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Ellen K. Dodge International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley June 27, 2013

A Compositional Constructional Analysis of ‘Hitting’ Verb Argument Realization Patterns and Their Meanings. Ellen K. Dodge International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley June 27, 2013. ‘Hitting’ verbs. ‘Hitting’ verbs: E.g.: hit, slap, kick, punch, pat, tap, whack, etc.

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Ellen K. Dodge International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley June 27, 2013

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  1. A Compositional Constructional Analysis of ‘Hitting’ Verb Argument Realization Patterns and Their Meanings Ellen K. Dodge International Computer Science Institute, Berkeley June 27, 2013

  2. ‘Hitting’ verbs • ‘Hitting’ verbs: • E.g.: hit, slap, kick, punch, pat, tap, whack, etc. • semantically similar • exhibit a wide range of similar argument realization patterns • different patterns describe different situations

  3. Argument Realization Patterns • She slapped/kicked/punched the box off the table • actor causes motion of another entity • She slapped her hand on / kicked her foot against the table • actor moves body part, contacts another entity • She slapped him on the back / across the face. • actor affects person via contact at specific body location

  4. Road Map • Argument Structure Constructions (Goldberg 1995, 2010) • Embodied Construction Grammar (ECG) (Feldman, Dodge, and Bryant, 2010) • Analysis : • Meaning • Verb and A-S Constructions • Sentence examples

  5. Argument Structure Constructions She slapped the block into the box Verb: Slap <slapper> <slapped thing> A-S: Cause Motion meaning: <causer> <patient/theme> <landmark> syntax: Subj DirObj PrepObj

  6. Argument Structure Constructions She slapped the block into the box Verb: Slap <slapper> <slapped thing> A-S: Cause Motion meaning: <causer> <patient/theme> <landmark> syntax: Subj DirObj PrepObj

  7. Argument Structure Constructions She slapped her hand on the block Verb: Slap <slapper> <hand> <slapped thing> A-S: MoveBodyPart meaning: <actor> <theme/instrument> <landmark> syntax: Subj DirObj PrepObj

  8. Argument Structure Constructions She slapped him on the arm Verb: Slap <slapper> <slapped thing> A-S: PartPossessor meaning: <causer> <affectedPerson> <bodyPart> syntax: Subj DirObj PrepObj

  9. Argument Structure Constructions Need to identify and represent: Semantic commonalities that motivate different patterns of integration of verb, A-S construction, and nominal meanings Complex meanings that arise from this integration Relevant constraints that enable us to distinguish between different patterns

  10. Embodied Construction Grammar Construction grammar in which embodied semantics are central Simulation semantics -- understanding a description of an event involves activation of the same/similar neural structure as is active for other experiences of that event

  11. Language Understanding Model Analysis: Determination of which constructions in a grammar “best-fit” a given utterance Unification of instantiated constructions produces semantic specification (Semspec) Simulation: Enactment of the situation specified in the Semspec. May allow understander to draw further inferences.

  12. Embodied Construction Grammar • ECG formalism enables precise, consistent representations of constructions and meanings • Supports computational implementations: • ECG Workbench -- view, write and test grammars • Constructional Analyzer (Bryant 2008) – analyzes sentence examples, produces semantic specifications

  13. Meaning • Represented using schemas • Consistent with simulation semantics • Meanings of verb and A-S constructions are represented using some of the same or schemas

  14. Motor Control Schema schema Process roles protatgonist x-net schemaMotorControl subcase of Process roles actor: @animateEntity effector effort routine constraints actor ↔ protagonist routine ↔ x-net

  15. Force Application schema MotorControl subcase of Process roles actor: animateEntity effector effort routine constraints actor ↔ protagonist routine ↔ x-net schema ForceTransfer evokes Contact as c roles supplier recipient forceAmount constraints supplier ↔ c.entity1 recipient ↔ c.entity2 schemaForceApplication subcase of MotorControl evokes ForceTransfer as ft roles actor acted Upon effector constraints actor ↔ ft.supplier acted Upon↔ ft.recipient effort ↔ ft.forceAmount e.g. squeeze, press

  16. ForcefulMotionAction schemaForceApplication schemaSourcePathGoal subcase of TrajectorLandmark roles landmark trajector source path goal schemaForcefulMotionAction subcase of ForceApplication evokes SourcePathGoal as spg roles actor acted Upon effector constraints acted Upon↔ spg.landmark effector ↔ spg.trajector e.g. slap, kick, punch, etc.

