LINGUIST List 21.2736 Mon Jun 28 2010 Qs: Automated Antecedent Constituency Tests Editor for this issue: Danielle St. Jean <daniellelinguistlist.org> We'd like to remind readers that the responses to queries are usually best posted to the individual asking the question. That individual is then strongly encouraged to post a summary to the list. This policy was instituted to help control the huge volume of mail on LINGUIST; so we would appreciate your cooperating with it whenever it seems appropriate. In addition to posting a summary, we'd like to remind people that it is usually a good idea to personally thank those individuals who have taken the trouble to respond to the query. To post to LINGUIST, use our convenient web form at http://linguistlist.org/LL/posttolinguist.cfm. Directory         1.    Rose Hendricks, Automated Antecedent Constituency Tests Message 1: Automated Antecedent Constituency Tests Date: 25-Jun-2010 From: Rose Hendricks <rohendricksvassar.edu> Subject: Automated Antecedent Constituency Tests E-mail this message to a friend Dear LINGUIST List subscribers, I am currently doing a linguistic internship at MIT, and I am working with a computer program that simplifies sentences by breaking them into smaller ones. However, the program has trouble identifying the antecedent of a relative clause when it is preceded by NP1 prep NP2. It automatically considers NP2 to be the antecedent, which is problematic for sentences such as: "It was an extremely detailed search of the vehicle which recovered those bullets." I think that if the program could identify constituents, it would realize that "search of the vehicle" is one, and could then identify "search" as the antecedent. Are there any constituency tests that do not require serious semantic knowledge (i.e., are there any that a computer program could be taught to do)? It seems that a test like "can it be the answer to a question?" is too complicated for a computer. Thank you, Rose Hendricks Vassar College 2013 Linguistic Field(s): Syntax                             Text/Corpus Linguistics Read more issues|LINGUIST home page|Top of issue Page Updated: 28-Jun-2010       About LINGUIST    |   Contact Us       While the LINGUIST List makes every effort to ensure the linguistic relevance of sites listed on its pages, it cannot vouch for their contents.