In order to analyze, generate and use documents containing both text and graphics, it is important to have a theory of their structure. We argue that it is possible to develop a semantics for graphics, as well as text, and generate an integrated representation of text/graphics discourse, building on previous theories of text discourse. A major component of our theory is an integrated natural la...

It is customary to regard 'tropical medicine' as a product of the late nineteenth century, 'its instrument the microscope, its epistemology the germ theory of disease'. The accepted interpretation is that tropical medicine was a European concept: originating in Britain and France and exported to the colonies by pioneering medical scientists. This interpretation is useful inasmuch as 'tropical m...

Centering theory posits a discourse center, a distinguished discourse entity that is the topic of a discourse. A simplified version of this theory is developed in a Dynamic Semantics framework. In the resulting system, the mechanism of center shift allows a simple, elegant analysis of a variety of phenomena involving sloppy identity in ellipsis and “paycheck pronouns”.

Palestinian activists have long maintained that the hegemonic discourse used to describe their predicament is unhelpful for understanding nature of so-called “conflict” in country. They maintain a discursive hegemony suppresses voices and denies lived experience. A high-profile case settler organization’s attempt evict families from homes Jerusalem brought visibility counter-hegemonic challenge...

Discourse unfolds in time, giving rise to a cascade of belief changes in the listener. Yet this temporal evolution of discourse and belief is typically ignored in theoretical treatments of discourse. It has been claimed (see Soames Soames, 1989]) that Heim's Heim, 1983] theory of discourse context accounts for non-implicative discourse updating. We will present a new non-implicative discourse t...

Discourse Representation Theory is a specific name for the work of Hans Kamp in the area of dynamic interpretation of natural language. Also, it has gradually become a generic term for proposals for dynamic interpretation of natural language in the same spirit. These proposals have in common that each new sentence is interpreted in terms of the contribution it makes to an existing piece of inte...

Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT) [2, 7] provides a dynamic semantics for discourse that exploits a rich notion of discourse structure. According to SDRT, a text is segmented into constituents related to each other by means of rhetorical relations; the resulting structure, known as a segmented discourse representation structure or SDRS has various semantic effects. This theory ha...

Previous research on building intelligent tutoring systems has not leveraged general models of collaborative discourse, even though tutoring is an inherently collaborative and often discourse-based activity. Similarly, previous research on collaborative discourse theory has rarely addressed tutorial issues, even though teaching and learning are crucial components of collaboration. We help bridg...

Abstract This article uses Joan Baez's impersonations of Bob Dylan from the mid-1960s to beginning twenty-first century as performances where multiple fields complementary discourse converge. The is organized in three parts. first part addresses musical details acts mimicry and their uncanny ability summon Dylan's predecessors. second considers context identity, specifically race asymmetrical p...