Contextually-dependent lexical semantics

Contextually-DependentLexicalSemanticsCorneliaMariaVerspoorPhDTheUniversityofEdinburgh1997AbstractThisthesisisaninvestigationofphenomenaattheinterfacebetweensyntax,semantics,andpragmatics,withtheaimofarguingforaviewofsemanticinterpretationaslexically-drivenyetcontextuallydependent.Iexamineregular,generativeprocesseswhichoperateoverthelexicontoinduceverbalsenseshifts,anddiscusstheinteractionoftheseprocesseswiththelinguisticordiscoursecontext.Iconcentrateonphenomenawhereonlyaninter-actionbetweenallthreelinguisticknowledgesourcescanexplaintheconstraintsonverbuse:conventionalisedlexicalsemanticknowledgeconstrainsproductivesyntacticprocesses,whilepragmaticreasoningisbothconstrainedbyandconstrainsthepotentialinterpretationsgiventocertainverbs.ThephenomenawhicharecloselyexaminedarethebehaviourofPPsententialmodifiers(specificallydativeanddirectionalPPs)withrespecttothelexicalsemanticrepresentationoftheverbphrasestheymodify,resultativeconstructions,andlogicalmetonymy.TheanalysisiscouchedintermsofalexicalsemanticrepresentationdrawingonDavis(1995),Jackendoff(1983,1990),andPustejovsky(1991,1995)whichaimstocapture“linguis-ticallyrelevant”componentsofmeaning.Therepresentationisshowntohaveutilityformodelingoftheinteractionbetweenthesyntacticformofanutteranceanditsmeaning.IintroduceaformalisationoftherepresentationwithintheframeworkofHeadDrivenPhraseStructureGrammar(PollardandSag1994),andrelyonthemodelofdiscoursecoherenceproposedbyLascaridesandAsher(1992),DiscourseinCommonsenseEntailment.Ifurthermorediscusstheimplicationsofthecontextualdependencyofsemanticinterpre-tationforlexicondesignandcomputationalprocessinginNaturalLanguageUnderstandingsystems.iDeclarationIdeclarethatthisthesishasbeencomposedbymyselfandthattheresearchreportedhereinismyown.ThisthesiscomplieswithalltheregulationsforthedegreeofPhDattheUniversityofEdinburgh,andfallsbelowtherequisitewordlimitspecified.CorneliaMariaVerspoorAugust1997iiAcknowledgementsIhavebeenluckytohavehadopportunitiestoworkwithmanystimulatingpeopleduringthecourseofresearchingandwritingthiswork.ThishassurelyhelpedtoshapemythesisinwaysIwouldneverhavebeenabletoachieveonmyown.FirstandforemostImustthankmyprimarysupervisorAlexLascaridesforherdetailedandprobingcomments,deliveredwithamazingefficiency,andherconstantencourage-ments.ClaireGrover,mysecondsupervisor,alsodeservesthanksforworkingthroughmyrepresentationsandexampleswithafine-toothedcomb.FrankSchilder,BernieJones,andAliceDreweryhaveadmirablytoleratedmyrantingsaboutlexicalsemantics,andhaveevenmanagedtosolveafewstickingpointsforme.IwouldalsoliketothankPaulBuitelaar,MarcVerhagen,JesseTseng,JanetHitzeman,MassimoPoesio,GosseBouma,andAnnCopestakeforgivingmefeedbackonvariouspartsofthiswork.Intheearlystagesofthisresearch,IspentsometimeattheResearchInstituteforSpeechandLangauge(OnderzoeksinstituutvoorTaalenSpraak,OTS)inUtrecht,theNetherlands,andIwouldliketothankHenkVerkuylfordiscussingsomeunderdevelopedideaswithme,andtheOTSitselfformakingitpossible.IalsospentafewmonthsatBrandeisUniversityinBostonin1996;thiswasaninvaluableexperienceandIamgratefultoRayJackendoff,JoanMaling,andJamesPustejovskyforinvitingme,makingtimetomeetwithme,andincludingmeineverything.MycolleaguesinBoston,VittorioDiTomasoandBhuvanaNarasimhan,spentmanytiringhourswithmethinkingaboutstrangepatternsindata,andweretheinspi-rationformyworkonmannerofmotionverbs.IthanktheDoctorCatharinevanTussen-broekFoundationintheNetherlandsandtheCentreforCognitiveScienceformakingthattrippossible.ManythankstotheEngineeringandPhysicalSciencesResearchCouncil,theWorldBank,andmyparentswhohaveprovidedfinancialsupporttomeduringmytimeinEdinburgh.Myparents,AdriaanandAntoinette,althoughveryfarawayinIndia,alwaysmanagedtokeepmemotivated.IamsurethatIwouldneverhaveachievedsomuchinlifewithouttheiropen-mindedencouragementtoexplore.Finally,IwouldliketothankmyhusbandVicenteUceda,forhissoothingeffectonme,andthelove,care,support,andunderstandingwhichhavecarriedmethroughsomecrazytimes.iiiContents1Introduction11.1DefinitionsandAssumptions.............................31.2Sensevariation.....................................41.3Chaptersummaries...................................62LexicalRepresentation92.1Introduction.......................................92.2Jackendoffandsyntactically-relevantsemantics..................122.2.1ComponentsofJackendoff’sConceptualSemantics............122.2.2Jackendoffandinferences...........................192.2.3Conclusions...................................252.3ConceptualStructureandHPSG...........................262.3.1LexicalSemanticsinHPSG..........................262.3.2IncorporationofJackendoff’stheoryintoHPSG..............292.4Davis’multiple-inheritancelexicalsemantics....................292.4.1Davis’relationtypes..............................322.4.2ComparisonwithJackendoff(1983,1990)..................352.4.3NecessaryExtensions.............................442.5Verbsemantics......................................472.5.1InternalandExternalverbsemantics.....................472.5.2Formalisationoftherepr