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Given any set E of expressions freely generated from a set of atoms by syntactic operations, there exist trivially compositional functions on E (to wit, the injective and the constant functions), but also plenty of non-trivially compositional functions. Here we show that within the space of non-injective functions (and so a fortiori within the space of non-injective and non-constant functions), compositional functions are not sufficiently abundant in order to generate the consequence relation of every propositional logic. Logical consequence relations thus impose substantive constraints on the existence of compositional functions when coupled with the condition of non-injectivity (though not without it). We ask how the apriori exclusion of injective functions from the search space might be justified, and we discuss the prospects of claims to the effect that any function can be "encoded" in a compositional one. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, two uses of según are analyzed: the one in which this particle has a complement with interrogative value (según quién venga; según si Juan viene o no, ‘depending on who comes; depending on whether John comes or not’) and the one in which the term includes a scalar change (Los árboles van perdiendo sus hojas según avanza el otoño, ‘The trees lose their leaves as autumn progresses’). The latter construction is interpreted in a similar way to proportional comparatives; however, they are not formally equivalent. It is argued that in both uses según has the same interpretation so that the differences come from the formal and interpretive properties of its arguments. In fact, según is a dependency predicate (Bosque 2010) that expresses a logical instruction according to which the set of alternatives contained in its internal argument (be it an interrogative sequence or a scalar change) must be replicated in its external argument in order to establish a distributive relationship between the elements of each of these sets. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Semantics in the Montagovian tradition combine two basic tenets. One tenet is that semantic value of a sentence is an intension, a function from points of evaluations into truth-values. The other tenet is that the semantic value of a composite expression is the result of applying the function denoted by one component to arguments denoted by the other components. Many philosophers object to intensional semantics on the grounds that intensionally equivalent sentences do not substitute salva veritate into attitude ascriptions. They propose instead that the semantic values of sentences must be structured propositions. In rejecting intensional semantics, philosophers who endorse structured propositions also usually reject functional compositionality. Undermining both tenets of the Montagovian programme. I defend a semantic theory that incorporates both structured propositions and functional compositionality. I argue that this semantic theory can preserve many explanatory benefits of Montague semantics. Finally, I show how treating composition functional application can resolve core problems internal to a theory of structured propositions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The goal of this short paper is to show that esthetic adjectives—exemplified by “beautiful” and “elegant”—do not pattern stably on a range of linguistic diagnostics that have been used to taxonomize the gradability properties of adjectives. We argue that a plausible explanation for this puzzling data involves distinguishing two properties of gradable adjectives that have been frequently conflated: whether an adjective’s applicability is sensitive to a comparison class, and whether an adjective’s applicability is context-dependent. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Imprecise manipulation of source code (semi-parsing) is useful for tasks such as robust parsing, error recovery, lexical analysis, and rapid development of parsers for data extraction. An island grammar precisely defines only a subset of a language syntax (islands), while the rest of the syntax (water) is defined imprecisely. Usually water is defined as the negation of islands. Albeit simple, such a definition of water is naïve and impedes composition of islands. When developing an island grammar, sooner or later a language engineer has to create water tailored to each individual island. Such an approach is fragile, because water can change with any change of a grammar. It is time-consuming, because water is defined manually by an engineer and not automatically. Finally, an island surrounded by water cannot be reused because water has to be defined for every grammar individually. In this paper we propose a new technique of island parsing — bounded seas. Bounded seas are composable, robust, reusable and easy to use because island-specific water is created automatically. Our work focuses on applications of island parsing to data extraction from source code. We have integrated bounded seas into a parser combinator framework as a demonstration of their composability and reusability. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the basic tenets of cognitive grammar, as developed by Langacker (1987, 1991), is that the meaning of complex lexemes can be described in terms of partial rather than full compositionality, resulting from the fact that composite expressions are frequently created by schema extension. This paper is based on the assumption that forming new words by derivation is characterised by the accommodation of the base and the affix, i.e. their reciprocal adjustment in the process of integrating them into the composite structure (Langacker 1987). The article focuses on two aspects of accommodation: profiling semantic roles and establishing new cognitive domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explains three known constraints on scope reconstruction --reconstruction is blocked into wh-islands, after remnant movement, and after countercyclic merger--by postulating an underlying condition on semantic reconstruction, which follows naturally from Minimalist assumptions on chain interpretation in combination with the principle of compositionality. The result is a unifying alternative analysis of the data discussed in Cresti 1995, Fox 1999, and Sauerland and Elbourne 2002, among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In many languages, the same particles that form quantifier words also serve as connectives, additive and scalar particles, question markers, roots of existential verbs, and so on. Do these have a unified semantics, or do they merely bear a family resemblance? Are they aided by silent operators in their varied roles-if yes, what operators? I dub the particles 'quantifier particles' and refer to them generically with capitalized versions of the Japanese morphemes. I argue that both MO and KA can be assigned a stable semantics across their various roles. The specific analysis I offer is motivated by the fact that MO and KA often combine with just one argument; I propose that this is their characteristic behavior. Their role is to impose semantic requirements that are satisfied when the immediately larger context is interpreted as the meet/join of their host's semantic contribution with something else. They do not perform meet/join themselves. The obligatory vs. optional appearance of the particles depends on whether the meet/join interpretations arise by default in the given constellation. I explicate the proposal using the toolkit of basic Inquisitive Semantics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this article the authors discuss the importance of coercion in many important theoretical discussions. According to the authors, coerced meaning effects are not expressed by the syntax, due to which coercion has been of crucial importance in maintaining the principle of compositionality. The authors say that coercion phenomena has been a major topic in formal syntax and semantics, and recently, it has been widely discussed in Construction Grammar.

