English Language Learners

Damkerng T.

00:34

@snailboat A magnificent filter!

Damkerng T.

04:11

13

Q: "Thanks, but no thanks" OR "No, thanks". Isn't 'thanks' in the former redundant?

Would you like to have a cup of tea? Sure. Thanks! Would you like to have a peg? No, thanks! When someone offers me a peg, I first deny the proposal and then say thanks. Why? Because he offered me something. But then, there exists a response... Thanks, but no thanks! What's ...

Note to self: This kind of question (about redundancy) seems to be very popular, but maybe learners should avoid thinking too much about it.

(Also, it's kind of a mix of dissecting idioms and over-thinking on redundancy.)

(Btw, I know it's fascinating to dig into such a thing!)

A counter example: How many thanks are there in "Thanks."? Why can't I say "A thank" or "Congrat" or "A congrat"?

Damkerng T.

05:16

0

Q: What are the permissible things in the Yoda dialect?

I've found such a quote of Yoda: “Powerful you have become, the dark side I sense in you.” So, if I want to express my thoughts like him, will I be understood correctly by my clients if I, for instance, say: The beer don't have we, peanuts we do. meaning "We don't have beer, only peanuts"?

inversion dialect

Yada speak!

Whoo-hoo! I got my books!

skullpatrol

05:35

What did you order?

Damkerng T.

A few English books from Amazon.com. :-)

I found some books on Google and I thought it would be nice to have some of them handy when I need them or when I want to read more of the books.

English for Academic and Technical Purposes

Artful Sentences: Syntax as Style

The Copyeditor's Handbook

skullpatrol

nice

Damkerng T.

Thanks!

I thought I would have to wait until mid-Feb, but they're all here today!

skullpatrol

Do you have the CGEL?

Damkerng T.

Nope! :-)

The three books cost me only $47.25 (+$19.96 shipping) in total!

skullpatrol

05:44

Nice bargain!

Damkerng T.

I know, right?!

skullpatrol

But wait to see the condition of the books...

Damkerng T.

All of them are in perfect condition. (One of them is used, btw; so maybe just good.)

Oh, it was withdrawn from UCSD. (What U is that?)

Ahh, "University of California, San Diego".

skullpatrol

Do they have a good return policy?

Damkerng T.

I'm not sure, but Amazon.com has never failed me before.

@skullpatrol Looks like they have one. Seems good even. amazon.com/gp/css/returns/homepage.html

skullpatrol

05:51

Hopefully you won't need it :-)

But just in case ;-)

See you pal @DamkerngT. Gotta run

Damkerng T.

@skullpatrol See you later!

Ilan

09:43

@DamkerngT. thanks for the link provided (migration in the UK) - extremely helpful!

Anonymous

JSTOR is down!

Ilan

I can open it

thanks for mention this resource

Anonymous

EDIT: Oops, I mixed up UCSD and UCSC! :-)

Anonymous

UCSC's mascot is the banana slug! :-)

Anonymous

Anonymous

09:52

When I try to open JSTOR, it just says "JSTOR is experiencing temporary problems. We are sorry for the interruption, and will be back online as quickly as possible."

Ilan

I have no such message

it looks working

it look like it works well

CopperKettle

Good morning snailboat, Ilan!

JSTOR works fine for me

Ilan

ooops, I make mistakes in every sentence!

Hi, CopperKet!

CopperKettle

Maulik posed a very good question about articles

2

Q: OSCARS nominated movies -Based on the true story OR Based on a true story?

Articles, I tell you! Last night, I went for a movie in a theater. There, they showed some previews of the forthcoming films. And there were two previews. The first one was 'Foxcatcher' and somewhere in the middle of the trailer, it read... Based on the true story -Foxcatcher (02:13) Thi...

articles definite-article indefinite-article

Anonymous

Well, I guess JSTOR has a personal vendetta, then.

CopperKettle

09:57

@snailboat Yikes!

Anonymous

@CopperKettle Afraid of a little slug, are ye? :-)

CopperKettle

(0:

Anonymous

Oh!

Anonymous

We were talking about UCSD, not UCSC

Anonymous

09:58

UCSD is different.

Anonymous

They're way down at the bottom of the state.

Anonymous

My mistake!

Anonymous

Their mascot is Triton!

Anonymous

Not quite as dignified as a slug, I'll grant you

CopperKettle

09:59

That's better. A guy with a spear.

With a trident even

Anonymous

Yeah!

