Constraints On Noun Phrase Conjunction: A Domain-Independent Mechanism

Coord ina te c o n j u n c t i o n i s any i m p o r t a n t dev i ce f o r e x p r e s s i n g complex i n f o r m a t i o n . To p rov ide a h a b i t a b l e l a n g u a ge p r o c e s s i n g sys tem, most a p p l i c a t i o n s r e q u i r e some t r e a t m e n t of c o n j u n c t i o n . When a r i c h c o n j u n c t i o n mechanism i s i n t r o d u c ed to account f o r the wide v a r i e t y of c o n J o t n i n g s found i n c o n t i n u o u s t e x t (as opposed to q u e r i e s ) , i t a l s o becomes c r u c i a l to r e s t r i c t the p a r s e s o b t a i n e d f o r the o 0 n J o i n i n g s , s i n c e c o n ~ n c t i o n i s a major source of a mb i gu i t y i n p a r s i n g . For example, the sequence of s y n t a c t i c c l a s s e s :