In this article, I address the general mechanisms of argument selection in language, and specifically the role played by type coercion operations in linguistic theory. The view presented here is that compositional mechanisms must be open to more information than just the base type of an expression. Such 'compositional flexibility' in the type that accommodates to the one selected by the verb has been the topic of considerable research recently. In this article, I position how such coercion mechanisms operate in the larger context of general selectional strategies in the grammar. I first outline my assumptions regarding the general theory of type selection, adopting a model of Generative Lexicon Theory (GL). I distinguish between two strategies at work in language, type matching and type coercion, both treated as strong compositional mechanisms. A library of possible coercion operations is defined, as well as apparent constraints on their application in language. I conclude with a discussion of corpus-based experiments based on the formal models of coercion and selection presented here. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Starting from the familiar observation that no straightforward treatment of pure quotation can be compositional in the standard (homomorphism) sense, we introduce general compositionality, which can be described as compositionality that takes linguistic context into account. A formal notion of linguistic context type is developed, allowing the context type of a complex expression to be distinct from those of its constituents. We formulate natural conditions under which an ordinary meaning assignment can be non-trivially extended to one that is sensitive to context types and satisfies general compositionality. As our main example we work out a Fregean treatment of pure quotation, but we also indicate that the method applies to other kinds of context, e.g. intensional contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents syntactic and semantic rules for a fragment of English with mixed quotation. The fragment shows that quotation has a recursive and compositional structure. Quoted expressions turn out to denote characters, so the semantics of quotation simulates the pragmatics of speech, including dependence on utterance contexts and reference to mental entities. The analysis also accommodates varieties of unquotation, pure quotation, and causal reference. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents evidence that supports the claim that second language (L2) grammars arise in a domain-specific, informationally encapsulated module with contents provided by Universal Grammar and enriched by native language knowledge, as entertained by Schwartz ( 1986 , 1987 , 1999 ) contra Bley-Vroman ( 1990 ). I consider state-of-the-art evidence representative of a body of research on the poverty of the stimulus (POS) that argues for the domain-specificity of L2 representations, with a main focus on interpretation. Then I examine interpretive evidence relevant to the role of informational encapsulation and compositionality in SLA. I seek to demonstrate that the acquisition of syntax-linked interpretive properties where the POS is severe provides opportunities for a type of fingerprinting of mental organization that can inform a variety of epistemologically relevant questions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Compositional design of systems on chip from preverified components helps to achieve shorter design cycles and time to market. However, the design process is affected by the issue of protocol mismatches, where two components fail to communicate with each other due to protocol differences. Convertibility verification, which involves the automatic generation of a converter to facilitate communication between two mismatched components, is a collection of techniques to address protocol mismatches. We present an approach to convertibility verification using module checking.We use Kripke structures to represent protocols and the temporal logic ACTL to describe desired system behavior. A tableau-based converter generation algorithm is presented which is shown to be sound and complete. We have developed a prototype implementation of the proposed algorithm and have used it to verify that it can handle many classical protocol mismatch problems along with SoC problems. The initial idea for ACTL-based convertibility verification was presented at SLA++P '07 as presented in the work by Roopak Sinha et al. 2008. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vigorous Fodorian criticism may make it seem impossible for Inferential Role Semantics (IRS) to accommodate compositionality. In this paper, first, I introduce a neo-Fregean version of IRS that appeals centrally to the notion of rationality. Second, I show how such a theory can respect compositionality by means of semantic rules. Third, I argue that, even if we consider top-down compositional derivability: a) the Fodorian is not justified in claiming that it involves so-called reverse compositionality; and b) a defender of IRS can still offer a satisfactory account in terms of the inferential capacities of rational thinkers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACTTwo experiments examined whether text composition engages verbal, visual, and spatial working memory to different degrees. In Experiment 1, undergraduate students composed by longhand a persuasive text while performing a verbal, visual, or spatial concurrent task that was presented visually. In Experiment 2, participants performed a verbal or spatial concurrent task that was aurally presented. Writing performance was not disrupted differentially across the three tasks. Performance on all concurrent tasks