The constraint-oriented approaches to language processing step back from the generative theory and make it possible, in theory, to deal with all types of linguistic relationships (e.g. dependency, linear precedence or immediate dominance) with the same importance when parsing an input utterance. Yet in practice, all implemented constraint-oriented parsing strategies still need to discriminate b...

In contrast to standard constraint satisfaction problems (CSPs) practical applications often require both, the management of changing validity of constraints and variables. Based on experiences made with the development of a commercial nurse scheduling system this paper suggests the application of local optimization algorithms for knowledge-based connguration systems, which strongly rely on dyn...

An empirical study of randomly generated binary constraint satisfaction problems reveals that for problems with a given number of variables, domain size, and connectivity there is a critical level of constraint tightness at which a phase transition occurs. At the phase transition, problems change from being soluble to insoluble, and the difficulty of problems increases dramatically. A theory de...

1. Goals and constraints The primary goal of modern linguistic theory (at least in the circles I inhabit) is an explanation of the human language capacity and how it enables the child to acquire adult competence in language. Adult competence in turn is understood as the ability (or knowledge) to creatively map between sound and meaning, using a rich combinatorial system – the lexicon and gramma...

Some recent theories of gerunds account for their hybrid properties by saying that the gerund is both a noun and a verb simultaneously. Such theories are inconsistent with the Reference-Predication Constraint (RPC), a cornerstone of Baker’s (2003) theory of lexical categories. In contrast, I defend the traditional idea that gerunds are fusions of a true verb and a syntactically distinct nominal...