Prepositional Chains

1. Prepositional Chains Creating and binding together a microcontext for dense and complex sentences

2. Constraining Relations The increase in the rate of receptor methylation upon CheW binding contributes significantly to the ligand specificity and kinetics of sensory adaptation. Without the bonds formed by the prepositional chains the verb relation would float free - the chains constrain it and give it context and descriptive power

3. Chains That Bind The chains can go in many directions, and are often tangled together by the restrictions of linear text (and sometimes the structure is logically mangled as well)

4. Back - Referencing He bought a collar for the dog for six dollars A simple example - Once a preposition has built a long back reference, prepositions to its right can see over but cannot see through the back reference

5. Need to See It All All the possibilities need to be in play and be pruned away, not just crawling left on failure

6. A Mixed Chain ...having regard in particular to the applicable specifications and instructions for use as published by the Seller. This is a typical mixed chain - it involves conjunctions and participials and “best fit”. The object to the right of the conjunction needs to be compared for similarity with each of the objects to its left, and an ObjectGroup created. The word “published” has a better fit with “specifications” than it does with “use”, although “...having regard for the use as published by the Seller” is at least possible, so it cannot be made impossible.

7. Realistic Example In this chain, there are 11 connections to neighbors and 5 long range jumps. The jumps here are related to a comma, participials and conjunctions, but can also occur with prepositions. Of particular significance is a prepositional jump over the object of the verb to a preceding prepositional - poor style, but there it is

8. A Typical Mixed Chain

9. Relation as Anchor Often relation structures dominate, rather than prepositions freely linking to objects on their left. Here, the “described” participial is using a preposition to link to its subject and “attached as” implies an additional “described” relation.

10. Participials Participials can be foreshortened infinitives following TransInfinitive verbs He wanted John (to be) running the company He wanted John banned from the factory or implicit whiles He hurt his hand (while he was) servicing the engine These possibilities need to be explored while the chain is unravelled

11. Prepositions Represent Structure The Blue Of The Sky - attribute of object

12. Matching Structure Matching a Preposition’s Meaning

13. Maps That Build Maps can match, actualise and build new structure New objects

14. Active Maps • Prepositional maps can: • match against existing or inheritable structure • must not be child of ToDo relation • actualise implicit relations • “attached as Exhibit A” - it is attached and described as • build new objects or relations • “the owner of the building” has a relation inserted • merge existing objects • “the unpaid amount of $50” becomes one object • replace objects with new ones • 5% of the amount becomes a new amount • push values through the structure • “less than 25 square metres” can cause an inconsistency • change property inheritance connections • a gun becomes a pistol by connecting to a child of gun

15. Maps Are Structure Maps are just more structure, so that they may be created out of existing structure. This is case-based reasoning - some structure has been built from experience, so it is generalised into a map to be used in other instances. The subtlety of an undirected constraint-reasoning map linked into the hierarchy of all the objects it connects is far away from the all too often fallacious results from directed reasoning on misapplied cases.

16. Immediately Active As soon as the map structure is built, it becomes active. States or values or ranges or objects are pushed through it and the surrounding structure, causing switching, cutting or other building. The maps do not cooperate directly, because each is unaware of the presence of other maps - all they see is the common structure, which they extend and activate, or wait their turn again. Each map does very little - representing a word or three, or even no words at all, where structure is implied by the arrangement of words. The combination of their activity builds all the structure the text represents.

17. Increasingly Knotty • As chains become longer the knottedness increases • a prepositional phrase following the verb of the sentence can point • back to the preceding object • forward to the following object • back to the verb • a prior prepositional phrase • a following prepositional phrase • or be tangled with a participial or an adjectival phrase

18. Building the Alternatives The alternatives are constructed, then pruned using “sheathing” of intermediate points. Semantics are used around participials to determine where there is a “fit”

19. Untangling the Chain The various meanings of the particular preposition or participial relation and knowledge about objects and relations provides potential connection sites When there are many prepositional and participial phrases - as many as twenty chained together around a verb in dense scientific and legal text - and many potential targets with implicit gaps in a shifting overall context, it becomes a dynamic constraint problem in manipulating objects and meanings to make sense of the connections