László Kálmán

Towards a natural language semantics without functors and operands

The paper sets out to offer an alternative to the function/argument approach to the most essential aspects of natural language meanings. That is, we question the assumption that semantic completeness (of, e.g., propositions) or incompleteness (of, e.g., predicates) exactly replicate the corresponding grammatical concepts (of, e.g., sentences and verbs, respectively). We argue that even if one gives up this assumption, it is still possible to keep the compositionality of the semantic interpretation of simple predicate/argument structures. In our opinion, compositionality presupposes that we are able to compare arbitrary meanings in term of information content. This is why our proposal relies on an ‘intrinsically’ type free algebraic semantic theory. The basic entities in our models are neither individuals, nor eventualities, nor their properties, but ‘pieces of evidence’ for believing in the ‘truth’ or ‘existence’ or ‘identity’ of any kind of phenomenon. Our formal language contains a single binary non-associative constructor used for creating structured complex terms representing arbitrary phenomena. We give a finite Hilbert-style axiomatisation and a decision algorithm for the entailment problem of the suggested system.

The first BUG report

The B u d a p e s t U n i f i c a t i o n G r a m m a r (BUG) system described in this paper is a system for generating natural language parsers from feature-structure based grammat ica l descriptions (graamnars). In the current version, source grammars are limited to the context-free phrase s tructure g rammar format. BuG compiles source grmnmars into au tomata , which it can then use for parsing input strings.

Neo-Lockean Semantics

Locke’s view of ideas radically differs from Aristotle’s: they are more similar to what Frege calls “images”, or what contemporary psychology calls “memory traces” (in various modalities). For Locke, the primary function of linguistic signs is that they evoke such ideas. Thus, a semantic theory adopting the Lockean stance is radically different from the mainstream approach. In particular, it does not take reference to be the main explicandum of semantics, and it considers the relationship of utterances to logical assertions a rather indirect one. This type of approach, I argue, is a promising alternative of Frege and Carnap’s theory of model theoretic semantics and Montague’s compositional machinery. In particular, it is capable of explaining the role of association (a non-logical concept) in human communication, people’s diverging judgments concerning logical relations between utterances, and the non-bottom-up character of human interpretation.

Representation of feature systems in a non-connectionist molecular machine

This paper is part of an enterprise whose aim is to represent linguistic knowledge in the form of a molecular machine (a dynamic network). That is, the molecules of the network not only store, but also send, receive, and process information. It is claimed that such a network can be conceived of as a model of the coalition structure of a connectionist network. The paper describes how the class of feature systems called unary feature hierarchies (whose importance is supported by phonological theory but will not be argued for in the paper) can be represented in the molecular machine.