R-3 Repository :: Browsing by Author "Lamb, Sydney M."

Browsing by Author "Lamb, Sydney M."

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A dynamic model of comprehension with applications to Korean and English
(1988) Lee, Chang-in; Lamb, Sydney M.
Most researchers working to develop a comprehension process fail to distinguish the different levels often recognized by linguists. Some, for example, have attempted to incorporate a composite form such as 'has' into one terminal symbol without addressing its internal complexity. The present study in contrast distinguishes different levels. The context-sensitive dispute is thus resolved by viewing complex structures as composites of multiple context-free layers that are interrelated by context-sensitive interfaces. In the design of a comprehension system, this study recognizes the essential structural differences between the linguistic information and the computer procedure. Thus, the linguistic information is not incorporated into the program itself. Examples are illustrated from Korean and English.
Cortical processing of real words, pseudowords and nonwords as measured by magnetoencephalography
(2006) Novak, Barbra Jean; Lamb, Sydney M.
The research described here involved a study of cortical responses to real words, pseudowords and nonwords as measured by magnetoencephalography (MEG). Multiple subjects were tested in order to investigate inter-subject variability. Each subject was tested multiple times in order to investigate the reliability of MEG for this type of study. The reliability of MEG as a measure of linguistic processing has not previously been fully established. Consistent cortical activation patterns at the group level were found across 5 replications of the task, indicating that MEG is a reliable measure of language processing. Furthermore, real words, pseudowords, and nonwords elicited different cortical activation patterns. Specifically, only the phonotactically acceptable real words and pseudowords elicited left-lateralized middle temporal gyrus (MTG) activity. Additionally, the phonological processing demands required by the task underscore the importance of the insula in phonological processing.
English grammar as a stratified system of signs
(1988) Edmiston, Cynthia Denise; Lamb, Sydney M.
Linguistic information, representing the knowledge that a speaker has of his or her language, can be uniformly represented as a system of signs. In addition to the traditional linguistic signs, the connections between morphemes or morphemic words and their meanings, syntactic constructions, idiomatic expressions, discourse phenomena, all types of linguistic information, are treated as meaningful and therefore capable of being represented as signs. A four-strata version of linguistic structure is adopted, with graphic, morphemic, lexemic, and sememic levels. The signs mediate between the information at the different levels, such that the expression and content of each sign is "local", and expression and content in the more general sense (all the way from graphemes to sememes) are related indirectly. The signs which constitute a core grammar of English are formalized and set forth. This formalization, the major goal of the dissertation, is not simply a description of texts, however. Rather, it is an attempt to construct a cognitive model which accounts for those texts. Two points of theory are: (1) there is a distinction between relations (signs) and processes (encoding and decoding), and (2) language is an adaptive system subject to continuous modification. The linguistic information in the semiotic format is shown to be useable to produce and decipher texts, and to be readily modified when new information is encountered.
Linguistic subsystems of a Chicano child
(1989) Cobin, Peter Martin; Lamb, Sydney M.
This study investigates the speech of a four year old girl who is growing up in a Chicano neighborhood in Houston. Her parents, and many of her neighbors, mix English and Spanish. The girl's linguistic system is described and modeled from a cognitive perspective. The girl was observed interacting with family and friends at her home. Her styles of speech in different social situations were analyzed. Different linguistic subsystems are apparent at different levels. Her phonology is one composite system. She has separate English-like and Spanish-like morphological constructions for verbs and pronouns, but subsystems of morphological constructions for nouns are fuzzier. Syntactically, English-like and Spanish-like subsystems are clearly revealed for verb phrases, fuzzily revealed for clauses, whereas noun phrases are not organized into subsystems. Four subsystems of lexical classes can be discerned based on their use in different interpersonal roles. She has different ways of speaking to babies, younger playmates, parents, and older friends. The girl's speech is generally appropriate for each situation. However, the variation is not due to a consistent distinction between English and Spanish. Code-switching models do not reflect the organization of her linguistic system. Rather, she organizes her linguistic knowledge as a collection of signs, and various relations between signs account for her appropriate linguistic behavior in a given situation.
A New Look at Phonotactics
(Rice University, 1980-04) Lamb, Sydney M.; Electronic version made possible with funding from the Rice Historical Society and Thomas R. Williams, Ph.D., class of 2000.
On metaphor in a neuro-cognitive theory of language
(1998) Newell, John Paul; Lamb, Sydney M.
Metaphor is one of the most intriguing topics in cognitive linguistics. In this thesis, I propose a theory of metaphor from within a neurocognitve framework, specifically the relational network model of Sydney Lamb. The basis of metaphor in this model is the shared properties of concepts in the network. Metaphoric associations are created through evoked similarity in a given context. There are three aspects of metaphor in the relational network model: creative nonce metaphors, learned metaphoric expressions, and emergent conceptual metaphors. For metaphoric expressions, there is a cline from nonce metaphors to dead metaphors--expressions that are more toward the nonce end of the cline require more input from context for correct comprehension. Studies of subjects with right hemisphere brain damage show that they have problems with choosing the appropriate context and problems comprehending metaphor. These findings support the theory of metaphor presented in this thesis.
