hs01: the grammar of anaphora - uni-tuebingen.de · hs01: the grammar of anaphora: ... (prince, e....

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HS01:

The Grammar of Anaphora:

The Study of Anaphora and Ellipsis – An Introduction

Winkler /Konietzko

WS06/07

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Introduction to English Linguistics

Andreas Konietzko

SFB – Nauklerstr. 35E-mail: [email protected]

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Introduction to English Linguistics

Susanne Winkler

R. 464E-mail: [email protected] Hours: Thursday 16 - 18

Talk to us right after the seminar!

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The Grammar of Anaphora

1 10-24-06 Introduction: The Study of WinklerAnaphora and Ellipsis

2 10-31-06 Introduction II Winkler

3 11-07-06 Syntactic Approaches to VP-Ellipsis Bast

4 11-14-06 Semantic Approaches to VP-Ellipsis: SchlosserCoherence Relations, Ellipsis and Parallelism

5 11-21-06 Sluicing: IP Ellipsis in English Corder

Schedule: Tuesday 12-14, R. 306

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6 11-28-06 Approaches to Gapping Diener

7 12-05-06 Approaches to Pseudogapping James

8 12-12-06 Bare Arguments Ellipsis (Stripping)in English

9 01-09-07 Stripping and Coordination Fabriz

10 01-16-07 Processing of Elliptical FluryConstructions

11 01-23.07 NP Ellipsis and One Anaphora Reinhart

Schedule: cont.:

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12 01-09-07 Fragments Henschke, Schmeh

13 01-16-07 Do and Do so-Anaphora

14 01-23-07 Right Node Raising ConstructionsFinal Discussion

Schedule cont.:

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Goal: Within the general framework of generative grammar this seminar will investigate the grammatical properties of anaphoric and elliptical expressions in English. In particular, we will concentrate on the relation between structure, meaning and sound.

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There are two approaches to the study of anaphora

Anaphora

Discourse Theory Binding Theory

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Anaphora - a first definition

Anaphora is a phenomenon in which an item in a sentence of discourse depends for its denotation (reference) on another item in linguistic or nonlinguistic contexts. (Noguchi (1995)).

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Deictic Referencea. Look, he is dragging her. (Castaneda (1966: 132));

from Noguchi (1995: 3)b. He did it! (Johnson-Laird (1983, 388))

c. It was the wrong number that started it, the telephone ringing three times in the dead of night, and the voice on the other end asking for someone he was not. Much later, when he was able to think about the thing that happened to him, he would conclude that nothing was real except chance. (...)As for Quinn, there is little that need detain us.(P. Auster (1987) The New York Trilogy. London: Faber & Faber, p. 1 (Introductory passage))

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Anaphoric Reference in discourse

This guy sitting in the park, minding his own business. After a while, he takes out his lunch and starts eating. Suddenly, he notices a guy on the next bench.

a. He looks at the guy and says ... b. The guy looks at him and says...c. He looks at him and says...

(Prince, E. (1997) A Bilateral Approach to Givenness. LSA Linguistic Institute, HO2, (1))

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Hearer-Status Algorithm (Walker & Prince (1996))

When evoking an entity which you believe the hearer already 'knows about' or else already has a requisite knowledge and reasoning capability to infer, mark the NP representing that entity as definite. When evoking an entity which you believe the hearer does not yet 'know about' and cannot infer, mark the NP representing that entity as indefinite.

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Centering Constraints: (cf. Grosz et al. (1995))

For each utterance Ui in a discourse segment U1, ..., Um:a. There is at most one Backward-looking center, Cb.b. Every element of the Forward-looking centers list of

Ui, {Cf(Ui)}, must be realized in Ui.c. The Backward-looking center of Ui, Cb(Ui), is the

highest-ranked element of {Cf (Ui-1)} that is realized in Ui.

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The Grammar of AnaphoraThe Optimization of Discourse Anaphor: (cf. Beaver 2004)

Beaver reformulates the Centering model of anaphora re-solution and discourse coherence (Grosz et al. 1983, 1995) in terms of Optimality Theory (OT) (Prince and Smolensky 1993). One version of the reformulated model is proven to be descriptively equivalent to an earlier algorithmic statement of Centering due to Brennan, Friedman and Pollard (1987). However, the new model is stated declaratively, and makes clearer the status of the various constraints used in the theo-ry. In the second part of the paper, the model is extended, demonstrating the advantages of the OT reformulation. Three new applications of the OT Centering model are described: generation of linguistic forms from meanings, the evaluation and optimization of extended texts, and the interpretation of accented pronouns.

