We present a definiteness annotation scheme that captures the semantic, pragmatic, and discourse information associated with noun phrases, which we call communicative functions. A survey of the linguistics literature suggests that definiteness does not express a single communicative function but is a grammaticalization of many such functions, for example, identifiability, familiarity, uniquenes...

This paper highlights the folk perception of impoliteness among Ghanaians in view of Watts’ (2003) notion of first order impoliteness. The study showed that impoliteness is not just an opposite of politeness, but the manifestation of non-cooperation, disapproval, and mutual antipathy through certain communicative behaviours that signal disrespect. These communicative behaviours include ‘interru...

A mark up language for tagging discourse, and for converting discourse sequences into a written format, according to highly context sensitive procedures, will be illustrated as well as a system for document annotation. The context in which a given communicative intercourse has taken place needs to be made available to ensure consistent interpretation of both single sequences of discourse and gl...

To confirm the language independency of a communicative prosody generation from input word impression vector, we synthesized communicative Mandarin speech using prosodic characteristics of communicative Japanese speech. The fundamental frequency and duration characteristics of oneword “n” utterances of Japanese were copied to Mandarin through input word attributes. From the subjective impressio...

The current study evaluates how lexical choice impacts task performance in dyads tasked with building an object together without a shared visual environment. Our analyses suggest that, while interpersonal lexical convergence in target linguistic categories promotes successful communication, success does not require convergence in all categories. In the absence of shared visual workspaces and fa...

Communication is an essential skill for cooperative tasks, yet neuroevolved agents struggle to develop communicative behaviour. In fact, it has been shown that communicating agents are sometimes outperformed by noncommunicating ones on tasks that ostensibly require communication. In our paper, we explore mechanisms which could aid agents in developing communication through evolution. Specifical...

In this paper we describe Lokutor, a virtual human. Lokutor is a partially autonomous agent, living a 3D virtual environment. The agent can be controlled via natural language directives of the user (spoken or typed in) and by direct manipulation using a gra cal user interface. Its control system consists of a behavior-based reactive layer, a deliberative control layer and an motivational subsys...

BACKGROUND There is evidence that telephone consultations in general practice are typically shorter than face-to-face consultations and that fewer problems are presented in them. AIM To compare the communicative practices of doctors and patients in face-to-face and telephone consultations, in order to understand the contrasts between the two consulting modes. DESIGN OF STUDY Conversation an...

Constructivist accounts of language acquisition maintain that the language learner aims to match a target provided by mature users. Communicative problem solving in the context of social interaction and matching a linguistic target or model are presented as primary mechanisms driving the language development process. However, research on the development of homesign gesture systems by deaf indiv...