Resumen de tesis doctoral: =?ISO-8859-1?Q?Jim=E9nez=20L=F3pez?=, M.D. 2001. Grammar Systems: A Formal-Language-Theoretic Framework for Linguistics and Cultural Evolution. Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona (=?ISO-8859-1?Q?Espa=F1a?=)
Carlos Subirats Rüggeberg
carlos.subirats at UAB.ES
Tue Apr 3 22:03:03 UTC 2001
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Resumen de tesis doctoral:
Jiménez López, M.D. 2001. Grammar Systems: A
Formal-Language-Theoretic Framework for Linguistics and Cultural
Evolution. Universidad Rovira i Virgili, Tarragona (España)
De: Jiménez López, María Dolores malito:mdjl at fll.urv.es
____________________________________________________________________
1. Autora:
Jiménez López, María Dolores
2. Título:
Grammar Systems: A Formal-Language-Theoretic Framework
for Linguistics and Cultural Evolution
2.1 Nº de págs.: 577 + 6
2.2 Palabras clave: TEORÍA DE LENGUAJES FORMALES; SISTEMAS DE
GRAMÁTICAS; SISTEMAS MULTI-AGENTE; MODULARIDAD; ANÁLISIS DE LA
CONVERSACIÓN; EVOLUCIÓN CULTURAL; ARQUITECTURA DE LA GRAMÁTICA.
3. Fecha de lectura: 31 de marzo del 2001
4. Director:
Prof. Carlos Martín Vide
5. Departamento o laboratorio en el que se ha desarrollado la
tesis:
Departamento de Filologías Románicas
Universidad Rovira i Virgili
Tarragona, España
6. Proyecto de investigación en el que se ha desarrollado la tesis:
NATURAL COMPUTATION FOR NATURAL LANGUAGE (DGES, PB96-1009):
http://www.urv.es/centres/Grups/grlmc/grlmc.html
7. Resumen (en español y en inglés)
Breve resumen en español:
Esta tesis se presenta como un intento de evaluar la posible
aplicabilidad de una teoría que ha sido ampliamente estudiada desde un
punto de vista formal pero cuyas aplicaciones no han sido analizadas:
Teoría de Sistemas de Gramáticas.
Mientras que en la teoría clásica de Lenguajes Formales cada
gramática funciona individualmente para generar un lenguaje, la Teoría
de Sistemas de Gramáticas se presenta como un modelo constituido por
diversas gramáticas que funcionan juntas, siguiendo un protocolo
especificado, para generar un lenguaje. Los estudios teóricos realizados
demuestran que los Sistemas de Gramáticas presentan ventajas con
respecto a los modelos clásicos. Y son precisamente esas ventajas las
que nos llevan a sugerir que esta nueva teoría podría resultar muy útil
en el estudio de un gran número de cuestiones, y en particular en el
análisis de los lenguajes naturales.
Con el objetivo de demostrar la potencial aplicabilidad de esta
teoría, definimos tres nuevas variantes -Linguistic, Conversational y
Cultural Grammar Systems- que podrían dar cuenta de la arquitectura
básica de la gramática de las lenguas naturales, de la conversación y
del cambio cultural, respectivamente. La aplicación de esta teoría al
ámbito de la Lingüística y el cambio cultural es solo un ejemplo de sus
múltiples posibilidades. La investigación llevada a cabo en esta tesis
nos lleva a concluir que la Teoría de Sistemas de Gramáticas no es solo
una buena teoría desde el punto de vista formal, sino que puede resultar
muy interesante desde el punto de vista de sus aplicaciones.
Resumen en inglés:
This thesis can be placed within Grammar Systems Theory, a recent
and active branch in the field of Formal Languages that presents
advantages with respect to classical models. The study we carry out here
is concerned with the possible applicability of this new theory.
Grammar Systems Theory can be seen as a grammatical model where
notions as modularity, distribution, cooperation, coordination,
parallelism, interaction, comunication, sincronization, etc. -widely
present in AI, Computer Science, Cognitive Science and other related
areas- can be defined. The aim of this modular generative device is
many-sided: to model complex real phenomena, to increase generative
capacity and to decrease descriptional complexity.
While in classical Formal Language Theory one grammar works
individually to generate a language; in Grammar Systems Theory a set of
grammars work together, following a specified protocol, in order to
generate a language. Two basic classes of Grammar Systems have been
distinguished: Cooperating Distributed Grammar Systems which work in a
sequential way, and Parallel Communicating Grammar Systems that function
in parallel.
Grammar Systems Theory has been widely investigated in the last
decade and nowdays constitutes a well-developed formal theory. However,
being a branch of Formal Languages, researchers in the field of Grammar
Systems have concentrated mainly on theoretical aspects of the model.
Although some attempts of application have been carried out, we could
say that research on Grammar Systems Theory still being mainly
theoretical. Those studies have proved interesting results regarding its
generative capacity, descriptional complexity, decidability properties,
etc. Our goal in this thesis is to show that Grammar Systems Theory is
not only a good theory from the formal point of view, but that it could
be as well -due to its features- an useful tool for being applied to
several matters.
The questions we answer in this thesis are basically:
1. Can Grammar Systems Theory be applied to specific matters
or it is only a good framework from the formal point of view?
