Determining the Scope of English Quantifiers.
Abstract
One can represent the meaning of English sentences in a formal logical notation such that the translation of English into this logical form is simple and general. This report covers a particular kind of meaning, namely quantifier scope, and for a particular part of the translation, namely the syntactic influence on the translation. Three different logical forms are presented, and their translation rules are examined. One of the logical forms is predicate calculus. The translation rules for it were developed by Robert May (may 1977). The other two logical forms are Skolem form and a simple computer programming language. The translation rules for these two logical forms are new. All three sets of translation rules are shown to be general, in the sense that the same rules express the constraints that syntax imposes on certain other linguistic phenomena. For example, the rule that constrain the translation into Skolem form are shown to constrain definite np anaphora as well. A large body of carefully collected data is presented, and used to assess the empirical accuracy of each of the theories.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 1978
- Accession Number
- ADA084816
Entities
People
- Kurt A. Vanlehn
Organizations
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology