Dynamic Syntax (for generation too?)
David Tugwell, ITRI

A number of proposals have arisen recently for a dynamic "left-to-right" approach to syntactic modelling. In these models, the syntax determines the change each word can make to the incrementally-growing interpretation of a sentence. With this shift in perspective, the need for any notion of syntactic structure disappears as, arguably, do many of the problems associated with it.

Such a dynamic view of syntax fits in well with what we know about the form-to-meaning mapping, ie. that comprehension takes place in a largely word-by-word manner. When we come to the meaning-to-form mapping, the advantages of a dynamic approach are perhaps less obvious. Nevertheless, leading dynamists such as Hausser and Kempson have argued that an incremental syntax can make an important contribution in language generation as well.

In this talk, I shall firstly sketch the main components of a dynamic syntactic model and run through some of the arguments that support it. In the latter part of the talk I will, hopefully with help from the audience, consider ways in which a change to a dynamic conception of syntax may be relevant to generation.