1997/07/16 by Megumi Kameyama, Kameyama, Megumi
Arts and Humanities · Computer Science · Neuroscience · #Computation and Language (cs.CL) #FOS: Computer and information sciences #Language, Discourse, Communication Strategies #Neurobiology of Language and Bilingualism #Syntax, Semantics, Linguistic Variation #cmp-lg #cs.CL
paper · pdf · doi:10.48550/arxiv.cmp-lg/9707005
A chapter in Walker, M., A. Joshi, and E. Prince, eds., {\it Centering Theory in Discourse}, Oxford University Press, Oxford, in press
arxiv created 1997/07/16 · openalex publication_date 1997/07/16 · arxiv updated 2009/11/30 · openalex created_date 2025/10/10 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
One of the necessary extensions to the centering model is a mechanism to handle pronouns with intrasentential antecedents. Existing centering models deal only with discourses consisting of simple sentences. It leaves unclear how to delimit center-updating utterance units and how to process complex utterances consisting of multiple clauses. In this paper, I will explore the extent to which a straightforward extension of an existing intersentential centering model contributes to this effect. I will motivate an approach that breaks a complex sentence into a hierarchy of center-updating units and proposes the preferred interpretation of a pronoun in its local context arbitrarily deep in the given sentence structure. This approach will be substantiated with examples from naturally occurring written discourses.