Problems in the reconstruction of Indo-European stop consonants
(1995) Pulju, Timothy James; Lamb, Sydney M.
Despite the foundational role of Indo-European studies in historical-comparative linguistics, there are many persistent problems in the reconstruction of IE stops. Unresolved issues include: (1) the number of velar series to be posited for Proto-Indo-European; (2) unexplained variation between voiced non-aspirates and voiced aspirates; (3) irregular correspondences involving /d/ and /l/; (4) the typological naturalness of the reconstructed stop system. A three-way velar distinction is required for PIE, at least in some phonological environments. Albanian maintains the three-way distinction, while satem languages provide evidence for morphophonemic alternation among three series. However, pre-IE likely had only a two-way distinction, with subphonemic variation between palatalized and non-palatalized allophones of plain velars. This distinction became phonemic by secondary split at the PIE stage. Many hitherto unexplained examples of variation between *g/*g/*d vs. *gh/*gh/*dh, respectively, result from regular change of voiced non-aspirates plus the a-coloring laryngeal to voiced aspirates. This early change, which probably happened independently in Sanskrit, Greek, and Germanic, is in accord with the reconstruction of the a-coloring laryngeal as a voiceless fricative. However, not all problematic examples of voiced aspirate vs. voiced non-aspirate can be accounted for by this hypothesis. Some are due to a sporadic process of post-nasal deaspiration in pre-Greek, while others remain unexplained. Irregular correspondences involving /d/ and /l/ provide evidence for the reconstruction of a rare PIE cluster *dl. This cluster was phonotactically disfavored and was therefore subject to sporadic modification throughout the IE language family. The traditional reconstructed stop system of PIE has been criticized as being unnatural in synchronic typological terms. The so-called glottalic reconstruction is more typologically natural. However, the glottalic system is not well-suited to account for the historical developments from PIE to its attested daughter languages. For PIE, the traditional reconstruction is to be preferred on the basis of historical and comparative evidence, although the pre-IE system may have been glottalic.
PureNet: A modeling program for neurocognitive linguistics
(2000) Harrison, Colin James; Lamb, Sydney M.
Neurocognitive Linguistic Theory (NCL, Lamb 1999) stands alone as the only well-developed linguistic theory with a serious commitment to neurological plausibility. It is also set apart from much of mainstream Cognitive Science by its strictly non-symbolic approach to understanding cognition. The theory has enjoyed a long a fruitful development, but has been hampered by the difficulty of verifying complex network analyses presented entirely on paper. The need has been clear for some manner of independent testbed for the theory, and a computational context was the obvious choice. To meet this need, the PureNet modeling program has been constructed. Written in Java 1.1, the program has been designed to function in such a way as to match as closely as possible the essential elements of that which it seeks to model---the functional elements of NCL. The design and construction of the fundamental structures of the program are explicated. To demonstrate the utility of the program, three variant network analyses of portmanteau morphemes are proposed and modeled. As all three can be shown to function correctly, learnability is proposed as a discriminator. To reach the goal of a meaningful learnability test, a major learning hypotheses of NCL---the bi-directional learning hypothesis (Lamb, 1999, Ch.12)---is modeled and shown to be valid. Having demonstrated the validity of the NCL conception of bidirectional learning, a procedure for generalizing NCL networks into neutral structures for learnability tests is outlined, and then generalized network structures based upon the three portmanteau network models are constructed and run to see if they will self-organize into the target structures (the original network analyses). The methodology tentatively disfavors the lateral inhibition hypothesis for portmanteau morpheme structure as a learnable network system, and thus demonstrates the utility of PureNet as a valuable tool for future development of NCL.
Strategies for natural language processing using stratified grammar
(1988) Wu, Zhijun; Lamb, Sydney M.
Using the theory of stratified grammar proposed by Sydney Lamb (1966), I developed a computer system to simulate the human language-using process. A new approach to representing linguistic knowledge, a goal-directed parsing strategy and a method of combining bottom-up processing with the top-down expectation are proposed and implemented. The system can automatically translate English sentences into Chinese sentences in a small task domain. Some linguistic information like syntactic structure, semantic interpretation and dynamic relations of the input sentence can also be obtained by using the system.
Talk of times past: On the interaction of cognitive systems in conversation
(1991) Meyer, Cynthia Ford; Lamb, Sydney M.
This study considers a corpus of conversational data from a cognitive perspective. The corpus is comprised of a set of dialogues involving a man interviewing his parents about memories of the Oklahoma frontier. The study views this conversation in cognitive terms as a process in which the interlocutors' separate cognitive systems interact by means of the speech signal and change as a result. Cognitive systems are viewed as networks of relationships. It is shown that the consideration of natural conversation yields insights into the cognitive structures and processing of interlocutors, and conversely, that an understanding of cognitive systems is needed to explain surface patterns observable in conversational texts. Several issues concerning the interaction of cognitive systems are addressed. First, the patterning of conversational topic is investigated to discover how the speaker designates topics within his cognitive system and how speaker and listener coordinate their notions of topic. The behavior of cognitive topic is found to be governed by a principle of accessibility. Of all the information in the network that a speaker could designate as topic, that information which is most accessible will be selected. For the addressee, the less accessible a new topic is, the less likely he is to recognize it and the more carefully the speaker must prepare him. Second, two cases of multiple tellings of a single experience are investigated to find what they reveal about how the speaker stores and expresses first-hand information. A continuum of storage types is proposed that is characterized by factors such as the number of times a memory has been related, the fluency of the delivery, and the amount of sensitivity shown to the listener's cognitive needs. Finally, the range of cognitive tasks interlocutors perform as they exchange information is explored. The functions served by statements in a portion of conversation are examined, and it is proposed that statement functions are unified by a protypical function, that of reporting on information present in the speaker's system. An interpretation of the cognitive effect of statements is suggested which recognizes five basic cognitive situations of information exchange in which statements are employed.
