9.1617, Calls: Computational Linguistics, Semi-lexical Heads

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LINGUIST List:  Vol-9-1617. Mon Nov 16 1998. ISSN: 1068-4875.

Subject: 9.1617, Calls: Computational Linguistics, Semi-lexical Heads

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=================================Directory=================================

1)
Date:  Sun, 15 Nov 1998 20:55:17 -0500
From:  Richard Sproat <rws at research.bell-labs.com>
Subject:  Association for Computational Linguistics

2)
Date:  Mon, 16 Nov 1998 14:27:57 MET
From:  "Norbert Corver" <N.F.M.Corver at kub.nl>
Subject:  Workshop on Semi-lexical Heads

-------------------------------- Message 1 -------------------------------

Date:  Sun, 15 Nov 1998 20:55:17 -0500
From:  Richard Sproat <rws at research.bell-labs.com>
Subject:  Association for Computational Linguistics

             Call for Tutorial Proposals

       The ACL'99 (Association for Computational
       Linguistics, 1999) Program Committee invites
       proposals for the Tutorial Program for
       ACL '99, to be held at the University of
       Maryland, College Park, MD, USA, June
       20--26, 1999. The tutorials for ACL '99
       will be held on June 20th.

       Each tutorial should be well-focused so
       that its core content can be covered in a
       three hour tutorial slot (including a 30
       minute break). In exceptional cases,
       6-hour tutorial slots are possible as
       well.

       There will be space and time for at most
       four three-hour tutorials.

  Submission Details

       Proposals for tutorials should contain:

          * A title and brief (< 500 word)
            content description of the tutorial
            topic.
          * The names, postal addresses, phone
            numbers, and email addresses of the
            tutorial speakers, with
            one-paragraph statement of the
            speaker's(s') research interests and
            areas of expertise.
          * Any special requirements for
            technical needs (computer
            infrastructure, etc.)

       Proposals should be submitted by
       electronic mail, in plain ASCII
       (iso8859-1) text as soon as possible, but
       no later than December 18th, 1998.

       The subject line should be:
       "ACL 99 TUTORIAL PROPOSAL".

       Please Note: Proposals will not be
       accepted by regular mail or fax.

       Please submit your proposals and any
       inquiries to:

       Richard Sproat, ACL '99 Tutorials Chair
       Bell Laboratories, Lucent Technologies
       600 Mountain Avenue, Murray Hill, NJ
       07974 USA
       rws at research.bell-labs.com

  Practical Arrangements

       Accepted tutorial speakers must provide
       descriptions of their tutorials for
       inclusion in the Conference Registration
       material by March 1, 1999. The
       description must be provided in three
       formats: a latex version that fits onto
       1/2 page; an ascii (iso8859-1) version
       that can be included with the email
       announcement; an HTML version that can be
       included on the Conference home page.

       Tutorial speakers will provide tutorial
       materials, at least containing copies of
       the overhead sheets used, by May 1, 1999.

       Finances:
       The current ACL policy is that tutorials
       are reimbursed at the following rate:
       $500 per session plus $25 per registrant
       in the range 21-50 plus $15 per
       registrant in excess of 50. Note that
       this is per tutorial, not per presenter:
       multiple presenters will split the
       proceeds, the default assumption being an
       even split. The ACL does not usually
       cover travel expenses except where the
       presenter(s) cannot get them through the
       usual mechanisms: for ACL members we
       assume that they would be coming to the
       meeting anyway. For people who are not
       ACL members, we would expect to pay for
       costs that they cannot get reimbursed
       elsewhere.

       Important Dates

       Submission Deadline for Tutorial
       Proposal:
                                18 Dec 1998
       Notification of acceptance of Tutorial
       Proposal:
                                28 Dec 1998
       Tutorial descriptions due to Tutorial
       Chair:
                                1 Mar 1999
       Tutorial course material due to Tutorial
       Chair:
                                1 May 1999
       Tutorials Date:
                                20 June 1999


-------------------------------- Message 2 -------------------------------

Date:  Mon, 16 Nov 1998 14:27:57 MET
From:  "Norbert Corver" <N.F.M.Corver at kub.nl>
Subject:  Workshop on Semi-lexical Heads

                	**CALL FOR PAPERS**

        	WORKSHOP ON SEMI-LEXICAL HEADS

	Tilburg University, Thursday 20 May and Friday 21 May 1999

Invited Speakers:	Joseph Emonds (University of Durham)
			Hubert Haider (University of Salzburg)
			Elisabeth Loebel (University of Cologne)

