoining Grammar

24. Dialect Syntax MSA Verb Subject Object  ??? ??????? ??????? wrote.masc the-boys the-poems Subject Verb Object (Full agreement) ??????? ????? ??????? the-boys wrote-they.masc the-poems LEV, EGY Subject Verb Object ??????? ???? ??????? The-boys wrote.masc.pll the-poems Less frequent: Verb Subject Object ???? ??????? ??????? wrote.masc.pl the-boys the-poems Full agreement (or clitic?) in both orders

25. Dialect Syntax: Noun Phrases Possessives: Idafa construction Noun1 of Noun2 encoded structurally ??? ?????? king Jordan the king of Jordan / Jordan�s king Dialects have an additional common construct Noun1 <particle> Noun2 LEV: ????? ??? ?????? the-king belonging-to Jordan <particle> differs widely among dialects Pre/post-modifying demonstrative article MSA: ??? ????? this the-man this man EGY: ?????? ?? the-man this this man

26. Code Switching ?? ??? ?? ????? ???? ????? ???? ?? ???????? ????? ????? ?????? ???? ?? ???? ?????? ???????? ?????? ??????? ???????? ????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ????? ??? ????? ??? ???? ?? ???? ????????? ?????? ???? ???? ?? ?????? ????? ??????????? ??? ???? ?? ?????? ????????? ?????? ??? ???? ?? ????? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ????? ???? ??? ???????? ?? ??? ???? ???? ??? ????? ??????? ????? ???? ??? ???? ?? ??????? ????? ??? ?? ?????? ?? ????? ???? ????? ?????? ?? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ??? ???? ????? ???????? ?????? ?? ????? ??? ??????? ?????? ??????? ???? ???? ???? ??????? ??????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?? ???? ???? ???? ??? ??? ??????? ????? ???????? ?? ????? ????????? ??? ????? ????? ????? ??? ???? ?????? ???? ????? ?? ??? ????? ???? ?? ????? ?? ???? ??????? ?? ???? ???? ?????? ????????? ???? ??? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??? ????? ?????? ???? ?????? ????????? ???? ??????? ???? ????? ????????? ???? ????? ?? ?? ??? ??? ?? ?? ???? ????? ???? ??????? ??????? ?? ??? ?? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ?? ????? ?? ??? ?????? ???????? ?? ????? ????? ????? ??? ????? ?? ???? ?????? ???? ?????? ????? ??? ???? ???? ????? ??? ????? ????? ???? ?? ????? ???? ???? ????? ??? ?????? ???? ??????? ???? ??? ???? ???? ?????? ????? ????????? ???????? ??? ?????? ???? ???? ??????? ???? ??????? ??? ?????? ???? ??? ????? ?? ??? ???????? ??? ??????? ?????????? ??? ????? ????? ??? ??????? ????? ?? ?? ???? ???? ??? ??????? ?? ?????? ?? ?? ??????? ??? ????? ?????? ???????? ??? ?????? ???????? ??? ?? ????? ????? ??????? ?????? ????? ?? ??? ???? ?? ???? ??????????? ??? ?????? ???? ?????? ?? ??? ???????.

27. Parsing Arabic Dialects:Problem

28. Parsing Arabic Dialects Many different dialects Dialects are spoken, few written resources Code switching Conclusion: Can�t assume we will get treebanks for each dialect What to do?

29. Parsing Arabic Dialects Idea: use resources for MSA, apply them to dialects We will be investigating three approaches

30. Parsing Arabic Dialects:Proposed Solution 1

31. Parsing Arabic Dialects:Proposed Solution 2

32. Parsing Arabic Dialects:Proposed Solution 3

33. Overview Morphology and Syntax Phrase Structure for MSA Dialect Syntax Parsing Dialect Syntax Tree Adjoining Grammar