Ruth Kempson
Biographic Data
| ID | 619902 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ruth Kempson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ruth |
| FAMILY NAME | Kempson |
| SIGNATURE | KEMPSON R |
| AFFILIATIONS | King's College London |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-5096-3812 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 18 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 27 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 18 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1971 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2020 |
| H-INDEX | 3 |
Completability vs (In)completeness
In everyday conversation, no notion of “complete sentence” is required for syntactic licensing. However, so-called “fragmentary”, “incomplete”, and abandoned utterances are problematic for standard formalisms. When contextualised, such data show that (a) non-sentential utterances are adequate to underpin agent coordination, while (b) all linguistic dependencies can be systematically distributed across participants and turns. Standard models have …
Action-Based Grammar
Competence-performance and levels of descriptionFirst of all we would like to thank the commentators for their efforts that resulted in thoughtful and significant comments about our account. 1We are delighted that the
Language as Mechanisms for Interaction
Language use is full of subsentential shifts of context, a phenomenon dramatically illustrated in conversation where non-sentential utterances displaying seamless shifts between speaker/hearer roles appear regularly. The hurdle this poses for standard assumptions is that every local linguistic dependency can be distributed across speakers, with the content of what they are saying and the significance of each conversational move emerging increment…
Language as tools for interaction: Grammar and the dynamics of ellipsis resolution
In this paper we explore the consequences of defining natural-language syntax as procedures for context-dependent interpretation as argued within Dynamic Syntax. Dynamic Syntax is a formalism where both representations of content and context are defined dynamically and structurally, with time-linear growth across sequences of partial trees as the core notion, presumed to be manipulated by both speaker and hearer alike. The challenge of modelling …
Standard Modern and Pontic Greek Person Restrictions: A Feature-Free Dynamic Account
In this paper, using new evidence from Pontic Greek (PG) in addition to Standard Modern Greek, we argue that the Person Case Constraint (PCC), generally presumed to be an irreducible morphosyntactic constraint on clitic pronoun combinations and argued by several to provide evidence of feature-driven syntactic operations, is a direct consequence of processing considerations, these new data being inexplicable under any of the current feature-driven…
Multiple long-distance scrambling: Syntax as reflections of processing
This paper argues that, with syntax defined as progressive projection of semantic representations along the left-to-right dimension provided by the sequence of words (Cann, Kempson & Marten 2005), explanations for local and (multiple) nonlocal scrambling of NPs in Japanese and Korean follow from general principles of tree growth, allowing differences between the languages while nevertheless retaining an integrated account of scrambling itself. Th…
Right Node Raising, coordination and the dynamics of language processing
Data at the grammar-pragmatics interface: The case of resumptive pronouns in English
Topic and focus at the peripheries: The dynamics of tree growth
In this paper topic and focus effects at both left and right periphery are argued to be epiphenomena of general properties of tree growth. We incorporate Korean into this account as a prototypical verb-final language, and show how long- and short-distance scrambling form part of this general picture. Multiple long-distance scrambling effects emerge as a consequence of the feeding relationship between different forms of structural under-specificat…
The dynamics of syntax: Anaphora, relative pronouns and crossover
Crossover: A unified view
This paper informally outlines a Labelled Deductive System for on-line language processing. Interpretation of a string is modelled as a composite lexically driven process of type deduction over labelled premises forming locally discrete databases, with rules of database inference then dictating their mode of combination. The particular LDS methodology is illustrated by a unified account of the interaction of wh -dependency and anaphora resolution…
Wh-gap Binding and Ellipsis — a Grammar for an Input System
This paper argues that pragmatic processes and syntactic constraints interact, that we can nevertheless retain the assumption that the natural language faculty is fully encapsulated, and that the problems posed by the phenomenon of gapping (bare argument ellipsis) can be resolved by analysing gapping as an instance of such interaction. A new model of language is sketched out, a model which is a formal reconstruction of assumptions about the langu…
Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality
Preface Part I. Introduction: The Relation Between Language, Mind, and Reality Part II. On The Direct Interpretation of Natural Languages: 1. Contexts, models, and meanings: a note on the data of semantics James Higginbotham 2. Facts in situation theory: representation, psychology, or reality? Robin Cooper 3. Relational interpretation Elisabet Engdahl Part III. On The Syntactic Base For Interpretation: 4. Bound variable anaphora Robert May 5. On …
Logical form: The grammar cognition interface
