Syntax-driven semantic frame composition in Lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammars

Abstract

The grammar framework presented in this paper combines Lexicalized Tree Adjoining Grammar (LTAG) with a (de)compositional frame semantics. We introduce elementary constructions as pairs of elementary LTAG trees and decompositional frames. The linking between syntax and semantics can largely be captured by such constructions since in LTAG, elementary trees represent full argument projections. Substitution and adjunction in the syntax then trigger the unification of the associated semantic frames, which are formally defined as base-labelled feature structures. Moreover, the system of elementary constructions is specified in a metagrammar by means of tree and frame descriptions. This metagrammatical factorization gives rise to a fine-grained decomposition of the semantic contributions of syntactic building blocks, and it allows us to separate lexical from constructional contributions and to carve out generalizations across constructions. In the second half of the paper, we apply the framework to the analysis of directed motion expressions and of the dative alternation in English, two well known examples of the interaction between lexical and constructional meaning.

Stereotype negation in Frame Semantics

“…In the relevant literature, the prefix un-is usually associated with a negative evaluation that is generally absent with lexemes derived by non- (Jespersen 1917;Zimmer 1964;Algeo 1971). Should the semantic representations of un-and non-capture this assumed difference?…”

“…Although lexical negation by means of affixation has received considerable attention in literature (Jespersen 1917;Zimmer 1964;Marchand 1969;Funk 1986;Horn 1989Horn /2001Horn , 2002Bauer & Huddleston 2002;Lieber 2004;Plag 2004;Kjellmer 2005;Hamawand 2009;Bauer et al 2013), not all types of lexical negation have been studied to the same extent. In particular, although "contrary" and "contradictory" types of negation are rather well studied, other types, such as stereotype negation have received less attention.…”

Implementing semantic frames as typed feature structures with XMG

“…We will use the state-of-the-art work of Kallmeyer and Osswald (2013) on integrating frame semantics into Lexicalized Tree-Adjoining Grammars (LTAG) as a starting point. One important motivation for developing a frame-based semantics for LTAG is found in the straightforward account for the well-established distinction between lexical and constructional contributions to the overall meaning.…”

“…In the framework of Kallmeyer and Osswald (2013), the syntax of these constructions lies in the scope of the LTAG component. An LTAG consists of a finite set of phrase structure trees, the elementary trees, that can be combined (by means of two basic operations, substitution and adjunction) to generate larger trees.…”

“…Therefore we extend XMG by a novel <frame>-dimension, among other tools, that makes it capable of handling frame representations as formalized in Petersen (2007) and Kallmeyer and Osswald (2013), i.e. as extended typed feature structures, directly.…”