The description of Chinese substantives using an analogical approach to syntax
(1991) Fu, Qiying; Lamb, Sydney M.
This thesis is a conceptual description of Chinese substantives. The method used here is based on the analogical approach, proposed by Sydney Lamb for language description and language processing. According to the analogical approach, syntax is considered to be an epiphenomenon rather than a reality in the cognitive linguistic system of humans. All traditionally identified syntactic functions may be implemented by an analogical procedure using conceptual frames. In this thesis, all conceptual descriptions are formulated in dictionary-like entries, that may be used easily either by human being or by a computer. Each such entry is constructed as a tabular frame corresponding to a portion of a network of relationship.
The relationships between processes and participants in Chinese: A cognitive approach
(1991) Zhang, Jiannan; Lamb, Sydney M.
This thesis investigates the knowledge which Chinese speakers must have that enables them to produce and comprehend Chinese sentences because grammatically Chinese provides little formal marking for syntactic functions such as subject, object, etc. and participant roles such as agent, patient, etc. The present work also presents a model for the representation of such knowledge. Using a cognitive approach which stresses the knowledge of users and the conceptual structures of the linguistic system, this study argues that Chinese speakers must know the conceptual relationships between processes and participants when processing Chinese sentences. Three types of knowledge are posited for the understanding of these relationships: knowledge about the world, linguistic knowledge, and pragmatic knowledge. A classification of Chinese conceptual processes is done according to the conceptual criterion PERIODICITY. Four basic types of conceptual processes are derived: State, Status, Action and Event, each of which corresponds to some syntactic properties and a different type of conceptual relationship. The categories of processes and participants have their hierarchical structures which are composed of two types of relationships: subordination and part-whole. Knowledge of these structures enable Chinese speakers to interpret the conceptual relationships. The difference between central participants and peripheral participants lies in the fact that the former are positionally marked, while the latter are usually related by prepositions. The distinction between participants and circumstantials is difficult to maintain since individual processes treat them differently. The participants presupposed by a processes are best regarded as prototypes to account for the metaphorical uses and the exclusion of the non-prototypical instances of a category. Participants are also grouped on the basis of the fixedness of their categories. The conceptual relationships also have their hierarchical structure. At the top level, there are P1, P2 and P3. At the bottom, the relationships vary with each individual process. At the intermediate level, some conceptual roles can be established to capture the similarities of relationships. The types of knowledge investigated in this thesis are presented as entries in a conceptual dictionary.
Toward a dynamic grammar of Chinese
(1990) Zhang, Yiming; Lamb, Sydney M.
This thesis is a description of basic Chinese grammar. Unlike traditional methods, the descriptions uses the Dynamic Grammar Notation System, a tool designed by Sydney M. Lamb for language description and language processing. All of the syntactic and semantic description is formalized into rules, so the grammar can be used either to understand basic Chinese syntax or as a rule base in natural language processing. Some issues related to machine implementation are also discussed in the first part of the thesis.
Understanding Chinese compounds
(2001) Zhang, Xiuhong; Lamb, Sydney M.
This dissertation investigates the relationship between word-internal structure of verbal compounds and the grammatical properties of the compounds, focusing on their transitivity. Adopting a functional point of view, it provides a syntactic as well as semantic account of the seemingly chaotic syntactic features that verbal Chinese compounds possess. By being able to predict the grammatical properties of newly created compounds, the findings of the present work can be used to help students of Chinese as a foreign language have a better grasp of the language, especially the compounding patterns. The results can also be applied in computational applications, such as natural language understanding and processing. In Natural Language Processing (NLP), information about the formation and syntactic behavior of compounds is necessary for a system to be able to understand and/or translate any sentence containing newly created compounds. The method of investigation is that of general functional linguistics guided by cognitive considerations, and the study is mainly data-driven. In this work, compoundhood in Chinese is considered to reside in a continuum, i.e. there is no clear-cut boundary between words and phrases. The properties, including transitivity where it is relevant, of the five types of Chinese verbal compounds---Verb-Resultative, Verb-Noun, Verb-Verb coordinate, Subject-Predicate, and Modifier-Verb---are explored and characterized, along with means of distinguishing the five types of compounds and the subtypes with similar formal appearances. The transitivity of Verb-Resultative compounds, a highly productive type, is explored in the most depth.

Browsing by Author "Lamb, Sydney M."

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