Over the course of the last twenty-five years, linguistic theory has established itself as providing one of the major routes towards an understanding of the human mind. With increasing precision we have been able to address the problem of articulating in detail the structured capacities the human mind brings to the problem of language acquisition. Along the way there have been doubters, much of the doubt having arisen because of the apparently un…
Charles Ernest Bazell
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Semantics, Volume 2 , John Lyons
Preview this article: Semantics, Volume 2, John Lyons, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/sl.5.1.07kem-1.gif
Presupposition and the Delimitation of Semantics
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Presupposition and the Delimitation of Semantics. By Ruth M. Kempson. ( Cambridge Studies in Linguistics. Cambridge, London: C.U.P. 1975. Pp. xi + 235. Price £7.00) Presuppositions and non-truth-conditional Semantics. By Deirdre Wilson. (London: Academic Press. 1975. Pp. xiii + 161. Price £4.60) Peter Lamarque Peter Lamarque Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philos…
Controlled Activation of Latent Contrast
Certain linguistic items, capable of contrast in some environments, have the property of being apparently free variants in others. This can be accounted for, if in a given item, one or more semantic features can be regarded as ‘latent’, i.e. susceptible of being activated in some contexts and suppressed in others. The technique of ‘forced-choice’ selection testing was used to investigate the phenomenon, and the hypothesis was found to be valid in…
Data at the grammar-pragmatics interface: The case of resumptive pronouns in English
Logical form: The grammar cognition interface
Over the course of the last twenty-five years, linguistic theory has established itself as providing one of the major routes towards an understanding of the human mind. With increasing precision we have been able to address the problem of articulating in detail the structured capacities the human mind brings to the problem of language acquisition. Along the way there have been doubters, much of the doubt having arisen because of the apparently un…
Standard Modern and Pontic Greek Person Restrictions: A Feature-Free Dynamic Account
In this paper, using new evidence from Pontic Greek (PG) in addition to Standard Modern Greek, we argue that the Person Case Constraint (PCC), generally presumed to be an irreducible morphosyntactic constraint on clitic pronoun combinations and argued by several to provide evidence of feature-driven syntactic operations, is a direct consequence of processing considerations, these new data being inexplicable under any of the current feature-driven…
Multiple long-distance scrambling: Syntax as reflections of processing
This paper argues that, with syntax defined as progressive projection of semantic representations along the left-to-right dimension provided by the sequence of words (Cann, Kempson & Marten 2005), explanations for local and (multiple) nonlocal scrambling of NPs in Japanese and Korean follow from general principles of tree growth, allowing differences between the languages while nevertheless retaining an integrated account of scrambling itself. Th…
Right Node Raising, coordination and the dynamics of language processing
Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality
Preface Part I. Introduction: The Relation Between Language, Mind, and Reality Part II. On The Direct Interpretation of Natural Languages: 1. Contexts, models, and meanings: a note on the data of semantics James Higginbotham 2. Facts in situation theory: representation, psychology, or reality? Robin Cooper 3. Relational interpretation Elisabet Engdahl Part III. On The Syntactic Base For Interpretation: 4. Bound variable anaphora Robert May 5. On …
Controlled Activation of Latent Contrast
Certain linguistic items, capable of contrast in some environments, have the property of being apparently free variants in others. This can be accounted for, if in a given item, one or more semantic features can be regarded as ‘latent’, i.e. susceptible of being activated in some contexts and suppressed in others. The technique of ‘forced-choice’ selection testing was used to investigate the phenomenon, and the hypothesis was found to be valid in…
Controlled Activation of Latent Contrast
Certain linguistic items, capable of contrast in some environments, have the property of being apparently free variants in others. This can be accounted for, if in a given item, one or more semantic features can be regarded as ‘latent’, i.e. susceptible of being activated in some contexts and suppressed in others. The technique of ‘forced-choice’ selection testing was used to investigate the phenomenon, and the hypothesis was found to be valid in…
Presupposition and the Delimitation of Semantics
Journal Article Book Reviews Get access Presupposition and the Delimitation of Semantics. By Ruth M. Kempson. ( Cambridge Studies in Linguistics. Cambridge, London: C.U.P. 1975. Pp. xi + 235. Price £7.00) Presuppositions and non-truth-conditional Semantics. By Deirdre Wilson. (London: Academic Press. 1975. Pp. xiii + 161. Price £4.60) Peter Lamarque Peter Lamarque Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar The Philos…
Semantics, Volume 2 , John Lyons
Preview this article: Semantics, Volume 2, John Lyons, Page 1 of 1 /docserver/preview/fulltext/sl.5.1.07kem-1.gif
Charles Ernest Bazell
An abstract is not available for this content so a preview has been provided. As you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button
Logical form: The grammar cognition interface