CopperKettle

JR says "based on the real story" is really no different in meaning from "based on a real story". Interesting.

Anonymous

I guess a trident is a kind of spear, but I imagine most people would say trident instead

Anonymous

@CopperKettle Well, it's not identical

Anonymous

But the difference might not particularly relevant in a given context

Anonymous

10:01

They do the same things a and the normally do

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

Oh, wow, that's nice

CopperKettle

Ukraine's Coat of Arms

No idea why there's trident

Anonymous

And in the UC colors!

CopperKettle

the first known archeological and historical evidence of this symbol can be found on the seals of the Rurik dynasty

Ilan

10:03

Can I interfere with a small question?

CopperKettle

@snailboat Yes, that's great (0:

Anonymous

It wouldn't be interfering

CopperKettle

@Ilan Fire away!

Ilan

what does this sentence mean

"REM sleep can foster creative problem-solving"

foster = aggravate

or = improve

CopperKettle

foster = improve

Ilan

10:04

ambiguous

:)

CopperKettle

"foster parents" do not usually aggravate their kids

Anonymous

It's not ambiguous.

Ilan

for me

oh, thanks!

very important verb

CopperKettle

yes, a good verb

Jodie Foster

Old English *fostrian "to supply with food, nourish, support," from fostor "food, nourishment, bringing up," from Proto-Germanic *fostra-, from extended form of PIE root *pa- "to protect; feed"

etymonline.com/…

Meaning "to bring up a child with parental care" is from c.1200; that of "to encourage or help grow" is early 13c. of things; 1560s of feelings, ideas, etc. Old English also had the word as an adjective meaning "in the same family but not related," in fostorfæder, fostorcild, fostormodoretc. Related: Fostered; fostering.

Anonymous

Did some dictionary give "aggravate" as a definition?

Anonymous

10:07

If so, which one?

Anonymous

By the way, OneLook is a useful resource: onelook.com/?w=foster&ls=a

CopperKettle

Maybe there's a word that sounds or looks like "foster" but means something negative

Ilan

no, I looked at Google translate and the translation there is similar to "promote"

Anonymous

Like fester? Though that doesn't really mean "aggravate"

Ilan

so I did not got the idea

CopperKettle

10:08

nods

Anonymous

macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/american/foster

Ilan

just a minute.... this is word is AMERICAN?

Anonymous

Before I checked any dictionaries, my best attempt to define it in my own words was "lead to the development of"

Anonymous

@Ilan Not specifically.

Ilan

what about UK English?

is that ok ?

Anonymous

10:09

Click the link down near the bottom that says "View British English definition of foster" if you want.

Ilan

I am focused on IELTS now

gave the same

nicd

nice

Anonymous

Is that a test of British English?

Ilan

in part

the listening is mostly done with British accent

sometimes with Australian

and Canadian

never heard US accent

good article to read about day naps

bbc.com/future/story/20150106-how-to-nap-like-a-pro

Anonymous

Canadian English is very similar to American English

Ilan

they roar less actually

:)

CopperKettle

10:22

@Ilan Yes, a good article

Anonymous

Oh, I'm not familiar with the literature on roaring cross-dialectally

CopperKettle

@Ilan Americans roar moar?

Ilan

I mean American "r" etc is more rrr

than in other EnglishES

:)

CopperKettle

(0:

(I myself possess a feline,
But when poetry I roar
He is sure to make a bee-line
For the door.)

Anonymous

Canadian English has the same /r/ as US English.

Ilan

10:25

I cannot explain, but the US accent and Canadian accent are different

Anonymous

That's true, they are.

Ilan

Let's take English Ryan channel on Youtube

Anonymous

In rather minor ways.

Ilan

he is canadian

and you can certainly say there is no US accent

youtube.com/user/EnglishRyan

Anonymous

And no UK accent

Anonymous

10:27

Yeah, you can hear his Canadian accent in a few of his vowels

Anonymous

More notable is that he speaks over-precisely and not normally

Ilan

yes, he has some bradylalia

Anonymous

Really? I guessed he was speaking unnaturally to make it easier to L2 speakers to understand.

Anonymous

I wouldn't've guessed he had any kind of speech impairment

Ilan

not really of ciz

coz

(should move for now)

c u guys!

Anonymous

10:31

You can't abbreviate of course that way

Anonymous

Later.

CopperKettle

CYA!

