Semantics & Pragmatics Flashcards
TW3V14203 UU
Conversation-internal
Taking into account other speaker’s representation of the conversation.
What two theories does Avrutin take in his article?
Binding Theory from the syntactic side and
File Change Semantics from the discourse side.
For what account of linguistic development and breakdown does Avrutin argue overall?
A modular account.
What two things play a role in restricting the range of possible interpretations of pronominal reference?
C-command and locality
Principle A of the Binding Principles
Reflexives must be locally bound.
Principle B of the Binding Principles
Pronouns must be locally free.
When is a pronoun bound?
If it is coindexed with another element that c-commands it.
Speaker-internal
A reflection of the speakers’ knowledge of language.
Deixis
When general phrases are used to refer to a specific thing, for example ‘tomorrow’, ‘there’, or ‘it’. Literally: ‘pointing’.
intra-sentential antecedent
When the anaphor and the antecedent occur within a single sentence.
Antecedent
The thing that provides the context for the interpretation of the anaphor, for example ‘Mary’ is the antecedent of ‘her’.
When does A c-command B?
A does not dominate B, B does not dominate A and the nearest branching node above A dominates B.
When are two things coindexed?
When they refer to the same referent and thus get the same index.
Where does meaning begin?
At the level of morphology
What two types of semantics do we discuss?
- Lexical semantics
- Compositional semantics
Lexical semantics
The word meaning.
Compositional semantics
The truth condition that arises from the combination of lexical items, the relationship between sets.
Frequency effect
The phenomenon that more frequent words are easier and faster to retrieve.
Presupposition
Something that is assumed to be true (beforehand).
What two properties of a sentence/utterance do we need to disinguish?
- grammaticality
- acceptability
Discourse
A system that is built on what the listeners hear, and influenced by what they know or heard before.
FCM
file change model
What do indefinitie NPs do in the FCM?
They introduce new ‘filecards’.
What do definite NPs do in the FCM?
They update information.
What does it mean for an item to be activated in the FCM?
It is present in working memory, meaning its level of activation is above a certain threshold.
What is the purpose of conversation according to the FCM?
To build a file.
DRT
discourse representation theory
What does priming tell us about the lexicon?
That it incorporates both phonological features and meaning.
Bridging
The ability to transfer knowledge from one system to another, for example between people groups with different common grounds.
Word
combination of sound and meaning
entropy
lack of order or predictability
What three types of demonstratives do we distinguish?
- Proximal
- Medial
- Distal
Proximal demonstrative
Refers to something close to the 1st person.
Medial demonstrative
Refers to something close to the adressee
Distal demonstrative
Refers to something far away from both the speaker and the adressee.
What three mechanisms of introducing NP into discourse does Avrutin mention in part 2?
- Incorporation
- Accomodation
- Deictic use of NP
Lexical knowledge
Knowing the words of the language
Syntactic competence
Being able to combine words into grammatical strings.
Guise
A representation of a person or entity which shares properties with but is not necessarily identical to the person or entity.
Variable anaphor
When the anaphor’s interpretation varies with the value assigned to its antecedent.
Discourse anaphor
When the interpretation relies on the memory, on the context of discourse.
R-expression
Referential expression: a category of noun.
Definite NPs can be either… or …
Names
Pronominals
What is the 1st rule of NP representation in discourse?
Instantiate the variable index of an indefinite NP with a number of a new filecard.
What is the 2nd rule of NP representation in discourse?
Instantiate the variable index of a definite NP with a number of an old file card.
What is the 3rd rule of NP representation in discourse?
Instantiate two identical variable indices with the same number, and two different indices with different numbers.
What is the 4th rule of NP representation in discourse? (proposed in Avrutin part 2)
Instantiate the variable index of a definite NP with a number of a new file card only if this card can be bridged to another one.
Principle P
Two coreferential elements are coindexed unless the context specifies otherwise.
Why is it likely that introduction of new file cards is avoided?
The smaller the file, the easier to maintain.
Immediate situation use
Use without introduction.
Larger situation use
When the first mention is natural, so no introduction is necessary. Depends on some shared knowledge.
Associative anaphoric use
An example of the first mention use of a definite NP. Requires making inferences on the basis of non-linguistic knowledge.
(ex: ‘The sun is shining’)
Incorporation
A procedure of updating information on an already existing file card.
Accomodation
when a new file card is made by bridging.
What file do speakers start a conversation with?
Multiple file cards with their own number. Cards about the world, about community, location etc.
Interface
The place where different systems, different representations, interact with each other.
What are the three types of file cards?
- Individuals
- Events
- Locations
What are the possible operations on the headings of file cards?
- Copy-and-paste
- Cut-and-paste
- Bridging
What prepositions have a discourse representation?
Only lexical prepositions; they can introduce a discourse referent LOCATION.
How is an INDIVIDUAL file card introduced from syntax in conversation?
by a determiner phrase
How is an EVENT file card introduced from syntax into conversation?
By a tense phrase.
How is a LOCATION file card introduced from syntax into conversation?
By a prepositional phrase.
What do we mean with ‘Elements in syntax are variables, not constants’?
When we say ‘dog’, we identify a set of possible dogs, not a specific one. Same for verbs. So it can refer to a set.
How do we deal with syntax elements being variables when we make file cards?
We give them a variable index, ex: i.
What 3 entities from syntax participate in creating discourse referents?
- Functional category
- Lexical category
- (Variable) index
What are the 3 requirements of discourse entities from a psycholinguistic perspective?
- Separated from each other
- Meaningful
- Identifiable
How do we translate syntactic functional category to discourse?
Frame (separator)
How do we translate syntactic lexical category to discourse?
Heading (lexical meaning)
How do we translate syntactic index to discourse?
Number (concrete identity)
What does it mean when
‘a variable has been instantiated with a constant’?
One of the possible values of variables belonging to the set identified by X is x. We can instantiate variable X with a number in the set (x), which is the constant.
What does every conversation presuppose?
Speaker and listener
How are pronouns represented in discourse?
Pronouns are definite expressions (DP) with no specific lexical content. Only the frame, without heading.
What is rule 5 of discourse representation?
No frame without heading.
What is rule 6 of discourse representation?
No heading without frame
What is rule 7 of discourse representation?
No uninterpretable discourse entities (file cards) are allowed in discourse.
When is a file card interpretable?
When it is complete.
When is a file card complete?
when it has a frame, heading and number.
What operation on file cards is used to create a pronoun file card?
Copy-and-paste
Why do we feel that the antecedent name has to be repeated again after referring to it a few times with a pronoun or sth lik ethat?
Some activation is lost when copy-and-paste is carried out, so we feel the antecedent needs to be reactivated.
What operation do we use for creating a reflexive file card?
cut-and-paste
What is the distribution between reflexive types ‘her’ and ‘herself’?
It is typically complementary: you can use either ‘her’, or ‘herself’, but they’re almost never always possible.
Logophoricity
A binding relation where an antecedent outside of the clause is connected to an anaphor within the clause.