Computational linking theory

TL;DR

This paper introduces a computational framework for implementing and testing linking theories that explain how verbs' semantic arguments are mapped to syntactic arguments, using models and semantic proto-roles.

Contribution

It develops the Computational Linking Theory framework and applies it to compare local versus global and categorical versus featural linking models.

Findings

Assessment of local vs. global models

Comparison of categorical vs. featural models

Development of a semantic proto-role linking model

Abstract

A linking theory explains how verbs' semantic arguments are mapped to their syntactic arguments---the inverse of the Semantic Role Labeling task from the shallow semantic parsing literature. In this paper, we develop the Computational Linking Theory framework as a method for implementing and testing linking theories proposed in the theoretical literature. We deploy this framework to assess two cross-cutting types of linking theory: local v. global models and categorical v. featural models. To further investigate the behavior of these models, we develop a measurement model in the spirit of previous work in semantic role induction: the Semantic Proto-Role Linking Model. We use this model, which implements a generalization of Dowty's seminal Proto-Role Theory, to induce semantic proto-roles, which we compare to those Dowty proposes.