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Title: Working with Discourse Representation Theory Patrick Blackburn


1
Working with Discourse Representation
TheoryPatrick Blackburn Johan Bos Lecture
4Pronouns and Presupposition
2
Today
  • Pronouns
  • Anaphoric pronouns
  • Binding constraints
  • Presupposition
  • Triggers
  • Problems
  • Van der Sandt
  • Implementation

3
PRONOUNS
4
Pronouns
  • We will concentrate on 3rd person singular
    personal pronouns in English
  • he/him/himself
  • she/her/herself
  • it/itself

5
Anaphoric Pronouns
  • We will focus on anaphoric pronouns
  • Anaphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    preceding text
  • Anaphora -- backwards Vincent looked at Mia.
    She dances.

6
Anaphoric Pronouns
  • We will focus on anaphoric pronouns
  • Anaphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    preceeding text
  • Anaphora -- backwards Vincent looked at Mia.
    She dances.
  • She is the anaphor

7
Anaphoric Pronouns
  • We will focus on anaphoric pronouns
  • Anaphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    preceeding text
  • Anaphora -- backwards Vincent looked at Mia.
    She dances.
  • Mia is the antecedent

8
Anaphoric Pronouns
  • We will focus on anaphoric pronouns
  • Anaphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    preceeding text
  • Anaphora -- backwards Vincent looked at Mia.
    She dances.
  • How far backwards?

9
Cataphoric Pronouns
  • We will not deal with cataphora
  • Cataphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    text following the pronoun
  • ExampleAfter he lost the match, Butch left
    town.

10
Cataphoric Pronouns
  • We will not deal with cataphora
  • Cataphoric pronouns find their antecedent in the
    text following the pronoun
  • ExampleAfter he lost the match, Butch left
    town.

11
Deictic Pronouns
  • Pronouns referring to objects in the situation,
    rather than linguistic objects
  • ExamplesI, you, we, here, there, etc.

12
Pleonastic use of pronouns
  • ExampleIts about nine oclock in the morning.

13
Grammatical agreement
  • In English, pronouns come with a gender and
    number feature
  • Only refer to antecedents carrying the same
    feature values
  • he (singular, male)
  • men/boys, male animals
  • she (singular, female)
  • women/girls, female animals, things regarded
    as female, e.g. vehicles or ships
  • it (singular, neuter) things, animals, children

14
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Butch threw a TV at the window.It broke.
  • Butch threw a vase at the wall.It broke.

15
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Butch threw a TV at the window.It broke.
  • Butch threw a vase at the wall.It broke.

16
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Butch threw a TV at the window.It broke.
  • Butch threw a vase at the wall.It broke.

17
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Butch threw a TV at the window.It broke.
  • Butch threw a vase at the wall.It broke.

18
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and drinks it.

19
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and drinks it.

20
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and drinks it.

21
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and drinks it.

22
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and shuts it.

23
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and shuts it.

24
Pronouns and Ambiguity
  • Usually many candidate antecedents available
  • ExampleButch walks into his modest kitchen.
    He opens the refrigerator. He takes out a milk
    and shuts it.

25
Reflexive Pronouns
  • Examples
  • Vincent goes to the toilet, and Jules enjoys
    himself.
  • Vincent enters the restaurant, and Jules watches
    him.

26
Reflexive Pronouns
  • Examples
  • Vincent goes to the toilet, and Jules enjoys
    himself.
  • Vincent enters the restaurant, and Jules watches
    him.

27
Reflexive Pronouns
  • Examples
  • Vincent goes to the toilet, and Jules enjoys
    himself.
  • Vincent enters the restaurant, and Jules watches
    him.

28
Binding rules
  • Behaviour of pronounsButch likes
    himself.Butch likes him.Butch likes his
    chopper.

29
DRT and pronouns 1/3
  • Vincent did not dance with a woman.She

x u
xvincent u ???
?
y e
woman(y) dance(e) agent(e,x) patient(e,y)
30
DRT and pronouns 2/3
  • Vincent did with every woman. She

x u
xvincent u ???
e
dance(e) agent(e,x) patient(e,y)
y
woman(y)
?
31
DRT and pronouns 3/3
  • Vincent did with no woman. She

x u
xvincent u ???
y e
woman(y) dance(e) agent(e,x) patient(e,y)
?
32
Summing up
  • We have looked at anaphoric pronouns
  • It is unlikely that we can solve all the problems
    related to resolving pronouns
  • However, we can deal with some important aspects
  • Semantic constrains gender
  • Binding constrains reflexivity
  • DRT constrains pronoun resolution, but only
    partially

