A Categorial Framework for Composition in Multiple Linguistic Domains

Abstract

This paper describes a computational framework for a grammar architecture in which different linguistic domains such as morphology, syntax, and semantics are treated not as separate components but compositional domains. Word and phrase formation are modeled as uniform processes contributing to the derivation of the semantic form. The morpheme, as well as the lexeme, has lexical representation in the form of semantic content, tactical constraints, and phonological realization. The motivation for this work is to handle morphology-syntax interaction (e.g., valency change in causatives, subcategorization imposed by case-marking affixes) in an incremental way. The model is based on Combinatory Categorial Grammars.