Alliance : Franco-British research
partnership programme
Alliance 2005
Application form - First Year Funding
Deadline 14 May 2004
Please read carefully the information provided in the “Call for proposals” before
completing this form.
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Participants
UK team
French team
Project leader
Danièle Godard
Position
Lecturer
Department
Language and Linguistics
Full address
University of Essex
Wivenhoe Park
Colchester, CO7 9BE, UK
Directeur de recherches au
CNRS
Laboratoire de Linguistique
Formelle
UMR 7110, Université Paris 7,
2, place Jussieu,
75251 Paris Cedex 05
Telephone
01206872084
0144277839
Fax
01206872198
0144277919
E-mail
doug@essex.ac.uk
daniele.godard@linguist.jussieu.fr
Web page
http://priveatewww.essex.ac.uk/~doug
http://www.llf.cnrs.fr/fr/Godard/
Linked proposals
Are you submitting a linked proposal ? (see section “Building European Networks” in the call
for proposals)
Yes
No
If Yes, please make sure you fill in section 7 of this form.
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Project description
Project title
Interface Issues in Constraint Based Grammar
Summary
The proposed exchange programme aims to give the two teams regular opportunity to
test and develop the results they have obtained separately in the course of their
research on `interface issues' in the grammatical description of English, French and
Welsh. This is expected to start a closer collaboration between the individuals
involved, leading to enhanced understanding of the phenomena, and permitting joint
publication of results.
Key Words Give up to four key words or phrases which describe the area of research
Linguistics, Grammar, Interfaces
Subject Classification Please select from the list
Agriculture, fisheries
and food
Applied social sciences
Computing science
Earth and
Environmental Science
Biological science
Engineering
Chemical science
Materials science
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Mathematics
Medical science
Physics and astronomy
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Project details
Scientific Background : give a brief account of the developments on which the project is
based
Recent years have seen the rapid development of what are generally know as `Constraint
Based' approaches to linguistic description, e.g. Lexical Functional Grammar (LFG) and Head
Driven Phrase Structure Grammar (HPSG). Among the advantages of such approaches are
firm formal foundations and attractive formal properties (which permit straightforward
computational implementation, facilitating the development of large scale computational
grammars). Research of internationally recognized quality has been carried out independently
at the two centres using these approaches. This project seeks to gain synergy through
collaboration.
Aims and objectives :explain what the work is intended to achieve, including likely impact
and outcomes
Work undertaken independently in the two centres on (inter alia) English, French, and Welsh
has produced a considerable body of results in the proposed areas of collaboration. These
results appear to show an interesting complementarity, using essentially the same theoretical
appraratus but having been developed separately for different languages.
The aim is to enhance understanding of phenomena under consideration by confronting the
different analyses, tools, and datasets that have been developed in the separate centres.
The immediate objective is to provide a framework in which collaboration between the two
groups, and individuals from the two groups, can flourish. The implementation of this
framework will involve the development and enhancement of a number of common resources
(bibliographies, web pages, computational tools), a number of individual exchange visits, and
a workshop. These in turn are expected to result in the production of papers for international
conferences, and publications in international journals. The topics that have been chosen as
the focus are topics of considerable current interest, not only within Constraint Based
approaches, but in the broader fields of theoretical and descriptive linguists, as well as fields
that use results of these fields (socio-, psycho-, neuro-, and computational linguistics, for
example).
Social and economic context of the work : explain the “end-use” of the research
A number of computation environments have been developed for Constraint Based grammar
formalism, and large scale grammars have been developed for a number of languages (e.g.
the Lingo system for HPSG, ParGram for LFG). Such grammars are by nature `high
precision', and consequently useful for a number of language engineering applications (such
as Machine Translation, Text Generation, Information Extraction). But the development of
grammars relies on a clear and accurate characterization of grammatical phenomena in
individual languages. The phenomena which are the focus of this project are felt to be
particularly problematic for current understanding, and theoretical progress will be of
corresponding importance.
