Verb Learning and Cross-Linguistic Variation

1. Verb Learning andCross-Linguistic Variation (research with Meesook Kim, Barbara Landau, Beth Rabbin)

2. Learning Verb Syntax • “Locative Verbs” • Sally poured the water into the glass.Sally poured the glass with water. • Sally filled the water into the glass.Sally filled the glass with water. • Sally loaded the boxes into the truck.Sally loaded the truck with boxes.

3. Seidenberg (1997, Science) • Locative Verb Constructions • John poured the water into the cup*John poured the cup with water • *Sue filled the water into the glassSue filled the glass with water • Bill loaded the apples onto the truckBill loaded the truck with apples • “Connectionist networks are well suited to capturing systems with this character. Importantly, a network configured as a device that learns to perform a task such as mapping from sound to meaning will act as a discovery procedure, determining which kinds of information are relevant. Evidence that such models can encode precisely the right combinations of probabilistic constraints is provided by Allen (42), who implemented a network that learns about verbs and their argument structures from naturalistic input.” (p. 1602)

4. Seidenberg (Science, 3/14/97) • “Research on language has arrived at a particularly interesting point, however, because of important developments outside of the linguistic mainstream that are converging on a different view of the nature of language. These developments represent an important turn of events in the history of ideas about language.” (p. 1599)

5. Seidenberg (Science, 3/14/97) • “A second implication concerns the relevance of poverty-of-the-stimulus arguments to other aspects of language. Verbs and their argument structures are important, but they are language specific rather than universal properties of languages and so must be learned from experience.” (p. 1602)

6. Allen’s Model • Fine-grained distinction between hit, carryJohn kicked Mary the ball*John carried Mary the basket • “This behavior shows crucially that the network is not merely sensitive to overall semantic similarity: rather, the network has organized the semantic space such that some features are more important than other.” (p. 5)

7. Terminology Sally poured the water into the glass Sally filled the glass with the water Figure Frame location GROUND moving object FIGURE Ground Frame location GROUND moving object FIGURE

8. VP-Structures VP VP VP V NP PP V NP PP V NP PP ground ground ground figure figure figure pour fill load VP VP VP V NP PP V NP PP V NP PP ground figure ground figure ground figure pour fill load

9. How could this be learned? • How could a child figure out which structures are possible for which verbs? • ‘Conservative’ strategy - only allow verbs with structures heard in input • ‘Do not generalize!’

10. But... • Children make errors - they overgeneralize‘I’m going to cover a screen over me.’‘Can I fill some salt in the bear?’ • Adults have clear intuitions about novel verbs:e.g. ladle, scoop • Hearing ‘errors’ doesn’t obviously change our judgmentse.g. ‘*John decorated the lights onto the tree.’ • Not clear that all possible syntactic forms are well-represented in the input to learners • Conservative learning doesn’t seem to do the trick

11. ‘Overgeneralization’ • Well-known errors with locative verbs (Bowerman 1982)I didn't fill water up to drink it; I filled it up for the flowers to drink it.Can I fill some salt in the bear? [= a bear-shaped salt shaker]I'm going to cover a screen over me.(see also experimental data in Gropen et al. 1991a, b) • Why do children make these errors?

12. Verb Classes Verb semantics predicts verb syntax

13. Classes of Verbs • Verbs with syntax like pour • dribble, drip, spill, shake, spin, spew, slop, etc. • Verbs with syntax like fill • cover, decorate, bandage, blanket, soak, drench, adorn, etc. • Verbs with syntax like load • stuff, cram, jam, spray, sow, heap, spread, rub, dab, plaster, etc.

14. Classes of Verbs • Verbs with syntax like pour • dribble, drip, spill, shake, spin, spew, slop, etc. • Verbs with syntax like fill • cover, decorate, bandage, blanket, soak, drench, adorn, etc. • Verbs with syntax like load • stuff, cram, jam, spray, sow, heap, spread, rub, dab, plaster, etc. manner-of-motion

15. Classes of Verbs • Verbs with syntax like pour • dribble, drip, spill, shake, spin, spew, slop, etc. • Verbs with syntax like fill • cover, decorate, bandage, blanket, soak, drench, adorn, etc. • Verbs with syntax like load • stuff, cram, jam, spray, sow, heap, spread, rub, dab, plaster, etc. manner-of-motion change-of-state

