Bridging as Coercive Accommodation

TL;DR

This paper explores 'bridging' in Discourse Representation Theory, using Generative Lexicon ideas to handle implicit discourse referents without explicit antecedents, enhancing understanding of anaphoric references.

Contribution

It introduces a novel approach combining bridging with coercive accommodation, linking implicit referents to existing discourse networks using Generative Lexicon concepts.

Findings

Proposes a new theoretical framework for bridging in discourse

Demonstrates how implicit referents can be integrated without accommodation

Enhances the modeling of anaphoric resolution in discourse

Abstract

In this paper we discuss the notion of "bridging" in Discourse Representation Theory as a tool to account for discourse referents that have only been established implicitly, through the lexical semantics of other referents. In doing so, we use ideas from Generative Lexicon theory, to introduce antecedents for anaphoric expressions that cannot be "linked" to a proper antecedent, but that do not need to be "accommodated" because they have some connection to the network of discourse referents that is already established.