2. Can Grammar Systems Theory model real phenomena?
To find the answer to these questions:
1. We apply Grammar Systems Theory to the architecture of natural
language grammar, in order to show the possible suitability of this
theory in accounting for modularity, parallelism, and interaction
necessary in grammar.
2. We apply Grammar Systems Theory to conversational acts, in order to
see whether this theory could account for the ideas of coordination,
cooperation, interaction, emergence and dynamism characteristic of
conversation.
3. We apply Grammar Systems Theory to cultural evolution, in order to
check whether this theory is able to provide a formal language model
that accounts for the basic mechanisms of cultural change.
The contributions of this thesis can be summarized as:
1. Definition of a new type of Grammar Systems, called Linguistic
Grammar Systems, that could account for the highly modular, parallel and
interactive architecture of natural language grammar.
2. Definition of a new type of Grammar Systems, called Conversational
Grammar Systems, that could reveal itself as a suitable tool for
providing a formal language description of conversation.
3. Definition of a new type of Grammar Systems, called Cultural Grammar
Systems, that could capture, in formal language terms, many features
that researchers dealing with cultural change have pointed out about the
dynamics of cultural evolution.
4. Detailed description of the analogies that can be established between
each of the formal frameworks we propose and the real facts they try to
model.
5. Evidence that Grammar Systems Theory is not only a good formal
theory, but that it could be also an interesting theory from the point
of view of its applications.
6. Evidence that Grammar Systems Theory could reveal itself as a very
useful tool in accounting for a wide range of linguistic matters
-from syntax to pragmatics, including language change- and that it could
describe, in a formal-language-theoretical fashion, the basic dynamics
of cultural change.
The thesis is organized into five parts and one Appendix.
Part I provides formal language prerequisites, presents Grammar
Systems Theory and reviews some of the advantageous features that make
of Grammar Systems Theory a potential good candidate to be applied to
several matters.
Part II presents Linguistic Grammar Systems. After reviewing some
questionable assumptions about grammar, we sketch two theories of
parallel grammatical representations -namely, Sadock's Autolexical
Syntax and Jackendoff's Architecture of Language Faculty- as a previous
step of the introduction of our formal framework. In first place we
afford Linguistic Grammar Systems informally, in order to make clear why
we choose some specific Grammar Systems tools and not others. Once we
have provided formal definitions and a formal example of Linguistic
Grammar Systems, we present an informal example in order to sketch how
our framework could account for generation of natural language
structures. We close this part by offering some partial conclusions and
future work.
Part III is dedicated to the presentation of Conversational Grammar
Systems. After having tried to get an idea of conversation -by looking
for a definition, individuating its minimal units and summarizing some
of its basic features- we will present some approaches used to model
conversation in different research fields. Once we have got an
approximate idea of what conversation is, we carry out the presentation
of our formal framework. Before offering conclusions, we put our model
versus conversation, trying to check how it could fit with some features
that have been proposed as characteristic of face-to-face interactions.
Part IV introduces Cultural Grammar Systems. We briefly review
Cultural Algorithms as a theory that has greatly motivated our
framework. Before facing the presentation of our formal model, we try to
get and idea of culture by giving several definitions, identifying its
units, individuating some of its properties and reviewing different
models of gene-culture interaction. Presentation of Cultural Grammar
Systems is divided into two steps: firstly, we build the model step by
step, in an informal way, and trying to justify why we include every
element and relationship; secondly, we provide the formal definition of
our model. After providing formal definitions of our framework, we
present a sort of example by applying it to description of language
evolution. We end this part, as always, with conclusions and future work.
Part V closes our dissertation by offering a brief summary of its
content, presenting conclusions and giving some directions for future
research.
CONTENTS
Acknowledgments
Objectives, Motivation, Organization
I. Introduction
1. Formal Language Prerequisites
2. Grammar Systems Theory
3. Advantages of Using Grammar Systems
II. Linguistic Grammar Systems
4. Introduction
5. Questionable Assumptions about Grammar
6. Two Theories of Parallel Grammatical Representations
7. Our Proposal: A Sketch of Linguistic Grammar Systems
8. Formalizing Linguistic Grammar Systems
9. Conclusions & Future Work
III. Conversational Grammar Systems
10. Introduction
11. Getting an Idea of Conversation
12. Some Approaches Used to Model Conversation
13. Our Proposal: A Formal Language Model for Conversation
14. Conversation & Conversational Grammar Systems
15 Conclusions & Future Work
IV. Cultural Grammar Systems
16. Introduction
17. Cultural Algorithms
18. Getting an Idea of Culture
19. Our Proposal: Cultural Grammar Systems
20. Cultural Grammar Systems and Language Change: A Sort of Example
21. Conclusion & Future Work
V. Concluding Remarks
22. Summary
23. Conclusions
24. Future Work
Appendix
Bibliography
Index of Subjects
Index of Names
List of Figures
8. Dirección de la autora:
María Dolores Jiménez López
RESEARCH GROUP IN MATHEMATICAL LINGUISTICS (GRLMC)
FACULTAD DE LETRAS
UNIVERSIDAD ROVIRA I VIRGILI
PZA. IMPERIAL TARRACO, 1
43005 TARRAGONA
ESPAÑA
Tel: +34-977-559-542
Fax: +34-977-559-597
mailto:mdjl at astor.urv.es
9. Posibilidad de obtener un ejemplar:
Ponerse en contacto con la autora por correo electrónico
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