Strong Generative Capacity: The Semantics of Linguistic Formalism

Philip H. Miller

ISBN 10: 157586214X / ISBN 13: 9781575862149

Published by CSLI Publications, 2000

About this Item

This book provides a formal characterization of 'strong generative capacity' in linguistic theory. Series: Center for the Study of Language and Information Publication Lecture Notes. Num Pages: 168 pages, 71 b/w illus. BIC Classification: CFG. Category: (P) Professional & Vocational. Dimension: 230 x 154 x 10. Weight in Grams: 242. . 2000. Paperback. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland.

Seller Inventory # V9781575862149

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Strong Generative Capacity: The Semantics of Linguistic Formalism
• Publisher: CSLI Publications
• Publication Date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 157586214X
• ISBN 13: 9781575862149
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

The concept of "strong generative capacity" (SGC) of a linguistic formalism was introduced by Chomsky in the early sixties in order to characterize descriptive capacity. However, the original definition proposed by Chomsky turned out to be unusable, especially when one wished to compare the SGC of different types of formalisms.

This book provides for the first time a rigorous and useful characterization of SGC, defining it as the model theoretic semantics of linguistic formalism. The book begins by reviewing classical definitions of weak and strong generative capacity. An in-depth discussion of how abstract interpretation domains are defined in theory-neutral set-theoretical terms is presented. The book also explains how interpretation domains are defined for labeled constituency, dependency, endocentricity, and linking, and applied to the analysis of a range of linguistic formalisms, among which are context-free grammars, dependency grammars, X-bar grammars, tree-adjoining grammars, transformational grammars and categorial grammars.

Book Description

This book provides for the first time a rigorous and useful characterization of the Chomskyan concept of 'strong generative capacity' (SGC), defining it as the model theoretic semantics of linguistic formalism. The SGC of a theory with respect to a given interpretation domain is characterized as the range of a specific interpretation function.