Computer Science – Computation and Language
Scientific paper
1997-08-07
Language and Cognitive Processes 6(2), May 1991, pp. 107-135
Computer Science
Computation and Language
22 pages, uses psfig
Scientific paper
This paper examines demonstrative pronouns used as deictics to refer to the interpretation of one or more clauses. Although this usage is frowned upon in style manuals (for example Strunk and White (1959) state that ``This. The pronoun 'this', referring to the complete sense of a preceding sentence or clause, cannot always carry the load and so may produce an imprecise statement.''), it is nevertheless very common in written text. Handling this usage poses a problem for Natural Language Understanding systems. The solution I propose is based on distinguishing between what can be pointed to and what can be referred to by virtue of pointing. I argue that a restricted set of discourse segments yield what such demonstrative pronouns can point to and a restricted set of what Nunberg (1979) has called referring functions yield what they can refer to by virtue of that pointing.
No associations
LandOfFree
Structure and Ostension in the Interpretation of Discourse Deixis does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.
If you have personal experience with Structure and Ostension in the Interpretation of Discourse Deixis, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and Structure and Ostension in the Interpretation of Discourse Deixis will most certainly appreciate the feedback.
Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-452036