Ralf Naumann

Constraining the Combinatorial Patterns of Japanese V-V Compounds: An Analysis in Dynamic Event Semantics

In this article we investigate the argument structure of Japanese V-V compounds from the perspective of Dynamic Event Semantics (Naumann 2001). The argument structure of a verb is defined as a linearly ordered set of so-called dynamic roles. Dynamic roles differ from thematic relations in characterizing participants in terms of sets of results that are brought about in the course of an event. The patterns of argument sharing found in Japanese V-V compounds are shown to derive from compatibility constraints on the different results that are assigned to a shared argument. In addition, it is argued that the phenomenon of argument blocking follows from the Subject-Head Constraint (Gamerschlag 2000, 2002). This constraint requires the highest argument (= subject) of the head verb to be the highest argument of the compound.

An outline of a dynamic theory of frames

In this article we present an extension to the theory of frames developed in Petersen (2007). Petersens theory only applies to concepts for persistent objects like trees or dogs but not to concepts for actions and events that are inherently dynamic because they describe factual changes in the world. Basic frames are defined as Kripke-models. In order to represent the dynamic dimension one needs in addition both combinations of and transformation between such models. Combinations of Kripke-models are used for temporalization (representing stages of objects and the temporal development of events) and refinement (representing the internal structure of objects). Such combinations are defined using techniques from Finger & Gabbay (1992) and Blackburn & de Rijke (1997). Transformations between Kripke-models are used to represent the factual changes brought about by events. Such transformations are defined using strategies from Dynamic Logic and Dynamic Epistemic Logic, Van Benthem et al. (2005).

A Dynamic Temporal Logic for Aspectual Phenomena in Natural Language

It is usually thought that Dowty’s decompositional approach to aspect and that of event-semantics are incompatible with each other. In this paper this is shown to be wrong by presenting a theory that combines both approaches. The decompositional component is represented by a two-sorted variant B of TL with corresponding structure B introduced by Van Benthem et al. (1994) in which the second sort besides that of formulas is that of procedures. The event-component is represented by an eventuality-structure E. By combining both structures one gets a double perspective: whereas at the level of E events are structureless objects, they are assigned an internal structure in form of a sequence in B according to which events are interpreted as state-transformers. This makes it possible to define various aspectual classes that cannot be defined in event-semantics.

A dynamic logic of events and states for the interaction between plural quantification and verb aspect in natural language

The influence NPs can have on the aspectual behaviour of verbal expressions, witness the pair ’eat an apple in ten minutes/*for ten minutes’ and ’eat apples *in ten minutes/for ten minutes, requires an analysis of how static semantic information (NP) interacts with dynamic semantic information (verb). An interpretation of verbs and NPs is presented in which the interaction is analyzed by using an extension of dynamic logic (DL). First, models for DL are extended by adding a domain E of events (together with an event structure E). The intuition behind this addition is that each transition (pair of states) which is an element of the relation denoted by a program in DL is brought about by an event from E. This makes it possible to view a change either as an object (event) or as a transformation of a state. Second, in addition to sequential programs, parallel programs (relations between sets of states) are introduced. At the level of E this corresponds to the distinction between events and sets of events. The dynamic component of a verbal expression denotes an event-type P that corresponds to a program (relation between states) at the level of the transition structure S. This program has particular properties in terms of which aspectual distinctions are defined. The parallel program corresponding to sets of events is partly determined by the cardinality information introduced by the determiner as part of an argument NP. At the level of E this information functions as a boolean condition expressing the result that is brought about by the set of events. Static information therefore interacts with dynamic information by providing a condition that must hold upon termination of events.1

Semantic Predictions in Natural Language Processing, Default Reasoning and Belief Revision

Formal semantic theories are designed to explain how it is possible to produce and understand an infinite number of sentences on the basis of a finite lexicon and a finite number of composition rules. According to this architecture, language comprehension completely proceeds in a bottom-up fashion only driven by linear linguistic input thereby leaving no room for a predictive component which allows to make expectations about upcoming words. This is in stark contrast to neurophysiological research in the past decades on online semantic processing which has provided ample evidence that prediction plays indeed an indispensable role in language comprehension the brain as a prediction machine, [Ber10]. In this article, we present an extension of formal semantic theory that allows to make predictions of upcoming words. The basic intuition is: predictions are based on incomplete information. Drawing defeasible conclusions based on such information can be modeled by default reasoning. Since predictions can go wrong, a second strategy for retracting wrong guesses is needed in order to integrate unexpected words into the prior context. This is modeled by belief revision. We model both processing stages, making predictions about upcoming words and integrating them into the prior context, and relate the models to the empirical findings in neurophysiological research.

A Fibring Semantic or the Semantic-Morphological Interface in Natural Language

The game Whex is here defined, which is similar to Generalized Hex but the players are restricted to colour vertices adjacent to the vertex last coloured by one of the players. It is shown that the problem of deciding existence of winning strategies for one of the players in this game is complete for PSPACE, via quantifier free projections, and that the extension of first order logic with the corresponding generalized quantifier captures PSPACE and verifies a normal form. This problem is used to show that the problem of finding a proof in a proof system, like propositional resolution, in which the user is allowed to introduce auxiliary statements in order to help the system reach the theorem that he had set it to prove, is also complete for PSPACE via quantifier free projections. Also, it is established the complexity of the game Whex when restricted to graphs of outdegree at most 3, and, as a generalized quantifier, its expressive capabilities in the absence of ordering relation.