16. Classes of Verbs • Verbs with syntax like pour • dribble, drip, spill, shake, spin, spew, slop, etc. • Verbs with syntax like fill • cover, decorate, bandage, blanket, soak, drench, adorn, etc. • Verbs with syntax like load • stuff, cram, jam, spray, sow, heap, spread, rub, dab, plaster, etc. manner-of-motion change-of-state manner-of-motion & change-of-state

17. Learning Syntax from Semantics Manner-of-motion Change-of-state SEMANTICS SYNTAX

18. Learning Syntax from Semantics VP FigureFrame Manner-of-motion V NP PP ground figure Change-of-state SEMANTICS SYNTAX

19. Learning Syntax from Semantics VP FigureFrame Manner-of-motion V NP PP ground figure GroundFrame VP Change-of-state V NP PP ground figure SEMANTICS SYNTAX

20. Learning Syntax from Semantics VP FigureFrame Manner-of-motion V NP PP ground figure GroundFrame VP Change-of-state V NP PP ground figure Linking Rules SEMANTICS SYNTAX

21. Learning • Linking Rules can be used to ‘bootstrap’ verb syntax or verb meanings, provided that Syntax-Semantics Linking Rules are • consistent across languages (i.e. verbs with same meaning should have same syntax across all languages) • innate (i.e. children know the connections from the outset)

22. Assumption: linking generalizations are universal • Shared by opposing accounts of learning verb syntax & semantics

23. Evidence: Syntax from Semantics • Gropen et al., 1991Children shown a verb’s meaning, in the absence of subcategorization information. Demonstration focuses on (i) manner, or (ii) change of state.“This is keating”Meaning changes how children describe events

24. Evidence: Semantics from Syntax • Studies by Gleitman with Naigles, Fisher, Gillette, etc.Children shown a scene, together with a description that provides syntactic information“Look, the bunny is filping”“Look, the monkey is filping the bunny.”Form changes how children interpret the events

25. Limitations • Semantics < SyntaxSyntactic distinctions are too coarse-grainedNeed evidence of ability to use multiple frames • Syntax < SemanticsObservation puzzles remain

26. But Languages Vary • English*John decorated the flowers in the room. John decorated the room with flowers.

27. But Languages Vary • English*John decorated the flowers in the room. John decorated the room with flowers. Change-of-state--> Ground Frame

28. But Languages Vary • English*John decorated the flowers in the room. John decorated the room with flowers. • KoreanYumi-ka ccoch-ul pang-ey cangsikha-yess-ta Nom flowers-Acc room-Loc decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the flowers in the room.’Yumi-ka pang-ul ccoch-ulo cangsikha-yess-ta Nom room-Acc flowers-with decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the room with flowers.’ Change-of-state--> Ground Frame

29. But Languages Vary • English*John decorated the flowers in the room. John decorated the room with flowers. • KoreanYumi-ka ccoch-ul pang-ey cangsikha-yess-ta Nom flowers-Acc room-Loc decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the flowers in the room.’Yumi-ka pang-ul ccoch-ulo cangsikha-yess-ta Nom room-Acc flowers-with decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the room with flowers.’ Change-of-state--> Ground Frame

30. But Languages Vary • English*John decorated the flowers in the room. John decorated the room with flowers. • KoreanYumi-ka ccoch-ul pang-ey cangsikha-yess-ta Nom flowers-Acc room-Loc decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the flowers in the room.’Yumi-ka pang-ul ccoch-ulo cangsikha-yess-ta Nom room-Acc flowers-with decorate-Past-Dec‘John decorated the room with flowers.’ Change-of-state--> Ground Frame Korean is more liberal than English

31. But Languages Vary • English John piled the books on the shelf. John piled the shelf with books.

32. But Languages Vary • English John piled the books on the shelf. John piled the shelf with books. • Korean Yumi-ka chaek-lul chaeksang-ey ssa-ass-ta. Nom book-Acc table-Loc pile-Past-Dec ‘Yumi piled books on the table.’

