Random Sentences from a Generalized Phrase-Structure Grammar Interpreter

Abstract

In numerous domains in cognitive science it is often useful to have a source for randomly generated corpora. These corpora may serve as a foundation for artificial stimuli in a learning experiment (e.g., Ellefson & Christiansen, 2000), or as input into computational models (e.g., Christiansen & Dale, 2001). The following compact and general C program interprets a phrase-structure grammar specified in a text file. It follows parameters set at a Unix or Unix-based command-line and generates a corpus of random sentences from that grammar.