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Proposed programme : within the space allocated, please give details of the collaborative
programme including reference to the methodology to be used (Please indicate the role of the
French team as UK referees will not see the French application)
The project aims to promote research on a number of topics where the participants
have special, complementary, expertise. These topics are concerned with`interface
issues': specifically (i) the interface between Syntax and Semantics and (ii) the
interface between syntax and morphology. The methodological framework is provided
by the paradigm of `Constraint Based' Linguistic Theory, within which both teams have
high international standing.
Under (i) the project will pay particular attention to the syntax and semantics of
Relative Clauses (especially the relation between Restrictive and Non-Restrictive
Relative Clauses in English and French, and the status of resumptive pronouns in
French and Welsh), Negation (where Welsh and French show interesting similarities
and differences), and Coordination (where there appear to be analogous problems in
teach of the three languages).
Under (ii) the project will pay particular attention to structures which seem to show a
mixture of lexical or morphological properties and syntactic proporties: in particular,
Clitics in Welsh and French, and `small' or `lite' constructions in English and French.
The last 30 years of research in Linguistics has seen an enormous increase in the level
of understanding in the main areas of syntax, semantics and morphology/lexicon.
Recent years have seen increased interest in the interfaces between these
components, which are now seen as problematic. Constraint Based approaches
provide an excellent framework for investigation of these issues, partly because their
architectures have been specifically designed to permit this investigation, and because
they give equal weight to the different components while maintaining clear conceptual
boundaries between them.
Practically, this collaboration will involve a number of individual exchanges, typically
of a few days duration, to allow face-to-face collaborative work between individuals,
and an end of year workshop to provide a focus and act as a forum for assessment of
results, and progress, and as an aid to dissemination of results. The workshop will be
widely publicized and participation by researchers who have not taken direct part in
the project will be encouraged.
The roles of French and UK teams will be broadly identical (it is intended that both
contribute equally to all aspects of the project), except that the project web site will be
maintained by the UK partner. There will be differences in roles at the level of
collaborating individuals reflecting different backround knowledge and expertise.
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Expertise of groups
People : higlight the particular expertise of the collaborators (British and French)
In the French group:
Anne Abeillé is the author a computational grammar of French, and has worked
extensively on clitics , coordination, and `lite' constructions.
Danièle Godard has written extensively on the grammar of French, particularly on
clitics, relative clauses, and negation.
Alain Rouveret is the author of a book on Welsh syntax, and articles on Welsh clitics
and resumptive pronouns.
In the UK group:
Doug Arnold has worked on `lite' constructions and the semantics of relative clauses
in English, and on computational implementation.
Robert Borsley has written extensively on Welsh and English syntax, including
coordination, and is the author of a recent monograph on negation in Welsh.
Louisa Sadler is the author of a book on Welsh syntax, and has written extensively on
the syntax-morphology interface, and on coordination.
Andrew Spencer is the author of a well-regarded text on morphological theory and has
worked extensively on the morphology-syntax interface in a variety of languages.
Facilities : highlight the facilities to which the collaborators have access (in their own
laboratories or elsewhere)
Apart from travel/subsitence support, the project requires only the normal
infrastructure and facilities required for linguistic research (computational
environments for grammar development and testing, electronic corpora, appropriate
hardware). Both centres have appropriate facilities for the research, and no access to
facilities elsewhere is required.
What will be the role of the young UK researcher(s) involved in the collaboration ?
(Young researchers are defined as those who are studying for a PhD or have completed their
PhD less than five years prior to the date of this application)
PhD students at both centres working on topics related to the project will be
encouraged to participate in the collaboration, and will be given opportunites to work
with researchers visiting their centre.
