Syntax-semantics interaction in sentence understan

GIT-CC-95/10SY[e-mail]AcademicFacultyInPartialFulllmentoftheRequirementsfortheDegreeDoctorofPhilosophyinComputerScienceGeorgiaInstituteofTechnologyMarch,1995Copyrightc1995byKaviMaheshAllRightsReservedSYNTAX-SEMANTICSINTERACTIONINSENTENCEUNDERSTANDINGApproved:KurtP.Eiselt,ChairSusanBovairJenniferK.HolbrookAshwinRamJ.SpencerRugaberDateapprovedbyChairiDEDICATION|TomywifeVaniandsisterKN|iiACKNOWLEDGMENTSIammostdeeplyindebtedtomyadvisor,KurtEiselt.HehashelpedmeineverystepthroughmygraduatecareereversinceIwalkedintohisoceinmyveryrstquartertosignupforaspecial-topiccourse.Mostofall,heguidedmysearchthroughthemazeoflanguageprocessingliteratureandledmeintotherighttopicformydissertation,onethatIhaveenjoyedworkingoneveryminutesince,atatimewhenIwasjustabouttogetpastmycourseworkandqualifyingexaminations.Hehascontinuallysharedwithmehisvisionofhowweunderstandlanguageandinspiredmyworkallthroughtheyears.Hehaspatientlytaughtmenottowritepapersinthe\mysterystoryapproachandhasgenerouslylentmeallhisstyleguidesandwritingmanuals.Hehasencouragedmeandhelpedmetremendouslyinpublishingpartsofthisworkinavarietyofrst-rateconferencesandworkshops.Hehasnothesitatedeventospendthebulkofhisdiscretionaryfundsformytravelexpensesforattendingconferences.Hehastaughtmehowtoteachandhasprovedhistrustinmebygivingmetheopportunitytoteachagraduateclassallbymyself,thoughhecouldwellhavecomebackandresumedteachingtheclasstowardsthemiddleofthatquarter.Itisimpossibletocountthenumberoflettershehassowellwrittenforme.HehasnevercomplainednomatterhowmanytimesIwalkedintohisoceinaday.Hehasbeenmyadvisor,mentor,friend,andmyguruinthetruesenseoftheword.AshwinRamhasbeenalotmorethanacommitteemembertome.Hehasalwaysshownkeeninterest,hascometomyeverypresentation,hasaskedalltherightquestions,andhasgivenmeinvaluableideasthathavehelpedmeshapemyworkandexpandmycomprehensionoftheeld.Ihavelearnedmostfrombeinghisteachingassistant.HeevenpatientlytaughtmehowtouseLaTEXandothergraduateschool\requirements.HehasalwaysbeenasourceofexcitementandenthusiasmintheNLRmeetingsandtheAIgroupingeneral.AshokGoelhasbeenasourceofideasandthroughnumerousdiscussionsinpersonalmeetings,inhisgroupmeetings,andinthecorridorslateinthenights,hastaughtmehowtothinkaboutissuesinAIotherthanlanguageprocessing.IowetohimwhateverlittleIunderstandaboutfunctionalreasoninganddesign.HehasneverhesitatedtoincludemeinhisgroupofstudentsthoughIhaveaskedmanystupidquestionsandshouldhavereallybeenan\outsider.HehassupportedmetoworkontheKAprojectknowingverywellthatIwasrathertoopreoccupiedwithcompletingmythesistoaordthefrequentcontextswitchesthattheprojectdemanded.HisideasontheKAprojecthaveexpandedmyhorizonsfarbeyondsentenceunderstanding.JenniferHolbrookhasbeenasourceofideasandhasbeenourgatewaytopsycholinguistics.Shehasposedchallengingproblemsandalwaysshowncompletecondenceinmebyentrustingmewiththejobofdevelopingherideasabouthumanlanguageprocessingintoaworkingcomputationalmodel.ShehasreadeverythingIhavewritteningreatdetailandgivenmedetailedcommentsrangingfromsimplegrammarcorrectionsandstyleimprovementstothemostinsightfultheoreticalremarks.Hercommentsonthepsycholinguisticschapterhavebeenparticularlyuseful.SusanBovairhasservedonmycommitteesincethebeginningandhasprovidedmanyausefulcriticismfromapsychologist’sperspective,especiallyonChapters3and10ofthisthesis.ShehasalsobeenanintegralpartoftheNLRgroupandthemanyresearchgameswehaveplayedinthatgroup.SpencerRugaberagreedtojointhecommitteetowardstheveryendandreadandcommentedonthethesisatshortnotice.Hiscommentsfromthepointofviewofacomputerscientistoutsidetheareaofarticialintelligenceweretrulyvaluable.iiiOthermembersoftheNaturalLanguageandReasoning(NLR)interdisciplinaryresearchgrouphaveservedasanirreplaceablesourceofideasandmotivationforlanguagerelatedresearch.To-gethertheyhavetaughtmehowtothinkaboutlanguagefromtheperspectivesoflinguistics,socialscience,education,literature,culture,andcommunication.CharlesBazermanwastrulyinstru-mentalingivingmeabroadeducationonthestudyoflanguagefromdiverseperspectives.Hehaspatientlylistenedtomynaiveideasfromthecomputationalperspectiveandworkedwithmeinturninghisideasfromrhetoricsintoaresearchproposalforbuildingacomputertooltoteachgoodwritingskills.WilliamEvansinsistsonbelievingthathelearnedsomethingaboutnaturallanguageprocessingfromme.Hehasintroducedmetomanyinterestingpiecesofworkincommunicationscienceandbibliometricstudies.WendyNewstetterdeservesaspecialmentionforbringingherfunctionalperspectiveonlinguisticstothegroup.Shehasalsotaughtusawholelotabouttheteachingoflanguageskillsandabouteducationandevaluationingeneral.Myfellowstudentsinthegroup,AndyEdmonds,AnthonyFrancis,LucyGibson,KennethMoorman,JustinPeterson,andJamesRiechel,haveaddedtremendouslytotheexcitementinthegroup.Ofcourse,thegroupwouldnothaveexistedbutforthetime,eort,andinterdisciplinaryinterestshownbytheotherfacultymembersofthegroup,SusanBovair,KurtEiseltandAshwinRam.Thankyouallformakingitsuchafunanduniquegroupt