Anonymous

The grammaticalized use of cause can be abbreviated in casual chat because it corresponds to phonetic erosion in actual speech, a phenomenon we often see with grammaticalization

Anonymous

But of course has not been subject to the same erosion and can't be abbreviated that way

CopperKettle

what is "grammaticalized used of cause", I wonder

when it is a shortening of "because" probably

Anonymous

10:34

Yeah.

CopperKettle

Yay!

Anonymous

Sometimes written 'cause, cuz, etc.

Anonymous

The reduction from because to cause is itself an example of phonetic erosion

Anonymous

But it happened very long ago.

Anonymous

Conjunctions are grammatical words.

CopperKettle

10:36

nods

Anonymous

It's common for grammatical words to begin their lives as lexical words

Anonymous

Like the infinitive marker to, which is grammaticalized from the preposition to

CopperKettle

"to be" = "towards be", hmm

Anonymous

Well, the preposition to was a function word already, but it became further grammaticalized (lost its literal meaning) as an infinitive marker

Anonymous

Grammaticalization is a gradual process

CopperKettle

10:38

nods

Anonymous

@CopperKettle It originally expressed a goal

CopperKettle

Oh, I see. Interesting.

I will tell you [how one can live happily]. - I wonder if it's a noun clause in the brackets.

I will tell you [the truth]. Seems to be a noun clause

Anonymous

Try a verb that licenses interrogative content clauses but not NP complements

2

Anonymous

> I wonder [how one can live happily].
> *I wonder [the truth].

Anonymous

The distribution of these two phrases turns out not to be the same.

CopperKettle

10:42

Oh, so it's a content clause!

Thank you!

I was reading about content clauses this morning but forgot about it.

Anonymous

Jespersen introduced that term, I believe. In CGEL, it's specifically an open interrogative content clause, if I recall correctly

CopperKettle

Wikipedia says: ". The term was coined by Otto Jespersen. There are two main kinds of content clauses: declarative content clauses (or that-clauses), which correspond to declarative sentences, and interrogative content clauses, which correspond to interrogative sentences."

Anonymous

Sounds good

Anonymous

I have a headache, which makes me too lazy to look things up at the moment :-)

CopperKettle

Oh, I'm sorry!

I hope you get well!

Anonymous

10:46

Thanks! I'll be fine :-)

CopperKettle

I used to have headaches as a kid when I got colds, but not lately..

Anonymous

Oh, that's good.

Anonymous

Do you often get colds these days?

Anonymous

Most people get them more often as children.

Anonymous

And, well, sick more often in general.

CopperKettle

10:48

These days - not very often, thankfully.

Anonymous

I remember I used to get bronchitis yearly like clockwork.

CopperKettle

(0:

Anonymous

Not to mention the long series of colds I shared with most everyone my age

Anonymous

Oh, strep throat was the worst.

Anonymous

Suddenly I'm glad I'm an adult who rarely gets sick. :-)

CopperKettle

10:50

(0:

There's no page for "strep throat" in Russian at Wikipedia (0:

Anonymous

I wonder if L2 learners often know all these terms like strep throat, chicken pox, bronchitis, etc.

CopperKettle

"strep throat" only for those who read books, probably

Anonymous

What, do you not have Streptococcus in Russia?

CopperKettle

But "chicken pox" is look-upable in a dictionary

@snailboat Yes, we have; probably they call it ORS (acute respiratory tract illness) (a catch-all term for all "sore throats")

Anonymous

Стрептококк

Стрептококк (лат. Streptococcus) — род шаровидных или овоидных аспорогенных грамположительных хемоорганотрофных факультативно-анаэробных бактерий из семейства Streptococcaceae. Паразиты животных и человека. Обитают в дыхательных и пищеварительных путях, особенно в полости рта, носа, в толстом кишечнике. == Структура == Отношение суммы гуанина и цитозина к общему весу оснований в молекуле ДНК равен 33—42 %. Типичные клетки менее 1 мкм в диаметре, располагаются попарно или цепочками, неподвижны, кроме штаммов группы D. Образуют капсулу, легко превращаются в L-форму. Питательные потребности сложные…

Anonymous

10:52

That's the best I found :-)

Anonymous

Oh, I'm too illiterate to investigate any further!

CopperKettle

I guess the article says the same as its English counterpart (0:

Anonymous

@CopperKettle We have Acute Upper Respiratory Infection.

Anonymous

That's a term you'll see on insurance forms and such.

