MILA Addressforcorrespondence GKPullumoftheirsyntaxdependesratherthesyntacticwellformednessoftheexpressionscontainingthewordsisde ID: 330501
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MILA Dispatch:June26,2013 Addressforcorrespondence: G.K.Pullumoftheirsyntaxdependes;ratherthesyntacticwell-formednessoftheexpressionscontainingthewordsisdeÞnedindependentlyofthem.Thephenomenaatissueformedonothavetodowiththereactionsofeitheradultsorbabiestolinguisticmaterialincludingwordstheyareunfamiliarwith;ithastodowiththefactthatexpressionscontainingnonexistentwordshavesyntacticandsemanticproperties.Thatis,ItakeitasafactthatPirotskarulizeelaticallyisnotnonlinguisticgibberish,itisagrammaticalandmeaningfuldeclarativeclausewithapluralsubject,acorrectlyinßectedverb,andanadverbmodifyingtheverb.PartoftheevidentialsupportthattellsmethisisthatadulthumanswhoknowEnglishrespondtoitthus(inthattheyseemtograspthatitreferstotheelatickarulizationcapabilitiesofpirots,whatevertheymightbe),buttheclaimisaboutgrammaticalproperties,notaboutthemillisecond-by-millisecondfunctioningofpsychologicalMysuggestionisthatweshouldconsiderthemeritsofakindofgrammarthatmakesasomewhatcloserapproachtoaccountingforsuchphenomena,byÞndingawaytodeÞnesyntacticstructureinawaythatdoesnotdependonthecurrentlistoflexicalitems.AndNeelemansimplysays,whybother.Instead,Neelemanwantsustofantasizeabouthypotheticalparsingmechanismsinsideusthat,inrealtimeaswetrytoparsesentencescontainingwillstoreeachunknownwordinaspecialmentalboxandÔtryandidentifyameaningforit.ÕThisseemslikeanthropomorphicnonsensetome:IdonÕtknowwhatourunconsciousparsingmechanismsarelike,butIknowthattheyoperatebelowthelevelofconsciousness,andtalkaboutsuchmechanismstryingtoidentifymeaningsistalkaboutconsciouspurpose-driveneffortsatunderstanding,whichmakesnosensehere.Itisyouthattriestoidentifymeaningsofwords,usingthewholeofyourreal-worldknowledgeandcommonsense;itisnotsomeunobservableautomaticsubconsciousmentalsystemthatyouarecompleteunawareof.Myclaimsareaboutwhatsortofgrammarbestrepresentstheapparentinde-pendenceofsyntacticstructurefromtheaccidentsofthepresentcontentsofthedictionary.Iwanttominimizetheneedtoimagineupmechanismsinsideourheadsthatpermitustocopedespitethe(perhapsquiteunsuitable)GESgrammarsinscribedintheirbrains.TheprobleminattemptingtodiscussthiswithNeelemanisthatheseemstobequitehappytoindulgesuchimaginingandshowsnosignofwantingtogiveitup.IalsopointoutthepeculiarphenomenonofÔquandariesÕ:constructionsthataremiredinasortofgrammaticalgridlockwherenowayofinßectingthewordsiscorrect.AndNeelemanhasnothingmoretosaythanthis:[I]tisentirelypossiblethatinperformancesomeoftheungrammaticalcandidatestructurescanbeassociatedwiththeintendedinterpretationthroughrepairmechanismsofvarioustypes,givingrisetoanexperienceinsubjectsthatisneitheroneofgrammaticalitynoroneofungrammaticality.2013JohnWiley&SonsLtd G.K.PullumresultsofBuchiandDonertoaninÞnitehierarchyoflargerfamiliesofformalOneofthemostimportantaspectsofMTS,infact,isthatitprovidesnewwaysofobtaininginsightsintotheabstractcharacterofthesetsofstructuresdeÞnedbyparticulartypesofGESgrammars,andparticularvarietiesofparser.Letmegiveanexamplethattouchesonthetopicofcomputationalprocessingofsyntax,onwhichNeelemanlayssuchemphasis.NeelemancitestheworkofMitchellMarcus,whodesignedaparseradaptedtotransformationalGESgrammars.AcarefuldescriptionofthisparserispresentedinMarcus,1980.ThatpresentationisopaqueconcerningthecharacteristicsofthelanguagesthatcouldbeparsedbyaMarcusparser.However,Nozohoor-Farshi(1987)wasabletoshowthatsuchaparsercanonlyrecognizecontext-freestringsets.ByputtingthatresulttogetherwithDoner(1970)wecanimmediatelysay,withoutanyfurtherworkbeingneeded,thatifalanguagecanbeaccuratelyparsedbyaMarcusparserthenthereexistsanaccuratedescriptionofthatlanguageasasetofconstraintsinweakmonadicsecond-orderlogicinterpretedontrees.IndeÞnitelymanyotherresultsfollowfromthat;forexample,thattherecanbenoarbitrarysubtreeidentityconstraints(partsofasentencerequiredtobestructurallyidenticaltosomeotherpart)inalanguagethathasaMarcusparser.CopytheoriesofmovementarethusincompatiblewithMarcusparsers,andsoaretheoriesofverbphraseellipsisthatpositsyntacticidentitybetweenantecedentandunpronouncedmaterial.WhatIampointingoutisthatitisnotnecessarytotreatGESasatheoreticalcitadelthatneedstobeprotectedfromMTSattack(andNeelemandoesseemtobepullingupthedrawbridgeandlettingextendedappealstoconjecturalperformancemechanismsserveasamoat).ForthosetooconservativetoliketheideathatMTSoffersbettertheoriesoflinguisticphenomena,thereisstillareasontopaycloseattentiontoMTSwork,becauseitprovidesconceptualtoolsforgainingformallygroundedinsightsintowhatpreciselyframedGEStheorieswill(orwillnot)beabletodescribe,andwhy.SchoolofPhilosophy,PsychologyandLanguageSciences,UniversityofEdinburghuchi,J.R.1960:Weaksecond-orderarithmeticandÞniteautomata.ZeitschriftfMathematischeLogikundGrundlagenderMathematik,6,66Ð92. Theoriginalpapers(Buechi,1960;Doner,1970;andRogers,2003)arehighlytechnical,andpresupposeaprofessionallevelofacquaintancewithautomatatheoryandmathematicallogic.Forapresentationsomewhatbetteradaptedtotheneedsoflinguistsandphilosophers,seeRogers,1998.2013JohnWiley&SonsLtd