SEMI-LEXICAL HEADS

The distinction between lexical/major categories, on the one hand, and
functional/minor/grammatical categories, on the other, is at the
heart of present-day grammatical theory, but plays an equally central
role in theories on language acquisition, code switching, aphasia,
etcetera. In the course of time, various diagnostic criteria have
been proposed which distinguish the one class from the other: e.g.
productivity, distribution, lack versus presence of semantic content.
Although for certain clear-cut cases (e.g. the distinction between
Noun and Determiner), this distinction is quite straightforward,
there are many lexical items for which it is less easy to decide
whether they side with the lexical categories or with the functional
ones. The category P is a well-known case of uncertainty. Although it
seems less functional in a sense than a determiner, it is more
"grammatical" than N, V and A. Some people have argued that a
distinction should be made within the class of prepositions between
the lexical ones and the grammatical or functional ones (cf. Van
Riemsdijk 1990; Zwarts 1992) This gradualness on the
lexical-functional "scale" is characteristic of other categories as
well and is  reminiscent of Ross's (1972; 1973) notion of squish,
which refers to degrees of nouniness (or verbiness) of syntactic
categories. Emonds (1985) speaks bout grammatical nouns, verbs,
adjectives and prepositions, and also refers to them as disguised
lexical categories. Another appropriate term would be SEMI-LEXICAL
heads, i.e. heads which are hybrid in the sense that they display
both lexical and functional/grammatical characteristics.

What kinds of lexical items might possibly be considered
semi-lexical? For the nominal domain, Emonds (1985) refers to such
items as the pro-form "one" in "the good ones", reflexive "self" (cf.
"selves"), and "thing" as it occurs in "something good". Classifiers
and quantity-designating nominals in pseudopartitive constructions
like "three grains of sand" might be considered semi-lexical as well.
Within the verbal domain, semi-lexical candidates might arguably be:
auxiliary verbs (see Emonds 85 for this claim), certain verbs
featuring in verb clusters in Germanic Verb Raising constructions,
verbs in serialization constructions, etcetera. Within the adjectival
domain, one might take such quantifiers as "many", "few", "much" as
instances of semi-lexical adjectives. The above is just a brief
sketch of potential semi-lexical heads. Presumably, there are many
more.

Here are some of the more concrete questions that might arise in
the study of semi-lexical heads:
v
What types of semi-lexical nouns, verbs, adjectives and prepositions
can be distinguished? What distinguishes them from truly lexical
categories and in what sense are they different from truly
grammatical functors? Is this distinction expressed in terms of their
lexical feature-composition, and if so, what features are involved?
What is their assembling property; i.e. how do they combine in
syntactic structure and how do they project syntactically? Are they
involved in idiosyncratic displacement phenomenona, and if so, what
feature of the semi-lexical head triggers this? What is the licensing
function of semi-lexical heads? What makes them interpretable at the
interface levels? Also from a diachronic point of view, the question
arises how lexical heads develop gradually into semi-lexical ones. Is
there cross-linguistic variation in the range of semi-lexical heads
and if so, what does this variation reside in? Besides the question
of how semi-lexical heads behave in the syntactic component,
questions arise about their behavior in other components: Are there
morphological processes characteristic of semi-lexical heads? As
concerns the lexicon, the question arises how they are stored in the
lexicon and what distinguishes their lexical entry from that of truly
lexical categories.


ABSTRACTS:
Abstracts are invited for 30 minutes talks (with an additional ten
minutes for discussion). Abstracts should be anonymous, and should be
no longer than two pages, including references and examples, with
margins of at least 1-inch, font size 11/12. Submissions are limited
to a maximum of one individual and one joint abstract per author.
Please provide 5 anonymous abstracts and one camera-ready original
containing title,author's name and affiliation.  Submissions by
e-mail or fax can be accepted, provided a camera-ready original is
received within one week after the deadline. A separate card should
contain the title of the paper, author's name, affiliation, address,
telephone number and e-mail address.

We have the intention to publish (a selection of) the papers.
We expect to be able to partially reimburse you for travel and/or
vhotel expenses, but precise figures are not available as yet.

***********

Deadline for receipt of abstracts: Monday 1 February, 1999.

Abstracts should be sent to the following address:

	Norbert Corver
	Grammar Models Group
	Department of Linguistics
        Tilburg University
	P.O.Box 90153
	5000 LE Tilburg
	The Netherlands

Phone: +31 13 4662773
E-mail: secretariaat.gm.fdl at kub.nl
Fax: +31-13-4663110

Organizing committee: Norbert Corver & Henk van Riemsdijk

Information about accommodation and travel information will be
made available at the Grammar Models Web Site, which is accessible at:

http://cwis.kub.nl/~fdl/research/gm/conf.htm

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