33
PRESUPPOSITION
34
Presupposition
  • Presupposition vs. Entailment
  • Look at some examples of presupposition
  • Look at the typical problems associated with
    presuppositions
  • Concentrate on a DRT based approach due to Rob
    van der Sandt

35
What is presupposition?
  • It is hard to pin down precisely what
    presuppositions are or how they behave
  • Presuppositions are a bit like entailment but not
    quite

36
Entailment
  • ConsiderVincent has a car. A car is a
    vehicle.
  • This entails Vincent has a vehicle.

37
Entailment
  • ConsiderVincent has a red car.
  • This entails Vincent has a car.

38
Entailment and negation
  • Entailments are typically not preserved under
    negation.

39
Entailment
  • ConsiderVincent has no car. A car is a
    vehicle.
  • This does not entail Vincent has a vehicle.

40
Entailment
  • ConsiderVincent does not have a red car.
  • This does not entail Vincent has a car.

41
Presupposition
  • ConsiderVincent cleaned his car.
  • This entailsVincent has a car.

42
Presupposition
  • ConsiderVincent did not clean his car.
  • This entailsVincent has a car.

43
Entailment or presupposition
  • We call implications preserved under negation
    presuppositions
  • We call implications not preserved under negation
    entailments

44
Presupposition triggers
  • In English, presuppositions are usually triggered
    by lexical items
  • There are several tricks to find out whether a
    lexical item is a presupposition trigger or not
  • These tests are
  • The negation test
  • The conditional test
  • The question test

45
Presupposition trigger test
  • Consider the sentenceAlex is a bachelor.
  • This sentence implies that Alex is male.
  • But are we dealing with a presupposition or
    entailment?

46
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?

47
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a bachelor.Implies Alex
    is male? YES

48
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a bachelor.Implies Alex
    is male? YES
  • Conditional If Alex is a bachelor, then
    ...Implies Alex is male? YES

49
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a bachelor.Implies Alex
    is male? YES
  • Conditional If Alex is a bachelor, then
    ...Implies Alex is male? YES
  • Question Is Alex is a bachelor?Implies Alex is
    male? YES

50
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a bachelor.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a bachelor.Implies Alex
    is male? YES
  • Conditional If Alex is a bachelor, then
    ...Implies Alex is male? YES
  • Question Is Alex is a bachelor?Implies Alex is
    male? YES
  • Conclusion being a bachelor presupposes being
    male.

51
Presupposition trigger test
  • Consider the sentenceAlex is a man.
  • This sentence implies that Alex is male.
  • But are we dealing with a presupposition or
    entailment?

52
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a man.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?

53
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a man.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a man.Implies Alex is
    male? NO

54
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a man.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a man.Implies Alex is
    male? NO
  • Conditional If Alex is a man, then ...Implies
    Alex is male? NO

55
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a man.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a man.Implies Alex is
    male? NO
  • Conditional If Alex is a man, then ...Implies
    Alex is male? NO
  • Question Is Alex is a man?Implies Alex is
    male? NO

56
Presupposition test
  • Alex is a man.Does this presuppose Alex is
    male?
  • Negation Alex is not a man.Implies Alex is
    male? NO
  • Conditional If Alex is a man, then ...Implies
    Alex is male? NO
  • Question Is Alex is a man?Implies Alex is
    male? NO
  • Conclusion being a man does not presuppose
    being male.

57
Presupposition trigger test
  • Consider the sentenceButch knows that Zed is
    dead.
  • This sentence implies Zed is dead.
  • But are we dealing with a presupposition or
    entailment?

58
Presupposition test
  • Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this
    presuppose Zed is dead?

59
Presupposition test
  • Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this
    presuppose Zed is dead?
  • Negation Butch does not know that Zed is
    dead.Implies Zed is dead? YES

60
Presupposition test
  • Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this
    presuppose Zed is dead?
  • Negation Butch does not know that Zed is
    dead.Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Conditional If Butch knows that Zed is dead,
    then ...Implies Zed is dead? YES

61
Presupposition test
  • Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this
    presuppose Zed is dead?
  • Negation Butch does not know that Zed is
    dead.Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Conditional If Butch knows that Zed is dead,
    then ...Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Question Does Butch know that Zed is
    dead?Implies Zed is dead? YES

62
Presupposition test
  • Butch knows that Zed is dead.Does this
    presuppose Zed is dead?
  • Negation Butch does not know that Zed is
    dead.Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Conditional If Butch knows that Zed is dead,
    then ...Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Question Does Butch know that Zed is
    dead?Implies Zed is dead? YES
  • Conclusion knowing P presupposes P.