Anonymous

But people don't say "Oh man, I've got the worst acute upper respiratory infection! cough, cough, hack, hack"

CopperKettle

10:54

(0:

Anonymous

What does ORS stand for in Russian?

CopperKettle

O - acute R - respitatory Z - disease (S was a typo)

Anonymous

Ah, is the R word a cognate?

CopperKettle

Острая респираторная вирусная инфекция

О́страя респирато́рная ви́русная инфе́кция (ОРВИ) — группа клинически и морфологически подобных острых воспалительных заболеваний органов дыхания, возбудителями которых являются пневмотропные вирусы. ОРВИ — самая распространённая в мире группа заболеваний, объединяющая грипп, парагрипп, респираторно-синцитиальную инфекцию, риновирусную и аденовирусную инфекции и другие катаральные воспаления верхних дыхательных путей. В процессе развития вирусное заболевание может осложняться бактериальной инфекцией. == Эпидемиология == ОРВИ встречаются повсеместно и являются самым распространённым инфекционным…

Anonymous

orz　←　an illustration of prostration

CopperKettle

10:55

@snailboat Yes, it's from Latin, "respitorary"

ORZ or ORVI in the modern Russian medicalspeak

@snailboat (0:

Anonymous

In English, it looks like our ‹r› and ‹t› have changed places: respiratory

CopperKettle

It's a typo (0:

Anonymous

Latin respiratorius

CopperKettle

respiratory, of course

Anonymous

Ahh :-)

CopperKettle

10:57

Doctors love Latinisms..

Anonymous

OTL　←　capitalized prostration

CopperKettle

prostration - because a person is lying down while ill?

skullpatrol

I think Latin is their second language :P

Anonymous

It's like bowing so far that your head's on the ground

Anonymous

Prostration

Prostration is the placement of the body in a reverentially or submissively prone position as a gesture. Typically prostration is distinguished from the lesser acts of bowing or kneeling by involving a part of the body above the knee touching the ground, especially the hands. Major world religions employ prostration as an act of submissiveness or worship to a supreme being or other worshiped entities (i.e. God or the gods), as in the sajdah of the Islamic prayer, salat, or to show reverence to persons or other elements of the religion. In various cultures and traditions, prostrations are similarly...

Anonymous

10:59

More culturally significant in some places than others

CopperKettle

Yes, I knew what "prostration" meant

Anonymous

Oh

CopperKettle

My function concerns itself however with this planet,
My act is simple as an incident of vegetation,
I will go then to a streamside abounding with granite
Or gaunt place with no history nor human condition,
And having unbuttoned myself erect an altar on it
And comfort my knees with red bruises of prostration.

Anonymous

I thought "because a person is lying down while ill" implied you thought it meant something else

CopperKettle

@snailboat I just did not get why you said that OTL is "capitalized prostration"

Anonymous

11:01

@CopperKettle It's made of capital letters and it's a picture of someone bowing their head down to the ground :-)

Anonymous

orz　←　lower case prostration

Anonymous

The o is the head!

CopperKettle

Oh, I see!

I was wondering!

Anonymous

@skullpatrol It says Image not found

skullpatrol

prostration is considered to be the ultimate act of physical humility and veneration

CopperKettle

11:05

nods

skullpatrol

CopperKettle

11:24

1

A: To me/For me Which one?

When you use the sentence `To me,Italy is the best place to to go on vacation.` you are just telling your opinion but not experienced. but when you use For it specifies that you have done it and telling your opinion.

I wonder if the answerer is right.

Anonymous

Dunno. I don't think you can say they're not speaking from experience

Anonymous

So I disagree with what I presume "but not experienced" to mean

Anonymous

But since the answer is unclear, I may be misinterpreting it

Anonymous

It would be better if the OP waited for more answers

CopperKettle

To me, "for me" seems equal in meaning to "to me".

Anonymous

11:27

I'm not sure they're entirely equivalent

Anonymous

They seem to be pretty similar, though

Anonymous

I've had a hard time nailing down the difference in the past

Anonymous

So I won't attempt it now

CopperKettle

okay

Anonymous

I do want to say they're not equivalent, but I don't have any evidence to back that up!

CopperKettle

11:31

Oh, then the question did merit my upvote!

Anonymous

So I suppose I may be being tricked by my intuition :-)

Anonymous

Oh, sure

Anonymous

It's a fine question

Anonymous

I wouldn't personally upvote that answer, though

Anonymous

11:32

People on Travel.SE are cheapskates! ;-)

Anonymous

Eight bounties, and they're all the minimum of 50 points!

