Compositional Semantics - Computational Linguistics and Talking Robots - page 133

The surface realization of 7.4.4 shows not only that a single navigation step
can realize more than one surface (cf. steps 2, 5, 8), but that a single surface
may require more than one navigation step (cf. steps 0-1, 3-4, and 6-7).
The possibility of empty traversals 18 in combination with traversals which
realize more than one surface 19 allows for producing more than one surface
order from a given numbered arcs graph. As an example, consider the six
possible permutations of {dog, find, bone} , as needed for language production
from a given content in a free word order language like Russian:

7.4.5 R USSIAN WORD ORDER BASED ON ALTERNATIVE TRAVERSALS

(i) SRG (iii) NAGs (iv) surface realizations

(a)

find (1) 0−1 2 3 4

0

find

. dog find bone

1 4

2

3

dog bone (2) 0−1 2−3 4

dog bone

.

dog bone find__

(3) 0 1 2−3 4

.

find dog bone

(ii) signature

V

(b) (4) 0 1 2−3 4

.

find bone dog

0

find

3 2

(5) 0−1 2 3

4

N N

4 1

bone find dog

dog bone

0−1 2−3 4

(6)

.

find__
There are (i) one SRG, (ii) one signature, (iii) two NAGs (a) and (b), and
(iv) six surface realizations (1)-(6). The NAGs begin with arc 0. Given that
surfaces may be realized only from the goal proplet of a navigation step, arc 0
is not only motivated by extrapropositional coordination (7.4.4), but is also
needed for verb-first surfaces, such as find dog bone .
Let us go through the surface realizations step-by-step. Realizations (1) and
(2) are based on NAG (a); they share a 0-1 traversal to realize dog . (1) contin-
ues with an arc 2 traversal to produce find , an arc 3 traversal to produce bone ,
and an arc 4 traversal to produce the full stop. (2) uses an arcs 2-3 traversal to
produce bone and an arc 4 traversal to produce find_.
Surface realizations (3) and (4) share an arc 0 traversal to realize find .(3)
is based on NAG (a) and continues with an arc 1 traversal to produce dog ,
a 2-3 traversal to produce bone , and an arc 4 traversal to produce the full

bone dog

17 Cf. NLC'06, Chaps. 11 and 12, for a detailed analysis of extrapropositional coordination. The com-
bination of an intra- and an extrapropositional verb coordination is shown in NLC'06, 9.1.2.
18 I.e., traversals which do not realize a surface, like those of arcs 0, 3, and 6 in 7.4.4.
19 Like those of arcs 2, 5, and 8 in 7.4.4.