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The Logical Structure of WH-Clauses

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Part of the book series: Workshops in Computing ((WORKSHOPS COMP.))

Abstract

We propose an analysis of the semantics of WH-clauses. Under the proposed treatment, the same analysis of WH-clauses explains how they can function as questions, as restrictive or attributive relative clauses, or as NPs. We thus avoid the need for different rules to account for the interpretation of such clauses in different circumstances. This is important both computationally, since it cuts down the size of the grammar and hence the time spent in syntactic analysis, and conceptually, since it shows the connection between the various uses of such clauses.

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© 1990 British Computer Society

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Ramsey, A. (1990). The Logical Structure of WH-Clauses. In: Smeaton, A.F., McDermott, G. (eds) AI and Cognitive Science ’89. Workshops in Computing. Springer, London. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3164-9_20

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4471-3164-9_20

  • Publisher Name: Springer, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-19608-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-4471-3164-9

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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