CopperKettle

():

skullpatrol

:0)

CopperKettle

I like to read History SE, Space Exploration SE, and sometimes the programming SEs

Anonymous

The programming SEs are sometimes educational for me but I don't participate in them

Anonymous

11:34

The vast majority of questions on SO are beginner-level at best, and there are enough people watching the tags I'm interested in that scoop up the remaining good questions before I see them

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

So good questions tend to get decent answers (though sometimes they just get a lot of bad ones)

Anonymous

And the rest of the questions are somewhat mind-numbing

CopperKettle

I see, there is competition.

That's why my math question were answered in a jiffy.

Anonymous

Do you participate on Math.SE?

CopperKettle

11:36

I asked several questions on trigonometry

4

Q: How to show $\frac {\cos(x)+\sin(x)}{\cos(x)-\sin(x)}=\frac{1+\tan(x)}{1-\tan(x)}$

A step in trig expression simplification, from a textbook: $$\frac {\cos(x)+\sin(x)}{\cos(x)-\sin(x)}\to\frac{1+\tan(x)}{1-\tan(x)}$$ Please give a hint on how was this transformation achieved.

algebra-precalculus trigonometry

(very, very basic ones)

Anonymous

Wow, the tags are colored funny.

Anonymous

Hey, it's our friend, Jasper Loy!

Anonymous

I love that there's a user named Quincunx

Anonymous

That's one of my favorite words.

Anonymous

I wish the other sides of a die had as cool names

CopperKettle

11:39

@snailboat (looking up quincunx)

Quincunx

A quincunx /ˈkwɪn.kʌŋks/ is a geometric pattern consisting of five points arranged in a cross, with four of them forming a square or rectangle and a fifth at its center. It forms the arrangement of five units in the pattern corresponding to the five-spot on six-sided dice, playing cards, or dominoes. It is represented in Unicode as U+2059 ⁙ five dot punctuation or (for the die pattern) U+2684 ⚄ die face-5. == Historical origins of the name == The quincunx was originally a coin issued by the Roman Republic c. 211–200 BC, whose value was five twelfths (quinque and uncia) of an as, the Roman standard...

A nice word!

Anonymous

People who do graphics programming know that word.

Anonymous

I love math, although most of the questions on that SE are over my head.

CopperKettle

I guess I made a grammar error in my math question: "Please give a hint on how was this transformation achieved."

Anonymous

How would you rewrite it today?

CopperKettle

"Please give a hint on how this transformation was achieved."

"Penthouse principle"

Anonymous

11:42

There you go! :-)

CopperKettle

(0:

Anonymous

I might say "a hint as to how", but I don't know if that's just my personal idiolect speaking

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

What Ross calls the Penthouse Principle seems to be a challenge for many L2 speakers

CopperKettle

Yes, because that word order feels natural.

Anonymous

11:45

@skullpatrol Say, how long have you had that avatar? Is it new?

CopperKettle

Yes, he has just made a change, I noticed. (0:

Anonymous

I thought as much!

skullpatrol

yep

Anonymous

Very classy, with the chessboard with the two knights ahead of the pawns

skullpatrol

do you guys like it?

the res is HD

CopperKettle

11:48

nice!

skullpatrol

and it is my screen saver

Anonymous

@CopperKettle I think many linguists prefer to talk about Main Clause Phenomena

Anonymous

Ross has come up with a lot of very creative names, though

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

12:08

That's the term used in Japanese, too (syubuɴ geɴsyō)

CopperKettle

oh, because Japanese is a word-order language too

analytic

"Nobody is sure of [how one can live happily]" <- an adjective complement.

I'm just trying to rake together different uses of that clause

Anonymous

@CopperKettle Japanese is a heavily inflected language with relatively free word order

CopperKettle

oh

but they still have differing word order in the main clause and in the subordinates. interesting.

Anonymous

12:24

No

Anonymous

Well, yes, sort of :-)

Anonymous

But the subject-auxiliary inversion in main clause interrogatives is an example of the Penthouse Principle

Anonymous

It isn't the Penthouse Principle itself

Anonymous

It refers to any main clause phenomena, not just those of word order

CopperKettle

Ah.