63
Presupposition triggers
  • Presupposition triggers are not rare
  • English comes with a large variety of
    presupposition triggers

64
Possessives
  • ExampleMia likes her husband.Mia does not
    like her husband.
  • PresuppositionMia has a husband.

65
To regret
  • ExampleVincent regrets that he left Mia
    alone.Vincent does not regret that he left Mia
    alone.
  • PresuppositionVincent left Mia alone.

66
To like
  • ExampleMia likes Vincent.Mia does not like
    Vincent.
  • PresuppositionMia knows Vincent.

67
To answer
  • ExampleButch answered the phone.Butch did not
    answer the phone.
  • PresuppositionThe phone was ringing.

68
Only
  • Example Only Jules likes big kahuna
    burgers.Not only Jules likes big kahuna
    burgers.
  • PresuppositionJules likes big kahuna burgers.

69
Again
  • ExampleButch escaped again.Butch did not
    escape again.
  • PresuppositionButch escaped once before.

70
To manage
  • ExampleButch manage to start the
    chopper.Butch did not manage to start the
    chopper.
  • PresuppositionButch had difficulties starting
    the chopper.

71
Third
  • ExampleButch lost for the third time.Butch
    did not loose for the third time.
  • PresuppositionButch lost twice before.

72
Continue
  • ExampleButch continued his race.Butch did not
    continue his race.
  • PresuppositionButch interrupted his race.

73
To win
  • ExampleGermany won the world cup.Germany did
    not win the world cup.
  • PresuppositionGermany participated in the
    world cup.

74
Another
  • ExamplePeter wants another beer.Peter does
    not want another beer.
  • PresuppositionPeter had at least one beer.

75
To lie
  • ExampleButch lied to Marsellus.Butch did not
    lie to Marsellus.
  • PresuppositionButch told something to
    Marsellus.

76
Cleft construction
  • ExampleIt was Butch who killed Vincent.It was
    not Butch who killed Vincent.
  • PresuppositionSomeone killed Vincent.

77
Proper names
  • ExampleButch talked to Marsellus.Butch did
    not talk to Marsellus.
  • PresuppositionThere is someone named
    Marsellus.

78
Definite NP
  • ExampleButch talked to the boss.Butch did not
    talk to the boss.
  • PresuppositionThere is a boss.

79
Dealing with Presupposition
  • OK, so presuppositions are fairly common. But
    whats the big deal?
  • Problems related to presupposition
  • The Binding Problem
  • The Denial Problem
  • The Projection Problem
  • Presupposition may convey new information
  • Accommodation

80
The Binding Problem
  • ExampleButch nearly escaped from his
    apartment.
  • Trigger his apartment presupposes that Butch
    has an apartment.

81
The Binding Problem
  • ExampleA boxer nearly escaped from his
    apartment.
  • Trigger his apartment presupposes that a boxer
    has an apartment.
  • But which boxer? A boxer? Any boxer?

82
The Denial Problem
  • Vincent does not like his wife.

83
The Denial Problem
  • Vincent does not like his wife.
  • Vincent does not like his wife, because Vincent
    does not have a wife!

84
The Denial Problem
  • Vincent does not regret killing Zed, because he
    did not kill Zed!

85
The Denial Problem
  • Vincent does not regret killing Zed, because he
    did not kill Zed!
  • Alex is not a bachelor, because she is a woman!

86
The Denial Problem
  • Vincent does not regret killing Zed, because he
    did not kill Zed!
  • Alex is not a bachelor, because she is a woman!
  • Butch did not lie to Marsellus,because he did
    not tell him anything!

87
The Projection Problem
  • Consider
  • Mias husband is out of town.
  • Presupposes that Mia is married.

88
The Projection Problem
  • Consider
  • If Mia has a husband, then Mias husband is out
    of town.
  • Does NOT presuppose that Mia is married.

89
The Projection Problem
  • Consider
  • If Mia is married, then Mias husband is out of
    town.
  • Does NOT presuppose that Mia is married.