33. But Languages Vary • English John piled the books on the shelf. John piled the shelf with books. • Korean Yumi-ka chaek-lul chaeksang-ey ssa-ass-ta. Nom book-Acc table-Loc pile-Past-Dec ‘Yumi piled books on the table.’*Yumi-ka chaeksang-lul chaek-elo ssa-ass-ta. Nom table-Acc books-with pile-Past-Dec ‘Yumi piled the table with books.’

34. But Languages Vary • English John piled the books on the shelf. John piled the shelf with books. • Korean Yumi-ka chaek-lul chaeksang-ey ssa-ass-ta. Nom book-Acc table-Loc pile-Past-Dec ‘Yumi piled books on the table.’*Yumi-ka chaeksang-lul chaek-elo ssa-ass-ta. Nom table-Acc books-with pile-Past-Dec ‘Yumi piled the table with books.’ Korean is more restrictive than English

35. Learning Syntax from Semantics VP FigureFrame Manner-of-motion V NP PP ground figure GroundFrame VP Change-of-state V NP PP ground figure Linking Rules SEMANTICS SYNTAX

36. Learning Syntax from Semantics • Appropriate verb syntax can be learned if the Syntax-Semantics Linking Rules are • consistent across languages (i.e. verbs with same meaning should have same syntax across all languages) • innate (i.e. children know the connections from the outset)

37. A Problem for Learners? • If syntax-semantics Linking Rules are not uniform across languages, then how can they help learners? • If each language had different Linking Rules, would this be any use to a child?

38. Survey IEnglish TurkishKorean LugandaFrench HindiJapanese HebrewChinese Malay Thai Arabic Survey IIItalian YorubaPolish EweJapanese RussianFrench EnglishBrazilian Portuguese Spanish (Argentinian) Spanish (Castilian) Cross-Language Survey

39. Survey IEnglish TurkishKorean LugandaFrench HindiJapanese HebrewChinese Malay Thai Arabic Survey IIItalian YorubaPolish EweJapanese RussianFrench EnglishBrazilian Portuguese Spanish (Argentinian) Spanish (Castilian) Cross-Language Survey Less detailedclassification used(~15 verbs)

40. Survey IEnglish TurkishKorean LugandaFrench HindiJapanese HebrewChinese Malay Thai Arabic Survey IIItalian YorubaPolish EweJapanese RussianFrench EnglishBrazilian Portuguese Spanish (Argentinian) Spanish (Castilian) Cross-Language Survey More detailedclassification used(~30 verbs)

41. Extra Constructions in Survey II • VP-Syntax - is PP required?She poured the water into the glass.She poured the water.She stood the lamp on the floor.*She stood the lamp.

42. Extra Constructions in Survey II • VP-Syntax - is PP required?She poured the water into the glass.She poured the water.She stood the lamp on the floor.*She stood the lamp. ‘F’ class ‘F2’ class

43. Extra Constructions in Survey II • VP-Syntax - is PP required?She poured the water into the glass.She poured the water.She stood the lamp on the floor.*She stood the lamp. ‘F’ class ‘F2’ class Also ‘G’,‘G2’, FA, GA, PA classes distinguished

44. Extra Constructions in Survey II • NP-Syntax - passive adjectivesThe poured waterThe filled glass*The piled shelf*The decorated ornament

45. Full details available separately

46. Reminder: the issues • Use of structure in lexical entries to guide learning, i.e. reliable syntax-semantics correlations can be used to draw inferences • Idea that cross-language regularities hold the key to understanding language learning

47. Consistent Properties...

48. A Universal • EnglishJohn poured the water into the glass.*John poured the glass with water. • SpanishJuan vertí agua en el vaso.John poured water into the glass*Juan vertí el vaso con agua.John poured the glass with water

49. A Universal • EnglishJohn poured the water into the glass.*John poured the glass with water. • HebrewDanny shafax mayim letox ha-kos.John poured water into the glass‘John poured water into the glass.’*Danny shafax et ha-kos be-mayin.John poured Acc the glass with water‘*John poured the glass with water.’

50. A Universal • EnglishJohn poured the water into the glass.*John poured the glass with water. • JapaneseTaro-ga mizu-o baketu-ni sosoi-da. Nom water-Acc bucket-Loc pour-Past‘Taro poured water into a bucket.’*Taro-ga baketu-o mizu-de sosoi-da. Nom bucket-Acc water-with pour-Past‘*Taro poured a bucket with water.’