MatrixDoc_Number

Documentation for the Grammar Matrix Customization Number Library

Introduction

This document presents background information on the number library of the Grammar Matrix Customization System (Bender et al., 2002; Bender and Flickinger, 2005; Bender et al., 2010). General instructions on using the questionnaire can be found here.

Options

• [ This documentation is under construction. When it is more complete, this section should describe the effects of the various options provided in this library in terms of the behavior of the grammar. It is also a good place for tips on how to get the most from the library. ]

The number library allows the user to specify the range of values for the feature NUMBER that will be available elsewhere in the customization system (especially the Lexicon and Morphology pages) and in the resulting grammar.

On the number page in Matrix Customization you are asked to describe the number hierarchy in your language. The complexity of number hierarchy is different for all languages. The number of values that you can enter for number names and their supertypes in questionnaire is unlimited. Please note that this page is for entering number values (and NOT numerals, such as one, two, three, etc.). Even though there can be an interaction between grammatical number and numerals, numerals are a very different phenomenon, which is not yet supported by the Matrix Customization system.

Using dropdown menu, please add numbers and their supertypes as applicable to your language. Unlike gender, in terms of filling out the questionnaire for Grammar Matrix, you need to represent number hierarchy in grammar even if it is not expressed grammatically through agreement. The reason why you need to enter all numbers existing in your language even if they are not expressed through agreement is a very consistent semantic representation of number, which needs to be reflected in your grammar. An example of a language with the lack of agreement in number between nominals and other parts of speech is Japanese. Despite this lack of agreement, both singular and plural numbers should be present in customization system, otherwise the sentences with nominals differing in number would be treated as the same semantically by your grammar.

Some of the common possibilities of the number values on this page are: singular (represents one entity), dual (two entities), trial (three entities), quadral (four entities), paucal (a few entities), plural (multiple entities), general (unspecified number of entities), with some further subdivisions for paucal and plural numbers.

Below is an example of options chosen for Slovene language, which has three numbers and a facultative number system (see next section Analyses for more details about the latter):

• Gender	Supertype
  Singular	number
  Dual	number
  Plural	number

For more information on how to use the questionnaire to define values for number feature in your language, please refer to the number page in Matrix Customization.

For more information on the implementation of number in Grammar Matrix please refer to the next section Analyses.

Analyses

Your starter grammar uses feature NUMBER, the values of which are based on the choices you made on the number customization page. Note that like gender, NUMBER is a feature of the nominal INDEX. Making NUMBER a feature of semantic INDEX instead of syntactic HEAD allows for correct semantic representation of number in your grammar and avoiding ambiguity during generation.

By allowing user to input number values for a particular language (instead of applying some form of a universal number hierarchy to all starter grammars) Matrix customization system solves the problem with representing languages with complex hierarchy systems. Some of the main challenges solved with customized number approach are number hierarchies that do not fall under the universal number hierarchy and facultative number systems, in which number optionality is present.

American Sign Language and Slovene are just two examples of languages that represent very different number hierarchies that cannot be covered by a universal approach. For example, American Sign Language would require a hierarchy involving plural and non-plural (with the latter subdivided into singular and dual numbers), which would not be covered by a universal number hierarchy, usually characterized by singular and non-singular division. On the other hand, although in Slovene language both dual and plural numbers exist, plural number can be used in the sentences involving two entities, where one would expect dual to appear. Using a customized approach to target your specific language helps to avoid the challenges of very diverse number systems cross-linguistically. For more information on the reasoning behind using customized number hierarchy for your target language instead of applying a single universal number hierarchy to all languages, please refer to Drellishak 2009, Section 5.3.4.

The choices you make in the questionnaire are recorded in the choices file, which is a Unicode text file. Below is an example of a gender section in the choices file of a language with singular, plural, and dual numbers:

section=number
  number1_name=singular
    number1_supertype1_name=number
  number2_name=dual
    number2_supertype1_name=number
  number3_name=plural
    number3_supertype1_name=number

This will be reflected in the your_language_name.tdl file:

png :+ [ PER person,
    NUM number, <<BR>>
    GEND gender,<<BR>>
    ANIMATION animation ].


;;; Number

number := *top*.<<BR>>
singular := number.<<BR>>
dual := number.<<BR>>
plural := number.<<BR>>

The values you assign to NUMBER feature will be available to use later in the customization system, especially the Morphology and Lexicon pages. The answers you provide on this page will determine the values available on the lexicon page for the NUMBER feature (or the PERNUM feature, about which see the Person section of the questionnaire for more details or person documentation page). Number will also appear as one of the features of the lexical rule types on Morphology page.

The choices you make on the number customization page, will also affect the lexical types (your_language_name.tdl file), lexical rules (lrules.tdl file), and inflectional rules (irules.tdl file).

The analyses implemented in the number library are described in Drellishak 2009, Section 5.3.

NUMBER is a feature often involved in agreement phenomena. These are handled through the lexicon and morphology libraries. The analyses of agreement implemented in the Grammar Matrix are described in Drellishak 2009, Section 5.2.

Upcoming Work

• [ This documentation is under construction. When it is more complete, this section should describe any modifications to or enhancements of this library that are either in progress or planned. ]

References

Drellishak, Scott. 2009. Widespread but Not Universal: Improving the Typological Coverage of the Grammar Matrix. PhD thesis, University of Washington.