View source for Discontinuous-constituent phrase structure grammar

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'''Discontinuous-constituent Phrase Structure Grammar''' (DCPSG) (distinct from Discontinuous Phrase Structure Grammar/DPSG) is a [[Formalism (linguistics)|formalism]] for describing discontinuous [[Phrase structure rules|phrase structures]] in [[natural language]], such as [[Verb phrase|verb phrases]] in [[VSO language|VSO]] languages. The formalism was introduced in the slightly more constrained form of Discontinuous-constituent Phrase Structure Grammar with Subscripts and Deletes (DCPSGsd) in Harman (1963).<ref name="harman1963">Harman, Gilbert H. 1963. Generative Grammars without Transformation Rules: A Defense of Phrase Structure. ''Language'' 39(4), 597-616.</ref> DCPSGs describe a superset of the [[Context-free language|context-free languages]], by means of rewrite rules that permit a limited amount of wrapping, similar to that found in [[Head grammar]].
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==Description==

Rewrite rules of a '''DCPSG''' are identical to those of a CFG, with the addition of a meta-symbol, denoted here as an underscore. ''DCPSG'' rules therefore have the general form <math>X \to \alpha</math> where <math>\alpha</math> is a string of terminal symbols and/or non-terminal symbols and at most one underscore.

The rewrite semantics of DCPSG are identical as those of a CFG when the rule being used does not contain an underscore: given a rule <math>X \to \alpha</math>, an occurrence of <math>X</math> may be rewritten as <math>\alpha</math>.

For rules with an underscore, the rewrite [[semantics]] are slightly different: given a rule <math>X \to \alpha \_ \beta</math>, an occurrence of <math>X</math> can be rewritten as <math>\alpha</math>, with <math>\beta</math> being inserted immediately after the next non-terminal that is introduced at the same time. Using strict left-most productions, <math>\beta</math> is simply inserted immediately after the non-terminal that follows <math>X</math> prior to the rewrite.

==Example==

We can characterize the gross sentence structure of a VSO language such as [[Irish language|Irish]] with the following rules (substituting English words for Irish words, and using subscripts solely for demonstration of discontinuity):

: <chem>S -> VP\ NP_{subj}</chem>

: <chem>VP -> ITV ~|~ TV \ \_ \ NP_{obj}</chem>

: <chem>NP -> \it{John} ~|~ \it{Susan} ~|~ ...</chem>

: <chem>ITV -> \it{ran} ~|~ \it{danced} ~|~ ...</chem>

: <chem>TV -> \it{saw} ~|~ \it{met} ~|~ ...</chem>

A derivation for the sentence ''saw John Susan'', where ''John'' is the subject, and ''Susan'' is the direct object forming a VP with ''saw'' is:

: <chem>S -> VP\ NP_{subj} -> TV\ NP_{subj} NP_{obj} -> \mathit{saw}\ NP_{subj}\ NP_{obj} -> \mathit{saw}\ \mathit{John}\ NP_{obj} -> \mathit{saw}\ \mathit{John}\ \mathit{Mary}</chem>

==References==

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{{Formal languages and grammars}}

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