90
The Projection Problem
  • Consider
  • If Mia dates Vincent, then Mias husband is out
    of town.
  • Does presuppose that Mia is married.

91
The Projection Problem
  • Complex sentences sometimes neutralise
    presuppositions
  • Complex meaning here sentences with
    conditionals, negation, or disjunction, modals
  • These sentences make it difficult to predict
    whether a presupposition projects or not

92
Accommodation
  • ExampleVincent informed his boss.
  • Presupposition Vincent has a boss.
  • What if we dont have a clue whether Vincent has
    a boss or not?
  • Accommodation incorporating missed information
    as long as this is not conflicting with other
    information

93
Solutions
  • There is a rich literature on presupposition
  • There are many different attempts to solve the
    problems related to presupposition
  • Many-valued logics
  • Default logics
  • Pragmatic theories
  • Non-monotonic reasoning

94
Van der Sandts Theory
  • Presuppositions are essentially extremely rich
    anaphoric pronouns
  • Presuppositions introduce new DRSs that need to
    be incorporated in the discourse context
  • It is a good way of dealing with the binding,
    projection, and denial problems

95
Van der Sandts Theory
  • Presuppositions introduce new DRSs that need to
    be incorporated in the discourse context
  • There are two ways to resolve presuppositional
    DRSs
  • By binding
  • By accommodation

96
Two birds with one stone
  • The presupposition as anaphora theory handles
    anaphoric pronouns and presuppositions in
    essentially the same way Presupposition
    Anaphora Anaphora Presupposition

97
One mechanism
  • Essentially one mechanism to deal with pronouns,
    proper names, definite descriptions, etc.
  • The differences are accounted for in the way they
    can accommodate and bind
  • Pronouns do not accommodate
  • Proper names always accommodate globally
  • Definite descriptions can accommodate anywhere

98
Presuppositions in DRT
  • We need to carry out two tasks
  • Select presupposition triggers in the lexicon
  • Indicate what they presuppose
  • We will use a new operator, the alpha-operator,
    ?
  • If B1 and B2 are DRSs, the so is B1?B2
  • B1 is the presupposition of B2

99
Preliminary DRSs
  • She dances
  • Mia dances
  • The woman dances

x
female(x)

dance(x)
?
x
mia(x)

dance(x)
?
x
woman(x)

dance(x)
?
100
Presupposition in the lexicon
  • She
  • Mia
  • The woman

x
female(x)
? p_at_x
?p.
x
mia(x)
? p_at_x
?p.
x
woman(x)
? p_at_x
?p.
101
Indefinite vs. Definite NP
  • A woman
  • The woman

x
woman(x)
p_at_x
?p.
x
woman(x)
? p_at_x
?p.
102
The algorithm
  • After constructing a preliminary DRS for an input
    sentences, we still have to resolve the
    presuppositions
  • After resolution we will have an ordinary DRS
    that we can use for our inference tasks
  • Resulting DRS needs to be consistent and
    informative

103
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.

x y e
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y)
104
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.The woman
    collapsed.

x y e
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y)

collapse(z)
z
woman(z)
?
(
)
105
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.The woman
    collapsed.

x y e
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y)

collapse(z)
z
woman(z)
?
(
))
(
merge
106
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.The woman
    collapsed.

x y e
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y)

collapse(z)
z
woman(z) zy
?
(
))
(
pick antecedent
107
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.The woman
    collapsed.

x y e z
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y) woman(z) zy

collapse(z)
(
)

move
108
Binding Presuppositions
  • ExampleVincent danced with a woman.The woman
    collapsed.

x y e z
vincent(x) dance(e) agent(e,x) with(e,y) woman(y) woman(z) zy collapse(z)
merge reduction
109
Accommodating Presuppositions
  • ExampleIf Mia dates Vincent, then her husband
    is out of town

x y
mia(x) vincent(y)
z
husband(z) of(z,x)

date(x,y)

out(z)
?
?(
)
110
Global accommodation
  • ExampleIf Mia dates Vincent, then her husband
    is out of town

x y
mia(x) vincent(y)
z
husband(z) of(z,x)

date(x,y)

out(z)
?
?(
)
111
Global Accommodation
  • ExampleIf Mia dates Vincent, then her husband
    is out of town

x y z
mia(x) vincent(y) husband(z) of(z,x)

date(x,y)

out(z)
?
112
Non-global accommodation
  • Performing global accommodation is saying that
    something is presupposed.
  • But recall the projection problem.
  • Presuppositions can be neutralised by binding and
    non-global accommodation.

