Word order without phrases
(Introduction to Word Grammar)
Richard Hudson
Budapest, March 2012
1
Plan
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
Dependency or phrase structure?
Rich dependencies
Word order, dependencies and landmarks
Default inheritance
Landmark raising and lowering
Pied-piping
Conclusion
2
1. Dependency or phrase structure?
A phrase-structure analysis:
Small children use short sentences
use short sentences
small children
short sentences
Small children use short sentences.
3
'arrow' notation (Word
A dependency structure
Grammar)
'stemma' notation
(Tesnière)
adjunct
subject
object
adjunct
Small children use short sentences.
4
History and geography
• Phrase structure
– Since 1930
– USA (Bloomfield – Chomsky)
• Dependency structure
– Since at least 9th Century?
– Europe+
– Basis for most school grammar
5
Why phrase structure?
• Why not recognise direct word-word
relations?
– academic tradition in the USA
• Cognitively, this restriction is very
implausible.
– Compare social structure!
6
For example, a kinship network
Gretta
son
brother
mother
husband
Colin
me
Gaynor
brother
wife
daughter
daughter
grandson
Lucy
son
Peter
7
Moreover, words are like other
actions
• Actions aim to solve problems
– and sub-problems
• and sub-problems of sub-problems
• Notice:
– asymmetrical relations ('dependencies')
– ordering in time
8
Opening a door
find the
key
insert
the key
turn the
key
remove
the key
open the
door
9
Dependents as sub-solutions
• Task: Say that small babies cry.
– Solution: Say cry, but specify 'small babies'.
• Sub-task: Specify 'small babies'?
– Solution: Add babies before, but specify 'small'.
• Sub-task: Specify 'small'?
– Solution: Add small.
small
babies
cry
10
2. Rich dependencies
Relations among words are too rich for
stemma notation because of:
• Interdependencies
– impossible in phrase structure
• Multiple dependencies
11
Interdependencies
Consider: Who came?
• Who depends (as subject) on came.
• But came depends (as complement) on who.
– I wonder who/*he came.
– Someone came. I wonder who.
complement
subject
Who came?
12
Multiple dependencies: raising
Consider: It was raining.
• It depends (as subject) on was.
• But it also depends (as subject) on raining.
– RAIN selects it as its subject.
subject
Has no effect
on word order.
subject predicate
It
was
raining.
13
3. Word order and dependencies
• Dependencies typically restrict word order
subject
subject
e.g. children play, not: *play children.
• But some dependencies have no effect on
word order
subject
e.g. It (was) raining.
14
How to model word order mentally
• In our minds, there is no left-right order.
– Mental space is just a network.
• Order (in place or in time) is a relation.
– e.g. 'before' or 'after'
• Order relates:
– a 'trajector' (subordinate)
– to its 'landmark' (superior)
• Langacker
15
Landmarks and sub-tasks
• In general we solve sub-tasks before
returning to the super-task
• So a sub-task's landmark is the super-task
• So the sub-task takes its position from the
super-task
– so sub-tasks stay next to their super-task.
16
Similarly with words
• A word's landmark is the word on which it
depends (its 'parent')
– i.e. its 'super-task'
• So a word stays next to its parent.
• Hence: 'phrasal glue'
17
Phrasal glue
• Good: I
like
red
wine.
• Bad: *I
• Why?
red
like
wine.
– Because red isn't next to its landmark, wine.
– Shown by crossing lines.
18
Notation for landmarks
• Typical dependencies match landmarks.
landmark
dependent
A
B
• These dependencies are above the words.
• Others are below the words.
• x
19
Two examples
subject
• It
predicate
was
subject
'surface structure'
raining.
'deep structure'
• What do you think we should do?
20
Summary so far
• A word has one parent
– but: roots have no parent
– and: raised, extracted words have >1 parent
• A word's parent is its landmark
– but: if a word has >1 parent, only one is its
landmark.
– this is 'raised', i.e. the highest parent.
21
4. Default inheritance
• Every concept is in an 'is-a' hierarchy
– e.g. penguin is-a bird is-a creature is-a …..
• By default, properties are inherited from
higher concepts.
• But exceptions are allowed.
– e.g. A bird flies.
– BUT: A penguin doesn't fly.
–x
22
Exceptional words may …
• reverse the default order
– e.g. are they for they are
• have a non-landmark parent
– e.g. it … raining
• have a 'lowered' landmark
• have a parent but no landmark
• x
23
Reversing the default order
• An English word's
dependent is after it.
• A verb's subject is
before it.
• An interrogative
auxiliary verb's subject
is after it.
is
in
he
is
is
he
London
24
5. Landmark raising and lowering
• Landmark raising
A
winner
B
C
winner
• Landmark lowering
A
B
C
25
Landmark lowering
• Landmarks are usually 'raised'
– if: W has two parents P1, P2
– and P1 depends on P2
– then: W's landmark is P2, not P1
• But there are exceptions
• Thanks to default inheritance.
26
German Partial VP fronting
• Eine Concorde ist hier nie gelandet.
A Concorde is here never landed
• Eine Concorde gelandet
ist hier nie.
27
6. Pied-piping
Thanks to
András
Imrényi!
e.g. With whom does he live?
• Whom is extracted to the front
• But whom depends on with
– whom allows its parent to have no landmark
– so it takes ('pied-pipes') with to the front.
With
whom
does
he
live?
28
Conclusions
• Word order can be predicted from:
– dependency structure, plus
– landmark structure, plus
– default inheritance
• This is better than phrases because:
– it gives enough flexibility for language data
– it uses the full power of the human mind.
–x
29
Thank you
This slideshow can be downloaded:
www.phon.ucl.ac.ak/home/dick/talks.htm
More on Word Grammar:
www.phon.ucl.ac.ak/home/dick/wg.htm
30