"Other phenomena falling under the penthouse principle are V2-effects in the Germanic languages and the distribution of declarative markers, imperative morphology, and of various particles in a variety of languages.[1]"

Anonymous

12:27

Japanese has no such inversion phenomenon

Anonymous

But for example, topic-marking with the focus particle wa is a main clause phenomenon

Anonymous

(hereafter MCP)

Anonymous

Compare the English marked-topic construction: "As for me, I went home early."

Anonymous

*"I wanted to know whether, as for you, you went home early."

Anonymous

That's a MCP.

Anonymous

12:29

As is topicalization generally cross-linguistically

CopperKettle

nods

"Topicalization occurs when a constituent is fronted in order to establish it as the topic. "

If we un-front it, it would be "I went home early as for me".. no, sounds outlandish

Anonymous

The marked-topic construction leaves the main clause intact

CopperKettle

a marked-topic construction is an adverbial?

After school, Connor has been practicing piano --> Connor has been practicing piano after school.

Anonymous

Hmm, I try to avoid terms like adverbial

Anonymous

It's a non-essential phrase that can be removed without seriously affecting the meaning of the main clause

Anonymous

12:35

The object of as for is coreferential with the main clause subject: "As for me, I went home early."

Anonymous

It's similar to Left Dislocation: "She hates pizza, you know. Me, I like pizza."

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

So sometimes people are tempted to frame left dislocation as though it's an elliptical form of the marked-topic construction, but we have to keep them distinct

CopperKettle

Dislocation (syntax)

In syntax, dislocation is a sentence structure in which a constituent which could otherwise be either an argument or an adjunct of the clause occurs outside the clause boundaries either to its left or to its right as in English They went to the store, Mary and Peter. The dislocated element is often separated by a pause (comma in writing) from the rest of the sentence. Its place within the clause is often occupied by a pronoun (e.g. they). There are two types of dislocation: right dislocation, in which the constituent is postponed (as in the above example), or a left dislocation, in which it is...

Anonymous

English has both left- and right-dislocation

Anonymous

12:38

In both types, the dislocated phrase leaves behind a gap which is filled by a pronoun that it's coreferential with

Anonymous

The marked topic construction is typically similar, though it only appears on the left, and it's also possible for it to appear without a coreferential element in the main clause sometimes

Anonymous

And the marked topic construction, as its name implies, specifically marks a topic, while a left- or right-dislocated element is not necessarily a discourse topic

Anonymous

But they're really quite similar

Anonymous

There's a lot of overlap in usage

CopperKettle

Wikipedia has no article on marked topic construction

Anonymous

12:41

Maybe Tim Osborne will make one eventually :-)

CopperKettle

(0:

"As for me, I went home early." As for me is an "adjunct prepositional phrase"?

I'm just trying to get my bearings on this phrase.. Reading "discontinuity" in Wiki

Anonymous

@CopperKettle That sounds reasonable

CopperKettle

googling for "Osborne + "marked topic" " brings well-nigh nothing, so I guess he is a good conspirator (0:

@snailboat thank you!

Anonymous

Oh, I just mentioned him because he's written such a large percent of the Wikipedia articles on linguistics

CopperKettle

aaah. (0:

User:Tjo3ya

== Who am I and to what extent am I qualified to write about syntax and grammar? == Timothy John Osborne: I have a Ph.D. in German and linguistics, with a specialty in the theory of grammar. My particular interest is in dependency grammar and all aspects that feed into it. To check my qualifications to be a contributor, google "dependency grammar osborne". My publications in peer-reviewed journals will show up. These publications are also listed below. I am particularly interested in the article on dependency grammar, and I am also working to improve other articles that touch on areas that are in...

Anonymous

12:51

That's him! He's a member of our Linguistics.SE

CopperKettle

nice!

Anonymous

Tim Osborne

2.4k 3 20

syntax english terminology syntax-trees phrase-structure grammar semantics

CopperKettle

9

A: What are the chief advantages & disadvantages of describing sentences with dependency vs. phrase structure trees?

Yes, there are concrete differences between dependency-based and constituency-based tree representations (D-trees vs. PS-trees). D-trees have the great advantage that they are minimal compared to PS-trees. Thus one can produce a D-tree for a given sentence with much less effort than one needs t...

He is a pro in dependency grammar, so no wonder he replied

Anonymous

I mostly ignore dependency grammar

Anonymous

I find combinatory categorial grammar quite interesting, though

Anonymous

12:58

It naturally accounts for phenomena like right node raising

CopperKettle

nods

Anonymous

I think that CCG is probably too counterintuitive to use for pedagogical purposes, though

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