In particular, the end of year workshop will provide a forum where they can present
their work in a supportive atmosphere to an informed audience . This may be
especially useful to graduate researchers working in relative isolation elsewhere than
in the two centres directly involved in the project
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Reason for this particular collaboration : explain briefly why this particular collaboration is
desirable and the reason for the choice of partner (please note the UK referee will not see the
French applications so it is important to be clear on the benefit of both sides)
The focus of the project is on topics where the participants have special, largely
complementary, expertise. There is a history of personal contact between the groups over
more than 10 years, as a result of participating in conferences and workshops. The
purpose of this project is to exploit this to produce genuinely collaborative joint work. The
project is timely both because of the interest the phenomena are currently attracting, and
also because the participants' work is at a stage when it is amenable to extension and
challenge from the data and analyses available to the members of the other centre.
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Support for Research
Present and previous support : give brief details (title, value, dates) of national, European
or international grants obtained in areas relevant to this proposal over the past five
years.Include collaboration with countries other than France, and British Council joint projects
with other countries.
Spencer: ESRC - R45126497499. Two-year Research Seminar series Models and Methods
in Morphology’, June 2000 - May 2002.
Spencer: British Academy/Leverhulme Trust Senior Research Fellowship (October 2002 October 2003)
Sadler: ESRC 000 23 0505 "Verb Initial Grammar: A Parallel, Multi-lingual Perspective". (with
M.Dalrymple (Kings London). 1/4/04- 1/4/07 291K GBP
Sadler: AHRB AN 10939 "Noun Phrase Agreement and Coordination". (with M.Dalrymple
Kings, London). 1/3/04 - 1/4/06 186K GBP
Anticipated future developments : indicate what plans you have to obtain future support
and/or to broaden the collaboration should this project be successful.
The possibilities of two kinds of extension will be investigated If the project is
successful.
First, the possibility of extension from the individual centres to other regional
institutions (for example, the UK partner currently organizes an informal network of
researchers on Constraint Based grammar in the SE of England, sucessful
collaboration might encourage extension to some elements of this network). If
appropriate, funding for this would be sought from the respective national
governments through the normal channels for the funding of research infrastructure.
Second, there is the possibility of directly involving third parties, especially those
outside the UK and France. Here European (e.g. ESF) funding would be appropriate.
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Context
Relevance : give a justification for the proposal in terms of industrial or other applications and
decribe the role of the project in terms of national, European or international priorities.
There is a widely held view that the development of a number of Language Engineering
applications, such as Machine Translation, Text Generation, Automatic Question
Answering, Information extraction, requires the development of `high precision'
computational grammars. Such grammars necessarily involve descriptions of syntax,
semantics, and morphology/lexicon, but to be useful, these separate descriptions must be
integrated, and here the issue of interfaces, and hence the phenomena that are the focus
of this project, become crucial. From a practical point of view, such grammars can only be
produced on the basis of theoretically mature and empirically tested analyses, such as this
project is intended to develop. The project can thus be seen as playing a role in the
development of the theoretical and descriptive foundations upon which economially and
socially important areas of the so-called Language Industries depend.
Previous applications
Please indicate if you, or a member of your team, have applied for Alliance funding in
previous years. If yes, please state name of project leader, which year and whether
successful.
No member of the team has previously been involved in applications for Alliance funding.
Where/how did you hear of this programme ?
Through University Research Office.
