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Newsletter May 9, No. 28



                      C S L I   N E W S L E T T E R
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May 9, 1985                     Stanford                       Vol. 2, No. 28
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     A weekly publication of The Center for the Study of Language and
     Information, Ventura Hall, Stanford University, Stanford, CA 94305
                              ____________

            CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *THIS* THURSDAY, May 9, 1985

   12 noon		TINLunch
     Ventura Hall       ``Scenes and Events''
     Conference Room    by Stephen Neale, Dept. of Philosophy, Stanford
			Discussion led by Mark Johnson, Dept. of Linguistics
			
   2:15 p.m.		CSLI Seminar
     Redwood Hall       ``Approaches to Generalized Quantifiers in 
     Room G-19          Heim/Kamp Semantics''
			Mats Rooth, CSLI

   3:30 p.m.		Tea
     Ventura Hall		

   4:15 p.m.		CSLI Colloquium
     Redwood Hall       ``Reduced Forms of Comparative Clauses''
     Room G-19		James D. McCawley, University of Chicago
			
                               ___________

            CSLI ACTIVITIES FOR *NEXT* THURSDAY, May 16, 1985

   12 noon		TINLunch
     Ventura Hall       ``Combinators, Categorial Grammars, and Parasitic
     Conference Room    Gaps'' by Mark Steedman, University of Edinburgh
			Discussion led by Hans Uszkoreit, CSLI and SRI
			(Abstract on page 2)

   2:15 p.m.		CSLI Seminar
     Redwood Hall       ``Action Theory for Dialogue Games''
     Room G-19          Lauri Carlson, CSLI
			Discussion led by Phil Cohen			
			(Abstract on page 2)		

   3:30 p.m.		Tea
     Ventura Hall		

   4:15 p.m.		CSLI Colloquium
     Redwood Hall       ``Tracking Dogs and the Traces of Speech''
     Room G-19		Vicki Hearne, Yale University
			(No abstract available)			
			

Page 2  		     CSLI Newsletter   	                  May 9, 1985
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                    ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S TINLUNCH
        ``Combinators, Categorial Grammars, and Parasitic Gaps''

      In his previous work, Steedman has applied an augmented version of
   Categorial Grammar (CG) to discontiguous dependencies such as
   Wh-Fronting and cross-serial dependencies in Dutch.  This paper
   extends the use of functional composition in CG to permit the
   generation of parasitic gaps.  The operations on functions that are
   allowed in the resulting grammar formalism are defined as combinators.
   It is argued that the utilization of a certain class of combinators in
   syntax, semantics, and morphology leads to a natural and adequate
   extension of CG.					--Hans Uszkoreit
                              ____________
                     ABSTRACT OF NEXT WEEK'S SEMINAR
                  ``Action Theory for Dialogue Games''

      I will describe a theory of social action which generalizes the
   game theoretical concept of a game in extensive form.  To generalize
   the game theoretical model, I make use of a number of analogies
   between the game theoretical notion of a game and certain varieties of
   possible worlds semantics.  The key game theoretical notions are
   generalized as follows.  Game trees are reinterpreted as branching
   future temporal logic frames.  Preferences and strategies are
   represented by choice functions over possible courses of events.
   Information sets are generalized into sets of epistemic alternatives.
      The result is a definition of a ``game theoretical'' possible worlds
   semantics frame.  Sentences describing agents' beliefs, wants,
   abilities, and plans can be interpreted against such frames. Desired
   interdependencies among the different action-related modalities can be
   shown to fall out.  Different schemata purporting to characterize
   rational action can be evaluated in the resulting semantics using
   examples from game theory.
      The resulting theory of action is intended to be used to partially
   formalize the informal dialogue game approach to discourse theory
   described in my book, Dialogue Games (Reidel 1983).
                              ____________
             SEMINAR IN LOGIC AND FOUNDATIONS OF MATHEMATICS
               ``Quantified Modal Logics of Provability''
            Prof. Craig Smorynski, San Jose State University
                       Tuesday, May 14, 4:15-5:30
               Math Bldg., Room 381-T, Stanford University
                              ____________
                            AREA NL-1 MEETING
         ``New Aspects of Aspect:  A Look at Mandarin Chinese''
                  Carlota S. Smith, University of Texas
              Friday, May 10, 2:30, Ventura Conference Room
              (for the abstract see last week's newsletter)
                              ____________
                            AREA NL-2 MEETING

      There will be an NL-2 meeting on Tuesday, May 14th at 2.15 in
   Redwood Hall in which I will present some of the amendments to
   Government- Binding Theory proposed in Chomsky's manuscript
   ``Knowledge of Language: Its Nature, Origins, and Use.''  The
   discussion will cover roughly pages 100-285; all are welcome though a
   knowledge of current GB would be useful.		--Peter Sells

Page 3                       CSLI Newsletter                      May 9, 1985
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                             AREA NL MEETING

      There will be a NL meeting on Friday, May 17th at 2.15 in the
   Ventura Conference Room to discuss James Higginbotham's paper, ``On
   Semantics''.  Copies of the paper will be made available at the front
   desk in a few days.					--Peter Sells
                              ____________  
                         NEW CSLI LECTURE NOTES

      Number 2 in the Lecture Notes series, ``Emotion and Focus'' by
   Helen Nissenbaum, has just appeared. The author describes this work as
   follows:
      ``After examining several prominent views on object directedness,
   including those of Hume, Kenny, and J. R. S. Wilson, I conclude that
   the notion is no longer a viable one.  I propose a reconceptualization
   of the phenomena that it is seen to cover.  The result is a breakdown
   of object directedness into a number of independent conceptual units
   that I call `aspects of emotional episodes.'  I reject the picture of
   emotion traditionally forwarded in academic writings, offering another
   in its place, one that preserves the complexity and variation
   suggested in the common conception of emotion.''
      The list price of ``Emotion and Focus'' is $6, with a 25% discount
   to the CSLI community. California residents should add 6.5% sales tax.
   To obtain a copy, contact David Brown (Brown@CSLI), CSLI, Ventura
   Hall, Stanford, CA 94305.
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