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Bounded copying is subsequential: Implications for metathesis and reduplication ∗
"... This paper first defines the conditions under which copying and deletion processes are subsequential: specifically this is the case when the process is bounded in the right ways. Then, if we analyze metathesis as the composition of copying and deletion, it can be shown that the set of attested metat ..."
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This paper first defines the conditions under which copying and deletion processes are subsequential: specifically this is the case when the process is bounded in the right ways. Then, if we analyze metathesis as the composition of copying and deletion, it can be shown that the set of attested metathesis patterns fall into the subsequential or reverse subsequential classes. The implications of bounded copying are extended to partial reduplication, which is also shown to be either subsequential or reverse subsequential. 1
Learning Subregular Classes of Languages with Factored Deterministic Automata
"... This paper shows how factored finitestate representations of subregular language classes are identifiable in the limit from positive data by learners which are polytime iterative and optimal. These representations are motivated in two ways. First, the size of this representation for a given regular ..."
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This paper shows how factored finitestate representations of subregular language classes are identifiable in the limit from positive data by learners which are polytime iterative and optimal. These representations are motivated in two ways. First, the size of this representation for a given regular language can be exponentially smaller than the size of the minimal deterministic acceptor recognizing the language. Second, these representations (including the exponentially smaller ones) describe actual formal languages which successfully model natural language phenomenon, notably in the subfield of phonology. 1
Cognitive and Sub-Regular Complexity
"... Abstract. We present a measure of cognitive complexity for subclasses of the regular languages that is based on model-theoretic complexity rather than on description length of particular classes of grammars or automata. Unlikedescriptionlengthapproaches,thiscomplexitymeasure is independent of the im ..."
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Abstract. We present a measure of cognitive complexity for subclasses of the regular languages that is based on model-theoretic complexity rather than on description length of particular classes of grammars or automata. Unlikedescriptionlengthapproaches,thiscomplexitymeasure is independent of the implementation details of the cognitive mechanism. Hence, it provides a basis for making inferences about cognitive mechanisms that are valid regardless of how those mechanisms are actually realized. 1
An algebraic characterization of strictly piecewise languages
- In The 8th Annual Conference on Theory and Applications of Models of Computation
, 2011
"... Abstract. This paper provides an algebraic characterization of the Strictly Piecewise class of languages studied by Rogers et al. 2010. These language are a natural subclass of the Piecewise Testable languages (Simon 1975) and are relevant to natural language. The algebraic characterization highligh ..."
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Abstract. This paper provides an algebraic characterization of the Strictly Piecewise class of languages studied by Rogers et al. 2010. These language are a natural subclass of the Piecewise Testable languages (Simon 1975) and are relevant to natural language. The algebraic characterization highlights a similarity between the Strictly Piecewise and Strictly Local languages, and also leads to a procedure which can decide whether a regular language L is Strictly Piecewise in polynomial time in the size of the syntactic monoid for L. 1
What complexity differences reveal about domains in language
, 2012
"... An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currentl ..."
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An important distinction between phonology and syntax has been overlooked. All phonological patterns belong to the regular region of the Chomsky Hierarchy but not all syntactic patterns do. We argue that the hypothesis that humans employ distinct learning mechanisms for phonology and syntax currently offers the best explanation for this difference. 1 A role for phonology in cognitive science Whenitcomestotheproblemofhowhumanslearnlanguage, itappearsmanycomputational learning theorists, cognitive scientists, and psychologists are primarily occupied with the problem of how humans learn to put words and morphemes together to form sentences. In this article we argue that a further understanding of how sounds are put together to form words also bears directly on fundamental questions in cognitive science. In particular, we argue that computational analysis of the typology of patterns in phonology, when compared to the typology of patterns in syntax, reveals that cognitive learning mechanisms are likely multiple and modular in nature. The skew that many researchers exhibit towards morpho-syntax may really be a skew towards studying meaning. But we believe that it is because phonological systems impose different sound patterns in different languages without contributing to meaning that they are especially interesting. That is, phonology is about “Rules without Meaning ” in Frits Staal’s (1989) terms. We also believe that an apparent lack of teleological purpose in phonology is what lessens its appeal to the outside. A good discussion of the strangeness of studying phonology is provided inKaye (1989)where he considers what a programming languagelike BASIC would The authors thank Jim Rogers for valuable discussion and an anonymous reviewer and Nick Chater for
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, 2012
"... Artificial analogues of natural-language phonological patterns can often be learned in the lab from small amounts of training or exposure. The difficulty of a featurallydefined pattern has been hypothesized to be affected by two main factors, its formal structure (the abstract logical configuration ..."
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Artificial analogues of natural-language phonological patterns can often be learned in the lab from small amounts of training or exposure. The difficulty of a featurallydefined pattern has been hypothesized to be affected by two main factors, its formal structure (the abstract logical configuration of the defining features) and its phonetic substance (the concrete phonetic interpretation of the pattern). This paper, the first of a two-part series, reviews the experimental literature on structural effects. The principal finding is a robust complexity effect: Patterns which depend on more features
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, 2012
"... Comparative studies of linguistic faculties in animals pose an evolutionary paradox: language involves certain perceptual and motor abilities, but it is not clear that this serves as more than an input–output channel for the externalization of language proper. Strikingly, the capability for auditory ..."
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Comparative studies of linguistic faculties in animals pose an evolutionary paradox: language involves certain perceptual and motor abilities, but it is not clear that this serves as more than an input–output channel for the externalization of language proper. Strikingly, the capability for auditory–vocal learning is not shared with our closest relatives, the apes, but is present in such remotely related groups as songbirds and marine mammals.There is increasing evidence for behavioral, neural, and genetic similarities between speech acquisition and birdsong learning. At the same time, researchers have applied formal linguistic analysis to the vocalizations of both primates and songbirds. What have all these studies taught us about the evolution of language? Is the comparative study of an apparently species-specific trait like language feasible? We argue that comparative analysis remains an important method for the evolutionary reconstruction and causal analysis of the mechanisms underlying language. On the one hand, common descent has been important in the evolution of the brain, such that avian and mammalian brains may be largely homologous,
• Σ = {C, V};
"... Finite languages are those recognized by rewrite grammars whose production rules are all of the form S → w where w belongs to Σ ∗. In other words, every rule rewrites the start symbol “S ” as a word (or sentence) in the language. ..."
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Finite languages are those recognized by rewrite grammars whose production rules are all of the form S → w where w belongs to Σ ∗. In other words, every rule rewrites the start symbol “S ” as a word (or sentence) in the language.
Evidence for Classifying Metathesis Patterns as
"... This paper presents a computational analysis of metathesis patterns that distinguishes three categories of metathesis that differ in their computational complexity. These categories are local metathesis, bounded long distance metathesis, and unbounded long distance metathesis. Using the formalism of ..."
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This paper presents a computational analysis of metathesis patterns that distinguishes three categories of metathesis that differ in their computational complexity. These categories are local metathesis, bounded long distance metathesis, and unbounded long distance metathesis. Using the formalism of finite state automata, it is established that the first two categories are subsequential, while
Learning Unattested Languages
"... This paper demonstrates the role of morphological alternations in learning novel phonotactic patterns. In an artificial grammar learning task, adult learners were exposed to a phonotactic pattern in which the first and last consonant agreed in voicing. Long-distance phonotactics encoded as strictly ..."
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This paper demonstrates the role of morphological alternations in learning novel phonotactic patterns. In an artificial grammar learning task, adult learners were exposed to a phonotactic pattern in which the first and last consonant agreed in voicing. Long-distance phonotactics encoded as strictly piecewise languages suggest that first-last phonotactic patterns should be unattested in natural language. However, recent theories of morphologically induced phonological patterns predict that long-distance agreement between the first and last consonant of a word can occur when the agreement is induced as a morphological alternation. The results of two experiments support the prediction that first-last harmony patterns are more easily learned when morphological cues to the pattern are present. Participants only learned the first-last pattern when presented as a morphological alternation.