  17. CauseEffectAction schemaForceApplication subcase of MotorControl evokes ForceTransfer as ft roles actor acted Upon constraints actor ↔ ft.supplier acted Upon↔ ft.recipient effort ↔ ft.forceAmount schemaCauseEffectAction subcase of ComplexProcess roles causalProcess: ForceApplication effectProcess: Process causer affected x-net: @causeEffect constraints process1.actedUpon ↔ affected schema Process roles protatgonist x-net Many transitive A-cxns

  18. Cause Motion schemaCauseMotion subcase of ComplexProcess roles causalProcess: ForceApplication effectProcess: MotionAlongAPath causer affected x-net: @causeMotion schemaForceApplication subcase of MotorControl evokes ForceTransfer as ft roles actor acted Upon constraints actor ↔ ft.supplier acted Upon↔ ft.recipient effort ↔ ft.forceAmount schema MotionAlongAPath subcase of Motion evokes SPG as spg roles x-net: @translationalmotion constraints mover↔ spg.trajector e.g. throwing, dragging CauseMotion A-S cxn

  19. Process schema lattice Process Contact MotorControl ForceTransfer ComplexProcess Motion Effector Motion ForceApplication CauseEffect MotionAlongAPath Effector MotionPath SPG ForcefulMotionAction

  20. Constructions A given sentenceinstantiates many constructions For She slapped the block into the box: ·  Lexical constructions: She, slapped, the, block, into, box ·  PastTense cxn ·  Phrasal cxns: the block, into the box ·  Argument Structure Cxn: CauseEffect ·  Clause cxn: Declarative

  21. Verb Constructions schemaForcefulMotionAction subcase of ForceApplication roles actor: @animate actedUpon effector x-net: @forcefulMotionAction construction SlapPast subcase of Slap, PastTense form: WordForm constraints self.f.orth  “slapped” meaning: ForcefulMotionAction constraints effector  @handt self.m.x-net  @slap Other similar verbs: kick effector = foot punch: effector = fist tap: force amount = low whack: force amount = high

  22. Ontology animatesub ofentity animalsub ofanimate person sub ofanimate bodyPartsub ofentity footsub ofbodyPart armsub ofbodyPart legsub ofbodyPart

  23. CauseMotion A-S cxn construction ActiveTransCauseMotion2 subcaseof ArgumentStructure constructional constituents v : Verb // inherited np: NP pp: Path-PP form constraints v.f before np.f np.f before pp.f meaning: CauseMotion evokes EventDescriptor as ed evokes ForcefulMotionAction as fma constraints v.m <--> self.m.causalProcess self.m.affected <--> np.m self.m.causer <--> ed.profiledParticipant self.m.effectProcess.spg <--> pp.m schemaCauseMotion subcase of ComplexProcess roles causalProcess: ForceApplication effectProcess: MotionAlongAPath causer affected x-net: @causeMotion

  24. Cause Motion A-S constructione.g. She slapped the block into the box CAUSE MOTION 2 Constituents: Verb, NP, PP Form: Verb > NP > PP A-S cxn meaning: CauseMotion Verb meaning: ForcefulMotionAction Meaning constraints: verb meaning= CauseMotion.cause profParticipant = causer <–> actor NP = affected <–> actedUpon<–> mover<–>trajector PP.np = landmark

  25. She slapped the block into the box CauseMotionAction cause: ForceApplication effect:MotionPath causer affected landmark ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap She slapped the block into the box RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-category: block RefDescriptor ont-cat: box MotionPath mover SPG trajector landmark

  26. She slapped the block into the box CauseMotionAction cause: ForceApplication effect:MotionPath causer affected landmark ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap She slapped the block into the box RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-category: block RefDescriptor ont-cat: box MotionPath mover SPG trajector landmark

  27. She slapped the block into the box CauseMotionAction cause: ForceApplication effect:MotionPath causer affected landmark ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap She slapped the block into the box RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-category: block RefDescriptor ont-cat: box MotionPath mover SPG trajector landmark

  28. She slapped the block into the box CauseMotionAction cause: ForceApplication effect:MotionPath causer affected landmark ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap She slapped the block into the box RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-category: block RefDescriptor ont-cat: box MotionPath mover SPG trajector landmark

