Skip to main content
View expanded cover

Discourse Anaphora and Anaphor Resolution Colloquium

DAARC 2007: Anaphora: Analysis, Algorithms and Applications pp 28–43Cite as

Pronoun Resolution and the Influence of Syntactic and Semantic Information on Discourse Prominence

  • Conference paper

Part of the Lecture Notes in Computer Science book series (LNAI,volume 4410)

Abstract

Beginning with the observation that syntactic and semantic information often coincide (i.e., subjects are often agents, objects often patients), this study investigates the possibility that preference to resolve a sentence-initial pronoun to a syntactically prominent antecedent might actually be better explained in terms of preference for resolving to a semantically prominent antecedent. The study takes Discourse Prominence Theory (Gordon and Hendrick [11,12]) as an underlying framework. Results of three psycholinguistic experiments using a self-paced reading task show that both syntactic and semantic information guide readers’ pronoun resolution preferences. This suggests a revised understanding of Discourse Prominence Theory in which the prominence of discourse referents is determined through a complex process depending on multiple linguistic factors. Results further show that the relative degree of prominence among competing candidates influences resolution processes.

Keywords

  • pronoun resolution
  • Discourse Prominence Theory
  • repeated-name penalty

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution.

Chapter
USD   29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • DOI: 10.1007/978-3-540-71412-5_3
  • Chapter length: 16 pages
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
eBook
USD   69.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • ISBN: 978-3-540-71412-5
  • Instant PDF download
  • Readable on all devices
  • Own it forever
  • Exclusive offer for individuals only
  • Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout
Softcover Book
USD   89.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
Learn about institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

References

  1. Arnold, J.: The effects of thematic roles on pronoun use and frequency of reference. Discourse Processes 31, 137–162 (2001)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  2. Arnold, J., et al.: The rapid use of gender information: Evidence of the time course of pronoun resolution from eyetracking. Cognition 76, B13–B26 (2000)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  3. Arnold, J.: Marking salience: The similarity of topic and focus. Unpublished Manuscript (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  4. Boland, J., Acker, M., Wagner, L.: The use of gender features in the resolution of pronominal anaphora. Cognitive Science Technical Report 17, The Ohio State University Center for Cognitive Science (1998)

    Google Scholar 

  5. Dowty, D.: Thematic proto-roles and argument selection. Language 67, 547–619 (1991)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  6. Fillmore, C.: The Case for Case. In: Bach, E., Harms, R. (eds.) Universals in Linguistic Theory, pp. 1–90. Holt, Rhinehart, and Winston, New York (1968)

    Google Scholar 

  7. Gernsbacher, M.A., Hargreaves, D.: Accessing sentence participants: The advantage of first mention. Journal of Memory and Language 27, 699–717 (1988)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  8. Givón, T.: Topic continuity in discourse: An introduction. In: Givón, T. (ed.) Topic Continuity in Discourse: A Quantitative Cross-Language Study, pp. 1–42. John Benjamins, Amsterdam (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  9. Gordon, P., Chan, D.: Pronouns, Passives, and Discourse Coherence. Journal of Memory and Language 34, 216–231 (1995)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  10. Gordon, P., Grosz, B., Gilliom, L.: Pronouns, names, and the centering of attention in discourse. Cognitive Science 17, 311–347 (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  11. Gordon, P., Hendrick, R.: Intuitive knowledge of linguistic co-reference. Cognition 62, 325–370 (1997)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  12. Gordon, P., Hendrick, R.: The representation and processing of coreference in discourse. Cognitive Science 22, 389–424 (1998)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  13. Grosz, B., Joshi, A., Weinstein, S.: Centering: A framework for modeling the local coherence of discourse. Computational Linguistics 21, 203–225 (1995)

    Google Scholar 

  14. Grosz, B., Sidner, C.: Attention, intentions, and the structure of discourse. Computational Linguistics 12, 175–204 (1986)

    Google Scholar 

  15. Gundel, J., Hedberg, N., Zacharski, R.: Cognitive status and the form of referring expressions. Language 69, 274–307 (1993)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  16. Heim, I.: The Semantics of Definite and Indefinite Noun Phrases. PhD thesis, University of Massachusetts, Amherst (1982)