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Schedule of projected visit
Please clearly state the year, the destination of the visit, and the number of days per visit per
person
Visits by the UK team
Name and Position
Destination and purpose of
visit
Prof Robert Borsley
Paris: Collaboration with
Godard, Abeillé, focus
Negation/Coordination
Paris: Collaboration with
Godard, focus Relatives
Paris: Collaboration with
Rouveret, focus Relatives
Paris: Collaboration with
Abeillé, Godard, Rouveret,
focus clitics
Paris: Collaboration with
Abeillé, Godard, Rouveret,
focus clitics
Paris: Collaboration with
Abeillé, Godard,focus `lite'
constructions
Paris: Collaboration with
Abeillé, Godard,focus `lite'
constructions
Dr Doug Arnold
Prof Rober Borsley
Dr Louisa Sadler
Prof Andrew Spencer
Dr Doug Arnold
Dr Louisa Sadler
Anticipated
date of visit
(month/year)
March 05
Anticipated
duration of
visit in days
4 days
June 05
2 days
June 05
2 days
May 05
2 days
May 05
2 days
Sept 05
2 days
Sept 05
2 days
Anticipated
date of visit
(month/year)
Feb 05
Anticipated
duration of
visit in days
2 days
April 05
2 days
Sept 05
2 days
Oct 05
2 days
Oct 05
2 days
Dec 05
2 days
Dec 05
2 days
Dec 05
2 days
Visits by the French team
Name and Position
Destination and purpose of
visit
Dr Danièle Godard
Essex: Collaboration with
Borsley, focus on negation
Essex: Collaboration with
Borsley, focus on Relatives
Essex: Collaboration with
Arnold, Sadler, focus `lite'
construcitons.
Essex: Collaboration with
Spencer, Sadler, focus
clitics.
Essex: Collaboration with
Borsley, focus
Coordination
Essex: End of Year
Workshop
Essex: End of Year
Workshop
Essex: End of Year
Workshop
Prof Alain Rouveret
Dr Danièle Godard
Prof Anne Abeillé
Prof Anne Abeillé
Prof Alain Rouveret
Prof Anne Abeillé
Dr Danièle Godard
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7. Linked proposal
If you wish this proposal to be linked to one (or more) proposal(s) being made by you, or by
another UK team, please provide the following details of the linked proposal. (If there is more
than one linked proposal, please continue on a separate sheet.)
Project title
UK team
French team
Project leader
Position
Department
Full address
Telephone
Fax
E-mail
Web page
Please explain briefly the added-value to be derived from linking these projects :
The proposal is not linked to any other proposal.
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ANNEX
Curriculum vitae of British project leader. Please copy for each UK team member
Surname Arnold
First Name Douglas
Position
Lecturer, Dept. of Language and Linguistics, University of Essex
Academic qualifications
PhD, Essex, 1989
MA, Essex (with distinction), 1978
MA Cambridge, 1974
Publications
D.J. Arnold Non-Restrictive Relatives in Construction Based HPSG, Proceedings of HPSG04, Leuven, to appear.
D.J. Arnold. Why translation is difficult for computers. In H.L. Somers, editor, Computers and
Translation: a handbook for translators. John Benjamins, 2003.
D.J. Arnold. World Wide Web access to corpora. Cuadernos de Filologia Inglesa de la
Universidad deMurcia, 9(1):125-145, 2000. Pascual Cantos Gomez, editor, ISSN 0213-5485.
D.J. Arnold. Parameterizing Lexical Conceptual Structure for Interlingual Machine Translation.
Machine Translation, 11(3):217-241, 1996. ISSN 0922-6567.
Louisa Sadler and D.J. Arnold. Prenominal adjectives and the phrasal/lexical distinction.
Journal ofLinguistics, 30:187-226, 1994.
D.J. Arnold, Lorna Balkan, Siety Meijer, R.Lee Humphreys, and Louisa Sadler. Machine
Translation: an Introductory Guide. Blackwells-NCC, London, 1994. ISBN: 1855542-17x.
Other activities
Arnold has been a lecturer in the Department of Language & Linguistics at Essex since the
early 1980s, teaching courses in several areas of theoretical and computational linguistics,
notably courses on HPSG, and Computational Linguistics (especially implementation for
Constraint Based Linguistic theories). He has been responsible for research grants worth in
excess of £2.6 million addressing a variety of issues in Computational Linguistics.
He is the author of over thirty articles on various aspects of computational linguistics, syntax
and semantics, and maintains a number of linguistics related web pages, including the LAGB
and LFG Web pages, pages relating to corpus linguistics, and on-line linguistic bibliographies.
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