113
Non-global Accommodation
  • ExampleIf Mia is married, then her husband is
    out of town

x
mia(x)

married(x)
z
husband(z) of(z,x)

out(z)
?
?(
)
114
Non-global Accommodation
  • ExampleIf Mia is married, then her husband is
    out of town

x
mia(x)

married(x)
z
husband(z) of(z,x)

out(z)
?
?(
)
115
Non-global Accommodation
  • ExampleIf Mia is married, then her husband is
    out of town

x
mia(x)
z
married(x) husband(z) of(z,x)

out(z)
?
116
Preferences
  • Binding is preferred to accommodation
  • Global accommodation is preferred to local
    accommodation

117
Van der Sandts Algorithm
  1. Generate a DRS for the input sentence, with all
    elementary presuppositions marked by ?
  2. Merge this DRS with the DRS of the discourse so
    far processed
  3. Traverse the DRS, and on encountering an ?-DRS
    try to
  4. Bind the presupposed information to an accessible
    antecedent, or
  5. Accommodate the information to a superordinated
    level of DRS
  6. Remove those DRSs from the set of potential
    readings that violate the acceptability
    constraints

118
The acceptability constraints
  • DRSs should obey the binding rules
  • DRSs should not contain free variables
  • DRSs should be consistent and informative
  • DRSs should also be locally consistent and
    locally informative

119
Free Variable Check
  • Consider the exampleEvery man likes his car
  • DRS obtained with global accommodation

y
car(y) of(y,x)
x
man(x)

like(x,y)
?
120
Free Variable Check
  • Consider the exampleEvery man likes his car
  • DRS obtained with global accommodation

y
car(y) of(y,x)
x
man(x)

like(x,y)
?
121
Free Variable Check
  • Consider the exampleEvery man likes his car
  • DRS obtained via intermediate accommodation



x y
man(x) car(y) of(y,x)

like(x,y)
?
122
Free Variable Check
  • Consider the exampleEvery man likes his car
  • DRS obtained with local accommodation



y
car(y) of(y,x) like(x,y)
x
man(x)
?
123
The projection problem solved
  • Recall our exampleIf Mia is married, then her
    husband is out of town
  • Local constraints play a crucial role here!

x z
mia(x) husband(z) of(z,x)

out-of-town(z)

married(x)
?
124
The projection problem solved
  • Recall our exampleIf Mia is married, then her
    husband is out of town
  • Local constraints play a crucial role here!

x z
mia(x) husband(z) of(z,x)
Locally uninformative

out-of-town(z)

married(x)
?
125
The projection problem solved
  • Recall our exampleIf Mia is married, then her
    husband is out of town
  • Local constraints play a crucial role here!

x
mia(x)
Locally informative
z
married(x) husband(z) of(z,x)

out-of-town(z)
?
126
Denial
  • ExampleVincent does not like his dog.He does
    not have a dog!

x
vincent(x)
y
dog(y) of(y,x) like(x,y)
?
127
The binding problem solved
  • ExampleA boxer nearly escaped from his
    apartment.
  • Preliminary DRS

z
apartment(z) of(z,x)

nearly-escaped-from(x,z)
x
boxer(x)
?
(
))
(
128
The binding problem solved
  • ExampleA boxer nearly escaped from his
    apartment.
  • Preliminary DRS

z
apartment(z) of(z,x)

nearly-escaped-from(x,z)
x
boxer(x)
?
(
))
(
x z
boxer(x) apartment(z) of (z,x) nearly-escaped-from(x,z)
  • Final DRS

129
Proper Names
  • Proper Names can be treated as presupposition
    triggers
  • Only global accommodation is permitted for proper
    names
  • This assures they will always end up in the
    global (outermost) DRS, accessible for subsequent
    pronouns

130
Proper Names
  • ExampleEvery man knows Mia. She is Marsellus
    wife.




know(x,y)
y
mia(y)
x
man(x)
?
?
131
Proper Names
  • ExampleEvery man knows Mia. She is Marsellus
    wife.

y
mia (y)

know(x,y)
x
man(x)
?
132
Implementation
  • The Curt system
  • Small fragment of English
  • Pronouns, presupposition triggers
  • Uses theorem prover
  • Bliksem
  • Uses model builder
  • Mace
  • Does all inference tasks
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