MoL-2001-04: On Optimization in Discourse Generation

MoL-2001-04: Mattausch, Jason (2001) On Optimization in Discourse Generation. [Report]

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Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to investigate generative strategies for
maximizing coherence in discourse. We will outline a description of a
generative procedure for anaphoric substitution using the Optimality Theory
framework of Prince and Smolensky [P&S93] that is loosely based on earlier
attempts by Hendriks and de Hoop [H&H00] and, in particular, Beaver
[Beaver00] to apply that framework to anaphora resolution and generation,
paying particular attention to recent proposals by Blutner et al. related to
bidirectionality and the interdependence of linguistic interpretation and
production. We will argue that the notion of bidirectionality ought to be
modified to reflect an asymmetry in that interdependence as opposed to the
symmetric, mutual reliance defended or assumed in contemporary definitions
thereof. Using the same constraint-based framework, and exploiting the
notion of discourse relations expounded in Asher [Asher93] and Asher and
Lascarides [A&L93b] et al., as well as the linguistic and non-linguistic
knowledge bases that are assumed to underlie a hearer's determination of
those relations, we extend the account to a description of restrictions on
textual order, basic syntactic operations such as conjunction and
relativization, and the distributional behavior of tense constructions that
will, again, depend heavily on insights related to the interface of
interpretational and generative constraints and to our own claims about
interpretational precedence. Finally, we return briefly to the subject of
anaphora and, armed with the aforementioned insights regarding the utility of
non-linguistic information in interpretation, give an account of some cases
that are recalcitrant for our original, syntactic account.

Item Type:	Report
Report Nr:	MoL-2001-04
Series Name:	Master of Logic Thesis (MoL) Series
Year:	2001
Date Deposited:	12 Oct 2016 14:38
Last Modified:	12 Oct 2016 14:38
URI:	https://eprints.illc.uva.nl/id/eprint/717

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