Syntax (logic)

Abstract: Since its first publication, "Language Universals and Linguistic Typology" has become established as the leading introductory account of one of the most productive areas of linguistics-the analysis, comparison, and classification of the common features and forms of the organization of languages. Adopting an approach to the subject pioneered by Greenberg and others, Bernard Comrie is particularly concerned with syntactico-semantic universals, devoting chapters to word order, case making, relative clauses, and causative constructions. His book is informed throughout by the conviction that an exemplary account of universal properties of human language cannot restrict itself to purely formal aspects, nor focus on analysis of a single language. Rather, it must also consider language use, relate formal properties to testable claims about cognition and cognitive development, and treat data from a wide range of languages. This second edition has been revised and updated to take full account of new research in universals and typology in the past decade, and more generally to consider how the approach advocated here relates to recent advances in generative grammatical theory.

Abstract: 1. The goals of linguistic theory 2. Syntactic structure I: simple clauses and noun phrases 3. Semantic representation I: verbs and arguments 4. Semantic representation II: macroroles, the lexicon and noun phrases 5. Information structure 6. Grammatical relations 7. Linking syntax and semantics in simple sentences 8. Syntactic structure II: complex sentences and noun phrases 9. Linking syntax and semantics in complex sentences Epilogue: the goals of linguistic theory revisited Notes References.

Abstract: The Edinburgh Logical Framework (LF) provides a means to define (or present) logics. It is based on a general treatment of syntax, rules, and proofs by means of a typed l-calculus with dependent types. Syntax is treated in a style similar to, but more general than, Martin-Lo¨f's system of arities. The treatment of rules and proofs focuses on his notion of a judgment. Logics are represented in LF via a new principle, the judgments as types principle, whereby each judgment is identified with the type of its proofs. This allows for a smooth treatment of discharge and variable occurence conditions and leads to a uniform treatment of rules and proofs whereby rules are viewed as proofs of higher-order judgments and proof checking is reduced to type checking. The practical benefit of our treatment of formal systems is that logic-independent tools, such as proof editors and proof checkers, can be constructed.

Abstract: The Edinburgh Logical Framework (LF) provides a means to define (or present) logics. It is based on a general treatment of syntax, rules, and proofs by means of a typed l-calculus with dependent types. Syntax is treated in a style similar to, but more general than, Martin-Lo¨f's system of arities. The treatment of rules and proofs focuses on his notion of a judgment. Logics are represented in LF via a new principle, the judgments as types principle, whereby each judgment is identified with the type of its proofs. This allows for a smooth treatment of discharge and variable occurence conditions and leads to a uniform treatment of rules and proofs whereby rules are viewed as proofs of higher-order judgments and proof checking is reduced to type checking. The practical benefit of our treatment of formal systems is that logic-independent tools, such as proof editors and proof checkers, can be constructed.