Synchronous Tree-Adjoining Grammars

The unique properties of tree-adjoining grammars (TAG) present a challenge for the application of TAGs beyond the limited confines of syntax, for instance, to the task of semantic interpretation or automatic translation of natural language. We present a variant of TAGs, called synchronous TAGs, which characterize correspondences between languages. The formalism's intended usage is to relate expressions of natural languages to their associated semantics represented in a logical form language, or to their translates in another natural language; in summary, we intend it to allow TAGs to be used beyond their role in syntax proper. We discuss the application of synchronous TAGs to concrete examples, mentioning primarily in passing some computational issues that arise in its interpretation. Comments University of Pennsylvania Department of Computer and Information Sciences Technical Report No. MSCIS-91-43. This technical report is available at ScholarlyCommons: http://repository.upenn.edu/cis_reports/326 Synchronous Tree-Adjoining Grammars MS-CIS-91-43 LINC LAB 203 Stuart M. Shieber (Harvard University) Yves Schabes (University of Pennsylvania) Department of Computer and Informat ion Science School of Engineering and Applied Science University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, PA 19104-6389