Over the course of the last twenty-five years, linguistic theory has established itself as providing one of the major routes towards an understanding of the human mind. With increasing precision we have been able to address the problem of articulating in detail the structured capacities the human mind brings to the problem of language acquisition. Along the way there have been doubters, much of the doubt having arisen because of the apparently un…
Wh-gap Binding and Ellipsis — a Grammar for an Input System
This paper argues that pragmatic processes and syntactic constraints interact, that we can nevertheless retain the assumption that the natural language faculty is fully encapsulated, and that the problems posed by the phenomenon of gapping (bare argument ellipsis) can be resolved by analysing gapping as an instance of such interaction. A new model of language is sketched out, a model which is a formal reconstruction of assumptions about the langu…
Mental Representations: The Interface between Language and Reality
Preface Part I. Introduction: The Relation Between Language, Mind, and Reality Part II. On The Direct Interpretation of Natural Languages: 1. Contexts, models, and meanings: a note on the data of semantics James Higginbotham 2. Facts in situation theory: representation, psychology, or reality? Robin Cooper 3. Relational interpretation Elisabet Engdahl Part III. On The Syntactic Base For Interpretation: 4. Bound variable anaphora Robert May 5. On …
Crossover: A unified view
This paper informally outlines a Labelled Deductive System for on-line language processing. Interpretation of a string is modelled as a composite lexically driven process of type deduction over labelled premises forming locally discrete databases, with rules of database inference then dictating their mode of combination. The particular LDS methodology is illustrated by a unified account of the interaction of wh -dependency and anaphora resolution…
The dynamics of syntax: Anaphora, relative pronouns and crossover
Topic and focus at the peripheries: The dynamics of tree growth
In this paper topic and focus effects at both left and right periphery are argued to be epiphenomena of general properties of tree growth. We incorporate Korean into this account as a prototypical verb-final language, and show how long- and short-distance scrambling form part of this general picture. Multiple long-distance scrambling effects emerge as a consequence of the feeding relationship between different forms of structural under-specificat…
Right Node Raising, coordination and the dynamics of language processing
Data at the grammar-pragmatics interface: The case of resumptive pronouns in English
Multiple long-distance scrambling: Syntax as reflections of processing
This paper argues that, with syntax defined as progressive projection of semantic representations along the left-to-right dimension provided by the sequence of words (Cann, Kempson & Marten 2005), explanations for local and (multiple) nonlocal scrambling of NPs in Japanese and Korean follow from general principles of tree growth, allowing differences between the languages while nevertheless retaining an integrated account of scrambling itself. Th…
Standard Modern and Pontic Greek Person Restrictions: A Feature-Free Dynamic Account
In this paper, using new evidence from Pontic Greek (PG) in addition to Standard Modern Greek, we argue that the Person Case Constraint (PCC), generally presumed to be an irreducible morphosyntactic constraint on clitic pronoun combinations and argued by several to provide evidence of feature-driven syntactic operations, is a direct consequence of processing considerations, these new data being inexplicable under any of the current feature-driven…
Language as tools for interaction: Grammar and the dynamics of ellipsis resolution
In this paper we explore the consequences of defining natural-language syntax as procedures for context-dependent interpretation as argued within Dynamic Syntax. Dynamic Syntax is a formalism where both representations of content and context are defined dynamically and structurally, with time-linear growth across sequences of partial trees as the core notion, presumed to be manipulated by both speaker and hearer alike. The challenge of modelling …
Language as Mechanisms for Interaction
Language use is full of subsentential shifts of context, a phenomenon dramatically illustrated in conversation where non-sentential utterances displaying seamless shifts between speaker/hearer roles appear regularly. The hurdle this poses for standard assumptions is that every local linguistic dependency can be distributed across speakers, with the content of what they are saying and the significance of each conversational move emerging increment…
Action-Based Grammar
Competence-performance and levels of descriptionFirst of all we would like to thank the commentators for their efforts that resulted in thoughtful and significant comments about our account. 1We are delighted that the
Completability vs (In)completeness
In everyday conversation, no notion of “complete sentence” is required for syntactic licensing. However, so-called “fragmentary”, “incomplete”, and abandoned utterances are problematic for standard formalisms. When contextualised, such data show that (a) non-sentential utterances are adequate to underpin agent coordination, while (b) all linguistic dependencies can be systematically distributed across participants and turns. Standard models have …
Computer Science (16 works) · Linguistics (16 works) · Philosophy (16 works) · Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation (12 works) · Artificial Intelligence (8 works) · Natural language processing (8 works) · Natural Language Processing Techniques (8 works) · Grammar (6 works) · Language, Metaphor, and Cognition (6 works) · Mathematics (6 works)