    Google Scholar 

  17. Heim, I.: File change semantics and the familiarity theory of definiteness. In: Bauerle, R., Schwarze, C., Von Stechow, A. (eds.) Meaning, Use, and Interpretation, pp. 164–189. DeGruyter, Berlin (1983)

    Google Scholar 

  18. Hobbs, J.: Resolving pronoun references. Lingua 44, 311–338 (1978)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  19. Hobbs, J.: Coherence and coreference. Cognitive Science 3, 67–90 (1979)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  20. Hudson-D’Zmura, S., Tanenhaus, M.: Assigning antecedents to ambiguous pronouns: The role of the center of attention as the default assignment. In: Walker, M., Joshi, A., Prince, E. (eds.) Centering Theory in Discourse, pp. 199–226. Clarendon Press, Oxford (1997)

    Google Scholar 

  21. Jackendoff, R.: Semantic Interpretation in Generative Grammar. MIT Press, Cambridge (1972)

    Google Scholar 

  22. Kamp, H.: A theory of truth and semantic representation. In: Groenendijk, J., Janssen, T., Stokhof, M. (eds.) Formal Methods in the Study of Language, pp. 277–322. Mathematisch Centrum, Amsterdam (1981)

    Google Scholar 

  23. Kamp, H., Reyle, U.: From Discourse to Logic. Kluwer Academic, Dordrecht (1993)

    Google Scholar 

  24. Karttunen, L.: Discourse referents. In: McCawley, J. (ed.) Syntax and Semantics, vol. 7: Notes from the Linguistic Underground, pp. 363–385. Academic Press, New York (1976)

    Google Scholar 

  25. Kehler, A.: Coherence, Reference, and the Theory of Grammar. CSLI Publications, Stanford (2002)

    MATH  Google Scholar 

  26. Kennedy, C., Boguraev, B.: Anaphora for everyone: Pronominal anaphora resolution without a parser. In: Proceedings of the 16th International Conference on Computational Linguistics (COLING ’96), pp. 113–118 (1996)

    Google Scholar 

  27. Kintsch, W., van Dijk, T.: Toward a model of text comprehension and production. Psychological Review 85, 363–394 (1978)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  28. Lappin, S., Leass, H.: An algorithm for pronominal anaphora resolution. Computational Linguistics 20, 535–561 (1994)

    Google Scholar 

  29. Mathews, A., Chodorow, M.: Pronoun resolution in two-clause sentences: Effects of ambiguity, antecedent location, and depth of embedding. Journal of Memory and Language 27, 245–260 (1988)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  30. Mitkov, R.: Anaphora Resolution. Longman, London (2002)

    Google Scholar 

  31. Prat-Sala, M., Branigan, H.: Discourse constraints on syntactic processing in language production: A cross-linguistic study in English and Spanish. Journal of Memory and Language 42, 168–182 (1999)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  32. Speas, M.: Phrase Structure in Natural Language. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht (1990)

    Google Scholar 

  33. Stevenson, R., Crawley, R., Kleinman, D.: Thematic roles, focus and the representation of events. Language and Cognitive Processes 9, 519–548 (1994)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  34. Stevenson, R., et al.: Interpreting pronouns and connectives: Interactions among focusing, thematic roles and coherence relations. Language and Cognitive Processes 15(3), 225–262 (2000)

    CrossRef  Google Scholar 

  35. Ward, G.: The Semantics and Pragmatics of Preposing. PhD thesis, University of Pennsylvania (1985)

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Gunma Prefectural Women’s University, Faculty of International Communication, Kaminote 1395-1, Tamamura-machi, Sawa-gun, Gunma Prefecture, 370-1193, Japan

    Ralph Rose

Authors
  1. Ralph Rose
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

    Rights and permissions

    Reprints and Permissions

    Copyright information

    © 2007 Springer Berlin Heidelberg

    About this paper

    Cite this paper

    Rose, R. (2007). Pronoun Resolution and the Influence of Syntactic and Semantic Information on Discourse Prominence. In: Branco, A. (eds) Anaphora: Analysis, Algorithms and Applications. DAARC 2007. Lecture Notes in Computer Science(), vol 4410. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71412-5_3

    Download citation

    • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-540-71412-5_3

    • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

    • Print ISBN: 978-3-540-71411-8

    • Online ISBN: 978-3-540-71412-5

    • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)