LINGUIST List 5.1282

Sat 12 Nov 1994

FYI: Optimality Bibliography, New list, Tech Reports from IRCS

Editor for this issue: <>

Directory

1. John J McCarthy, Optimality Bibliography
2. Jardar Eggesboe Abrahamsen, new mailing list (Nynorsk)
3. Jodi Kerper, Cognitive Science Technical Reports from IRCS

Version 1.5 of the bibliography of work on Optimality Theory is available
by anonymous FTP from ruccs.rutgers.edu (see the file README in the
directory pub/OT/TEXTS). Various word-processing formats are provided.
Persons unable to use FTP can request an ASCII version of the bibliography
by sending an e-mail request to jmccarthylinguist.umass.edu. Please include
"Optimality Bibliography" in the subject line of your message.

The bibliography includes references to approximately 150 papers and 70
handouts.

John McCarthy & Alan Prince

Moderators' Note: The README file is available in World Wide Web
through the "linguistic datasources" link in the header of the Web
version of LINGUIST.

There is a new mailing list for people using or interested in Nynorsk
("New Norwegian"): "Internettet Maallag". As Nynorsk is a minority
language with low presitige the intention of the list is to serve as a
meeting point for "Nynorskers" on the net. This is also reflected in the
name of the list: "Maallag" ('language association') is a word used by
many Nynorsk organisations, most of which are regional branches of Noregs
Maallag (but not all of them). It will of course not be of interest to
subscribe to the list if you don't understand (New) Norwegian.

To subscribe to Internettet Maallag write to <iml-requestmath.uio.no>.

Jardar Eggesboe Abrahamsen
jardarnvg.unit.no
NOREG heiter landet.

The Institute for Research in Cognitive Science publishes a series of technical
reports, representing papers drawn from the fields of computer and information
science, linguistics, mathematics, neuroscience, philosophy, and psychology.
Bound versions of the technical reports are available from the Institute for a
small fee, while on-line versions of all current (1994) technical reports are
freely available on-line.

Attached is a list of abstracts for recently published papers. The entire
abstract list will be submitted to the LINGUIST listserv as a file.

Requests for technical-reports should be sent to:

Jodi Kerper
Institute for Research in Cognitive Science
3401 Walnut Street
Suite 400C
Philadelphia, PA 19104-6228

Requests for copies should include a check or money order made payable to
"Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania."

On-line versions of the reports may be obtained via anonymous ftp from the
address ftp.cis.upenn.edu in the directory pub/ircs/technical-reports. The
reports are stored as compressed postscript files and are listed by TR number.
The reports may also be obtained through electronic mail by sending the message
"send guide" to ircsservftp.cis.upenn.edu. You will receive a reply containing
a guide on using the information server program.

===========================Recent IRCS Reports================================
IRCS-TR-1991-1994
Technical Report Series Abstract Listing, 1991-1994
(This report contains a list of all technical papers and abstracts, including
 papers from 1991-1993).
No charge

IRCS-94-14 $3.69
A General Framework for Hybrid Substructural Categorial Logics
Mark Hepple

 Some recent categorial proposals have employed structural modalities, modal
operators which allow explicit management of resource sensitivity in linguistic
derivation. Various theoretical, computational and practical problems arise for
the use of such operators. I propose an alternative general model of hybrid
substructural systems, in which different substructural logics (i.e. logics
differing in their resource usage characteristics) are brought together into a
single system, and which eliminates the need of structural modalities by
exploiting natural relations between different substructural levels in terms of
the relative informativeness of their characterizations. Under this model, the
range of substructural levels form a single unified descriptive system, which
should facilitate writing grammars for individual languages, and provide a
better basis for cross-linguistic generalization.

IRCS-94-15 $1.05
Binding and Control in CCG and its Relatives
Mark Steedman

The CCG account of the unbounded constructions - in particular, relativisation
and coordination - generalizes the notion of surface structure in a way that
disrupts traditional notions of dominance and command. This has led researchers
in other frameworks to suggest that the theory is fundamentally incompatible
with a coherent theory of binding and control - the bounded constructions. The
present paper offers a theory of binding in CCG which preserves the original
account of the unbounded dependencies, and which renders it immediately
compatible with other theories, TAG in particular. The theory requires the
abandonment of one assumption that has been traditional (though not essential)
in other categorial approaches. The significance of the move is discussed.

IRCS-94-16 $3.66
Null Subjects in Early Child English and the Theory of Economy of Projection
Tom Roeper
Bernhard Rohrbacher

In this paper, we present new evidence showing that some of the empty subjects
produced by young children acquiring English cannot be subsumed under the
performance limitation analysis of Bloom (1990) or the Topic-drop analysis of
Rizzi (1994). We argue contra Sano & Hyams (1994) that these missing subjects
are instances of pro, not PRO, and demonstrate that the economy-based pro-drop
theory of Speas (1994) handles our data in an elegant fashion. The analysis we
propose links the acquisition of subjects to the acquisition of functional
morphology, in accordance with the minimalist program developed since Chomsky
(1989). One desirable consequence of the approach taken here is that no
recourse to a pro-drop parameter is necessary.

IRCS-94-17 $3.41
Kolmogorov Complexity and the Information Content of Parameters
Robin Clark

A key goal of linguistic theory is to account for the logical problem of
language acquisition. In particular, linguistic constraints can be taken as
constraining the learner's hypothesis space and, so, reducing its computational
burden. In this paper, I will motivate an information theoretic approach to
explaining some linguistic constraints. In particular, the theory attempts to
relate ease of acquisition with the simplicity of linguistic representations
and their frequency in the learner's input text. To this end, the paper reviews
some results in information theory and Kolmogorov complexity and relates them
to a theory of parameters.

IRCS-94-18 $.87
Active Part-Decomposition, Shape and Motion Estimation of Articulated Objects:
A Physics-based Approach
Ioannis A. Kakadiaris
Dimitri Metaxas
Ruzena Bajcsy

We present a novel, robust, integrated approach to segmentation shape and
motion estimation of articulated objects. Initially, we assume the object
consists of a single part, and we fit a deformable model to the given data
using our physics-based framework. As the object attains new postures, we
decide based on certain criteria if and when to replace the initial model with
two new models. These criteria are based on the model's state and the given
data. We then fit the models to the data using a novel algorithm for assigning
forces from the data to the two models, which allows partial overlap between
them and determination of joint location. This approach is applied iteratively
until all the object's moving parts are identified. Furthermore, we define new
global deformations and we demonstrate our technique in a series of
experiments, where Kalman filtering is employed to account for noise and
occlusion.

IRCS-94-19 $.92
Active Motion-Based Segmentation of Human Body Outlines
Ioannis A. Kakadiaris
Dimitri Metaxas
Ruzena Bajcsy

We present an integrated approach towards the segmentation and shape estimation
of human body outlines. Initially, we assume that the human body consists of a
single part, and we fit a deformable model to the given data using our
physics-based shape and motion estimation framework. As an actor attains
different postures, new protrusions emerge in the outline. We model these
changes in the shape using a new representation scheme consisting of a
parametric composition of deformable models. This representation allows us to
identify the underlying human parts that gradually become visible, by
monitoring the evolution of shape and motion parameters of the composed models.
Our algorithm is applied iteratively over subsequent frames until all moving
parts are identified. We demonstrate our technique in a series of experiments
with very encouraging results.