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Terminology:

a. Referential (or deictic) expressions:Some uses of proper names or some uses of pronouns are not dependent on another linguistic expression for their denotation. Rather the reference can be recovered from non-linguistic contexts. (= direct reference)

b. Others, like reflexive pronouns or some uses of personal pronouns, are dependent on another linguistic expression, an antecedent, for their reference. (= indirect reference) (cf. Noguchi, p. 2)

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PPT-notion of Anaphor

Binding Theory (Chomsky (1981, 188)(A) An anaphor is bound in its governing category.(B) A pronominal is free in its governing category.(C) An R-expression is free.

(7) a. Maryi believes that a ghost is following heri/ *herselfi.b. Maryi saw a/*John’s snapshot of herselfi in the

newspaper.c. Mary’si brotherk likes Maryi/*Johnk.

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Pronouns as bound variables

a. Every boyi likes hisi mother.b. Every mani loves a woman who loves himi.

a. For every x, x a boy, x likes x's mother.b. For every x, x a man, there is some y, y a woman, such

that x loves y and y loves x.

a. When Johni came in, hei looked tired. b. For every x, x a man, there is some y, y a woman, such that x loves y and y loves x.

b. *When every boyi came in, hei looked tired.c. *When a boyi came in, hei looked tired.

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Summary:

Chomsky's binding theory covers both binding and coreference via coindexation. Noguchi (1995), however, would like to differentiate between these notions. He proposes that there are two types of anaphoric relations, namely binding and coreference.

Binding: Binding is subject to structural conditions.

Coreference: Coreference is subject to conditions not stated in grammatical terms, but rather stated in pragmatic terms.

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Pronouns as bound variables in VPE

a. John likes his mother and Bill does too.

b. The people who were born in LA adore its beaches but the people who were born in NY do not.

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Generalization:

The sloppy reading is only allowed if variable binding is involved, that is, if the pronoun is bound. The strict reading is only available if coreference is involved, that is, if the pronoun is not bound by its antecedent (cf. Reinhart (1983, 1986), Noguchi (1995)).

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Questions a theory of anaphora must answer:

1. What different types of anaphoric relations need to be distinguished?

2. What are their formal definitions?

3. Do the various cases of anaphora form a linguistically significant class of phenomena? And if so, how can the Grammar capture this fact? That is, is it appropriate to speak of anaphoric relations in general, or should for example, definite pronouns be treated differently from elliptical constructions? And should all elliptical constructions be treated as a uniform class, or should different types be distinguished?

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Questions a theory of anaphora must answer:

4. What linguistic and nonlinguistic clues are available in a discourse setting to facilitate the resolution of anaphora?

5. What do the answers to (1)-(4) entail for linguistic theory?

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Question:

Why is a theory of anaphora relevant for the analysis of elliptical expressions? or:

How can a comprehensive theory of anaphora also account for ellipsis?

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Ellipsis as a Special Case of Anaphora

Definition of EllipsisThe term ellipsis comes from the Greek word élleipsis[Qllipsis] and means omission. The term ellipsis applied to English sentences describes the omission or deletionof linguistic material;

How can a comprehensive theory of anaphora also account for ellipsis?

General question: How are syntactic ellipses characterized?First (but incorrect) hypothesis: The more parts you take out, the harder it is to reconstruct it.

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from: Luis Lopéz-Carretero (1995)

a. b. c.

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a. Susan bought a new book but Mary did not buy a new book.

d. Susan bought a new book but Mary did not.

c. *Susan bought a new book but Mary did not buy.

b. *Susan bought a new book but Mary did not buy a new.

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Conclusion

"...you can elide parts of speech but not everything goes. The limits of what can be ellipsed and what cannot are set by constraints of a purely linguistic or formal nature." (López (1995))

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Example

(1) Rick: You'll see me before you go.Ilsa: No, Rick.Rick: Oh, yes, you will. Some night you'll lie to Laszlo and come to me.Ilsa: No. No, you see Victor Laszlo's my husband. And was, even when I knew you in Paris.

(Casablanca)

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Example 2

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Model of Grammar in The Minimalist Program[Chomsky 1998, 1999, 2001, 2002]

LexiconSyntax

syntactic structure

PF component

PF representation˜

SPEECH SYSTEMS

semantic component

semantic representation˜

THOUGHT SYSTEMS

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CHL

Syntax Phonological Form Logical Form Pragmatics

Focus Assignment and Information Structure: Accessibility Theory Reduction Rules derive in: Double Cycle ISH cycle 1: Information Focus cycle 1: functional cycle cycle 2: Contrastive Top/Foc cycle 2: grammatical cycle Phonological Structure

Phonological Structure Semantic Interpretation

Derivational Model of Grammar


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1. Search for the relevant references of your topic.

2. Send an email to:[email protected]: HS: Anaphora Distributor

3. Read Beaver (2005)

4. Read Lobeck (1995), p. 20-40.

Assignments

hs01: the grammar of anaphora - uni-tuebingen.de · hs01: the grammar of anaphora: ... (prince, e....

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