Elephants and optimality again: SA-OT accounts for pronoun resolution in child language

Open Access
Authors
Publication date 2009
Host editors
  • B. Plank
  • E. Tjong Kim Sang
  • T. van de Cruys
Book title Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 2009: selected papers from the nineteenth CLIN meeting
ISBN
  • 978-94-6093-004-1
Series LOT. Occasional series
Event Computational Linguistics in the Netherlands 2009
Pages (from-to) 9-24
Publisher Utrecht: LOT
Organisations
  • Faculty of Humanities (FGw) - Amsterdam Institute for Humanities Research (AIHR) - Amsterdam Center for Language and Communication (ACLC)
Abstract Children display a surprising delay in correctly resolving pronouns, while they employ Chomsky’s binding principles correctly in production and in resolving reflexives. We account for the mistakes as performance errors that are predicted by an Optimality Theoretical model implemented using simulated annealing. Our experiments suggest three novel explanations of the facts. Additionally, the Optimality Theory-Harmony Grammar connection is also explored: the behaviour of the HG-based performance model converges to the OTmodel if the base of the exponential weights grow large.
Document type Conference contribution
Language English
Published at http://lotos.library.uu.nl/publish/articles/000343/bookpart.pdf
Downloads
bir_.pdf (Final published version)
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