showed fewer correct responses and longer RTs relative to single-task, baseline data. However, the demands on visual working memory were as high as those on verbal working memory, whereas demands on spatial working memory were minimal. The findings help to delineate the roles of the verbal, visual, and spatial working memory in written composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper argues that two distinct and independent notions of plurality are involved in natural language anaphora and quantification: plural reference (the usual non-atomic individuals) and plural discourse reference, i.e., reference to a quantificational dependency between sets of objects (e.g., atomic/non-atomic individuals) that is established and subsequently elaborated upon in discourse. Following van den Berg (PhD dissertation, University of Amsterdam, 1996), plural discourse reference is modeled as plural information states (i.e., as sets of variable assignments) in a new dynamic system couched in classical type logic that extends Compositional DRT (Muskens, Linguistics and Philosophy, 19, 143–186, 1996). Given the underlying type logic, compositionality at sub-clausal level follows automatically and standard techniques from Montague semantics become available. The idea that plural info states are semantically necessary (in addition to non-atomic individuals) is motivated by relative-clause donkey sentences with multiple instances of singular donkey anaphora that have mixed (weak and strong) readings. At the same time, allowing for non-atomic individuals in addition to plural info states enables us to capture the intuitive parallels between singular and plural (donkey) anaphora, while deriving the incompatibility between singular (donkey) anaphora and collective predicates. The system also accounts for empirically unrelated phenomena, e.g., the uniqueness effects associated with singular (donkey) anaphora discussed in Kadmon ( Linguistics and Philosophy, 13, 273–324, 1990) and Heim ( Linguistics and Philosophy, 13, 131–177, 1990) among others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  Glue has evolved significantly during the past decade. Although the recent move to type-theoretic notation was a step in the right direction, basing the current Glue system on System F (second-order λ-calculus) was an unfortunate choice. An extension to two sorts and ad hoc restrictions were necessary to avoid inappropriate composition of meanings. As a result, the current system is unnecessarily complicated. A first-order Glue system is hereby proposed as its replacement. This new system is not only simpler and more elegant, as it captures the exact requirements for Glue-style compositionality without ad hoc improvisations, but it also turns out to be more powerful than the current two-sorted (pseudo-) second-order system. First-order Glue supports all existing Glue analyses as well as more elegant alternatives. It also supports new, more demanding analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This essay offers a chronology of over sixty works that have directly innovated, solidified, or critiqued feminist research methodologies in the study of historic rhetoric and composition over the past four decades. The ongoing conversation about feminist research in rhetoric and composition continues to raise questions about method, methodology, and canonicity just as the research itself continues to recover and re-vision a wealth of historic work. This essay, in its broad review, presents readers a panoramic snapshot of the major trends and methodological debates that have shaped feminist historic scholarship in our field. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract  There are good reasons to think natural languages are compositional. But compound nominals (CNs) are largely productive constructions that have proven highly recalcitrant to compositional semantic analysis. I evaluate existing proposals to treat CNs compositionally and argue that they are unsuccessful. I then articulate an alternative proposal according to which CNs contain covert indexicals. Features of the context allow a variety of relations to be expressed using CNs, but this variety is not expressed in the lexicon or the semantic rules of the language. This proposal accounts for the diversity of contents CNs can be used to express while preserving compositionality. Finally, I defend this proposal against some recent anti-contextualist arguments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the context of debates about what form a theory of meaning should take, it is sometimes claimed that one cannot understand an intersective modifier-head construction (e.g., ‘pet fish’) without understanding its lexical parts. Neo-Russellians like Fodor and Lepore contend that non-denotationalist theories of meaning, such as prototype theory and theory theory, cannot explain why this is so, because they cannot provide for the ‘reverse compositional’ character of meaning. I argue that reverse compositionality is a red herring in these debates. I begin by setting out some positive arguments for reverse compositionality and showing that they fail. Then I show that the principle of reverse compositionality has two big strikes against it. First, it is incompatible with all theories of meaning on the market, including the denotationalism favored by neo-Russellians. Second, it explains nothing that is not already explained by its venerable predecessor, the principle of (forward) compositionality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

