We propose a method for automatically identifying individual instances of English verb-particle constructions (VPCs) in raw text. Our method employs the RASP parser and analysis of the sentential context of each VPC candidate to differentiate VPCs from simple combinations of a verb and prepositional phrase. We show that our proposed method has an F-score of 0.974 at VPC identification over the ...

A key challenge faced by children in vocabulary acquisition is learning which of the many possible meanings is appropriate for a word. The word generalization problem refers to how children associate a word such as dog with a meaning at the appropriate category level in the taxonomy of objects, such as Dalmatians, dogs, or animals. We present extensions to a cross-situational learner that enabl...

We present an analysis of parser performance on speech data, comparing word type and token frequency distributions with written data, and evaluating parse accuracy by length of input string. We find that parser performance tends to deteriorate with increasing length of string, more so for spoken than for written texts. We train an alternative parsing model with added speech data and demonstrate...

A particularly important form of token-reflexive symbol is found in the tenses of verbs. The tenses determine time with reference to the time point of the act of speech, i.e., of the token uttered. A closer analysis reveals that the time indication given by the tenses is of a rather complex structure. Let us call the time point of the token the point of speech. Then the three indications, ‘befo...

Many historians reject quantitative methods as inappropriate to understanding past societies.This article argues that no sharp distinction between qualitative and quantitative concepts can be drawn, as almost any concept used to describe a past society is implicitly quantitative. Many recent advances in understanding have been achieved by deriving quantitative evidence from qualitative evidence...