Anchoring a Lexicalized Tree-Adjoining Grammar for Discourse

TL;DR

This paper proposes a lexicalized Tree-Adjoining Grammar framework for discourse, modeling larger discourse structures anchored on cues, integrating compositional, presuppositional, and inferential semantics.

Contribution

It introduces a fully lexicalized grammar for discourse that links intra-sentential structures with discourse cues, offering a unified account of discourse meaning.

Findings

Different discourse cue patterns are explained by distinct structures and operations.

The framework integrates compositional, presuppositional, and inferential semantics.

It accounts for various discourse phenomena through structured, cue-based analysis.

Abstract

We here explore a ``fully'' lexicalized Tree-Adjoining Grammar for discourse that takes the basic elements of a (monologic) discourse to be not simply clauses, but larger structures that are anchored on variously realized discourse cues. This link with intra-sentential grammar suggests an account for different patterns of discourse cues, while the different structures and operations suggest three separate sources for elements of discourse meaning: (1) a compositional semantics tied to the basic trees and operations; (2) a presuppositional semantics carried by cue phrases that freely adjoin to trees; and (3) general inference, that draws additional, defeasible conclusions that flesh out what is conveyed compositionally.