My approach to the compositionality of meaning is deflationary in two respects. In the first place it shows that there is no need for a Tarski-style truth-theoretic account of it, and thereby avoids the difficult methodological and technical problems that would have to be solved on such an account. And in the second place it shows that compositionality imposes no constraint whatsoever on theories of lexical meaning. On the first of these points I am opposing Davidson and the tradition in semantics that he instigated. On the second point I am opposing Fodor and Lepore who have denounced various accounts of lexical meaning (including the one I favour – the use theory) for not squaring with compositionality. My plan for this paper is to outline the deflationary approach, to sketch its advantages, and to defend it against objections that have been made by Davidson, Fodor and Lepore. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the early part of the paper, I attempt to explain a dispute between two parties who endorse the compositionality of language but disagree about its implications: Paul Horwich, and Jerry Fodor and Ernest Lepore. In the remainder of the paper, I challenge the thesis on which they are agreed, that compositionality can be taken for granted. I suggest that it is not clear what compositionality involves nor whether it obtains. I consider some kinds of apparent counterexamples, and compositionalist responses to them in terms of covert indexicality and unspecific meanings. I argue that the last option is the best for most of the cases I consider. I conclude by stressing, as against Horwich and Fodor and Lepore, that the appropriate question concerns the extent to which compositionality obtains in a natural language, rather than whether it obtains or not, so that the answer is essentially messy, requiring detailed consideration of a wide range of examples. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this article is to elucidate the processes that characterize natural language interpretation. The basic hypothesis is that natural language interpretation can be characterized as an optimization problem. This innovative view on interpretation is shown to account for the crucial role of contextual information while avoiding certain well-known problems associated with compositionality. This will become particularly clear in the context of incomplete expressions. Our approach takes as a point of departure total freedom of interpretation in combination with the parallel application of soft constraints on possible interpretations. These constraints can be contextual, intonational or syntactic in nature. The integration of pragmatic and syntactic/semantic information in a system of ranked constraints is proposed to correctly derive the optimal interpretations in cases of nominal anaphorization, determiner quantification and elliptical comparatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article focuses on the principle of compositionality which is a fundamental principle of semantics. It is often stated as "the meaning of a complex expression is determined by the meanings of its constituents and by its structure." It has been suggested that the principle is a trivial platitude, a significant empirical hypothesis, a useful methodological assumption, a powerful philosophical thesis in need of a deep argument. If it is accepted that the principle of compositionality is an intricate thesis about the nature of possible human languages, one will be less inclined to think of it as a triviality or as a mere methodological assumption.

This paper describes a construction from (spoken) German that will be called INTEGRATED VERB SECOND (IV2). This term refers to V2 clauses that look like relative clauses except that they must contain a weak demonstrative in initial position and have to be extraposed. Their syntactic behavior will be accounted for by a paratactic analysis. IV2 can only modify wide scope indefinites inside what looks like the matrix clause. This is captured at the level of DRS construction. Since the matrix clause alone doesn't constitute a complete informational unit, IV2 can be introduced as a condition into the matrix DRS before evaluation. The weak demonstrative of IV2 establishes the relative link by copying a top-level discourse marker. In addition, the assertional nature of IV2 prevents it from modifying definite descriptions. Reference is made to the close relatedness of demonstrative and relative pronouns in Indo-European. Dutch, Swedish, and Zurich German provide the comparative horizon of this study. My answer to the question in the title is negative from the syntactic perspective but positive with reference to interpretation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

It is held by many grammarians that the relation of syntax and semantics is characterized by the Fregean principle of compositionality. The principle can be stated in various ways. In this article, the following formulation is adopted: the literal meaning of an expression is uniquely determined by the literal meanings of its subexpressions and their mode of composition. And the author believes that the validity of the formulation is beyond doubt and thus any grammar, whether organized to reflect it directly or not, may ultimately be required to satisfy it. And one of the systems that are precisely designed to reflect the principle is Montague Grammar.

Our tolerance for, and promotion of, linguistic irregularity is a key arbitrator between Arbib's proposal that holistic protolanguage preceded culturally imposed compositionality, and the standard view that discrete units with word-like properties came first. The former, coupled with needs-only analysis, neatly accounts for the second-order linguistic complexity that is rationalised as fuzzy grammaticality, subclass exception, and full irregularity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]