  29. She slapped the block into the box CauseMotionAction cause: ForceApplication effect:MotionPath causer affected landmark ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap She slapped the block into the box RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-category: block RefDescriptor ont-cat: box MotionPath mover SPG trajector landmark

  30. She slapped her hand on the block EFFECTOR MOTION Constituents: Verb, NP, PP Form: Verb > NP > PP A-S cxn meaning: ForcefulMotionAction Verb meaning: ForcefulMotionAction Meaning Constraints: profParticipant = actor NP = effector<–> trajector PP.np = actedUpon <–> landmark

  31. She slapped her hand on the block ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped her hand the block She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand RefDescriptor ont-cat: block SPG trajector landmark

  32. She slapped her hand on the block ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped her hand the block She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand RefDescriptor ont-cat: block SPG trajector landmark

  33. She slapped her hand on the block ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped her hand the block She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand RefDescriptor ont-cat: block SPG trajector landmark

  34. She slapped him on the hand PART POSSESSOR Constituents: Verb, NP, PP: BodyPartPP (the+BodyPart) Form: Verb > NP > PP A-S cxn meaning: CauseEffect evokes:Possession Verb meaning: ForcefulMotionAction Meaning Constraints: verb meaning= CauseEffect.cause profParticipant = causer <–> actor NP = affected<–> actedUpon <–> p.posssessor (@person) PP.np = <–> p.possessed (@bodyPart)

  35. She slapped him on the hand CauseEffect cause: ForcefulMotionAction effect: causer affected ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped him the hand She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: person RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand Possession Possessor: person Possessed: bodyPart

  36. She slapped him on the hand CauseEffect cause: ForcefulMotionAction effect: causer affected ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped him the hand She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: person RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand Possession Possessor: person Possessed: bodyPart

  37. She slapped him on the hand CauseEffect cause: ForcefulMotionAction effect: causer affected ForcefulMotionAction actor actedUpon effector: hand routine: slap slapped him the hand She RefDescriptor ont-category: person gender: female RefDescriptor ont-cat: person RefDescriptor ont-cat: hand Possession Possessor: person Possessed: bodyPart

  38. Concluding Remarks Important to recognize and represent: Inherent complexity of conceptual structure (and participant roles) utilized by linguistic constructions Importance of inter-related schematic structures for compositional analysis Use of constraints to support best-fit analysis process ECG formalism facilitates analysis

  39. References Feldman, Jerome, Ellen Dodge, and John Bryant. 2010. Embodied Construction Grammar. In The Oxford Handbook of Linguistic Analysis, edited by B. Heine and N. Heiko. New York: Oxford University Press. Filllmore, Charles. 1970. The grammar of hitting and breaking. In Readings in English Transformational Grammar, edited by R. Jacobs and P. Rosenbaum. Waltham, MA: Ginn and Company. Goldberg, Adele. 1995. Constructions: a construction grammar approach to argument structure. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. ———. 2006. Constructions at Work: The Nature of Generalization in Language. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

  40. SemSpec generated by ECG workbench for analysis of He cut the bread

  41. CauseMotion A-S cxne.g. She threw the block into the box construction ActiveTransitiveCauseMotion2 subcaseof ArgumentStructure constructional constituents v : Verb // inherited np: NP pp: Path-PP form constraints v.f before np.f np.f before pp.f meaning: CauseMotion evokes EventDescriptor as ed evokes ForcefulMotionAction as fma constraints v.m <--> self.m.causalProcess self.m.affected <--> np.m self.m.causer <--> ed.profiledParticipant self.m.effectProcess.spg <--> pp.m CAUSE MOTION 1 Constituents: Verb, NP, PP Form: Verb > NP > PP A-S cxn meaning: CauseMotion Verb meaning: CauseMotion Meaning constraints: affected = np causer = profiledParticipant (subject NP) spg = pp (landmark = pp.np)

  42. Key parts of analysis • Argument Structure constructions (A-S cxns) are used to capture different ‘scene’ descriptions associated with different argument realization patterns • Meaning of the verb and A-S cxns captures semantic elements that are relevant to these different argument realization patterns • Formalization supports a detailed, consistent, [scalable??] computationally implemented analysis

  43. Argument Realization Patterns • She slapped/kicked/punched the box • action potentially affects some other entity • She slapped him silly / punched him senseless • action results in some specific effect • She slapped at his hand / tapped on the table • action is directed at a spatial target

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