Abstract
A strongly principle-based model of parsing seeks to employ principles of the competence grammar directly in language processing. Within grammatical theory, the Projection Principle holds that each level of syntactic representation is a uniform projection of the lexical properties of heads. With respect to parsing this suggests that a phrasal node cannot be projected until the occurrence of its head and thus constitutes a strong empirical hypothesis concerning the fundamental nature of human language processing. This paper contrasts some cross-linguistic predictions made by a specific Grammarderived parsing model against those of a well-known top-down model whose functional motivation is decidedly nonlinguistic. This latter Minimal Attachment model is found to predict significant difficulty with respect to the processing of languages such as Japanese, which display rather different surface properties than English. This problem is not encountered in a model which recognizes the crucial role of heads in licensing argument structure with respect to Processing as well as Grammar. Cross-linguistic parsing differences are attributed to the linear and structural positions of licensing heads which constitute the primary locus of the cross-linguistic variation which is therefore ultimately to be ascribed directly to the Projection Principle.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abney, S. (1991). On the notions GB-parser and psychological reality. In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models, and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Berwick, R., & Weinberg, A. (1984).The Grammatical basis of linguistic performance. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Chomsky, N. (1986a).Knowledge of language, New York: Praeger.
Chomsky, N. (1986b).Barriers. Cambridge, MA: MIT.
Chomsky, N. (1989). Some notes on economy of derivation and representation. In I. Laka and A. Mahajan (Eds.),MIT working papers in linguistics 10. (pp. 43–74). Cambridge: MIT.
Crocker, M. (1990).Principle-based sentence processing: A cross-linguistic account (Research Paper 1). Edinburgh: Human Communication Research Center, University of Edinburgh.
Fong, S. (1991). The computational implementation of principle-based parsers. In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Frazier, L. (1987). Syntactic processing: Evidence from Dutch.Natural Language and Linguistic Theory 5.4. 519–559.
Frazier, L. (1987). Against lexical generation of syntax. In W. Marslen-Wilson (Ed.),Lexical representation and process. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press/Bradford Books.
Frazier, L., & Rayner, K. (1988). Parameterizing the language processing system: Leftvs. right-branching within and across languages. In J. Hawkins (Ed.),Explaining language universals (pp. 247–279). Oxford: Basil Blackwell.
Gibson, E. (1991).A computational theory of human linguistic processing. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Gorrell, P. (1991). Subcategorization and sentence processing: In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Johnson, M. (1991). Parsing as deduction: The use of knowledge of language. In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Kashket, M. (1991). Parsing Warlpiri, a free-word order language. In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Kuno, S. (1973).The structure of the Japanese language. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Mazuka, R., & Lust, B. (1988). Why Japanese is not difficult to process: A proposal to integrate parameter setting in Universal Grammar and parsing.NELS, 18, 334–356.
Mazuka, R., Itoh, K., Kiritani, S., Niwa, S., Ikejiru, K., and Naito, K. (1989). Processing of Japanese garden path, center-embedded, and multiply-left-embedded sentences.Annual Bulletin of the Research Institute of Logopedics and Phoniatrics (University of Tokyo),23, 187–212.
McConnel-Ginet, S. (1982). Adverbs and logical form.Language 58.1.
Mitchell, D. (1987). Lexical guidance in human parsing: Locus and processing characteristics. In M. Coltheart (Ed.),Attention and performance (Vol. XII). Hillsdale, New Jersey: Erlbaum.
Pritchett, B. (1987).Garden path phenomena and the grammatical basis of language processing. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.
Pritchett, B. (1988). Garden path phenomena and the grammatical basis of language processing.Language 64.3. 539–576.
Pritchett, B. (1991). Subjacency in a principle-based parser. In R. Berwick, S. Abney, and C. Teny (eds.),Principle-based parsing: Computational models and psycholinguistics. Boston: Reidel, (no page numbers available).
Pritchett, B. (in press).Principle-based parsing and processing breakdown. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Pritchett, B., & Reitano, J. (1990).Parsing with on-line principles, a psychologically plausible, object-oriented approach. From theProceedings of COLING '90, Helsinki, Finland.
Shibatani, (1977). Grammatical relations and surface cases.Language 53.3.
Stabler, E. (in press).The logical approach to syntax. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
Wehrli, E. (1988). Parsing with a GB-grammer. In U. Reyle & C. Rohrer, (Eds.),natural Language parsing and linguistic theories. (pp. 177–201). Boston: Reidel.
Whitman, J. (1989).String vacuous V toCOMP. Paper presented at GLOW 1991, Leiden, Holland.
Yamada, Y. (1910).Nihon bunpoo ron. Tokyo: Kasama Shoin.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pritchett, B.L. Head position and parsing ambiguity. J Psycholinguist Res 20, 251–270 (1991). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067218
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01067218