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\n\n \n \n Liang, Y., Amsili, P., & Burnett, H.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n New ways of analyzing complementizer drop in Montréal French: Exploration of cognitive factors.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n
Language Variation and Change, 33(3): 359-385. 2021.\n
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@Article{\t liang21.lvc,\n author\t= {Liang, Yiming and Amsili, Pascal and Burnett, Heather},\n title\t\t= {New ways of analyzing complementizer drop in {M}ontréal\n\t\t {F}rench: Exploration of cognitive factors},\n journal\t= {Language Variation and Change},\n volume\t= 33,\n number\t= 3,\n pages\t\t= {359-385},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n publisher\t= {Cambridge University Press},\n abstract\t= {In this paper, we return to the well-studied yet still\n\t\t puzzling phenomenon of complementizer omission in a large\n\t\t spoken corpus of Quebec French, with the help of modern\n\t\t computational methods for annotation and mixed effects\n\t\t logistic regression models. Supporting previous work, our\n\t\t study reveals that complementizer que omission is\n\t\t conditioned by social factors and grammatical factors;\n\t\t however, we also find that que omission is conditioned by\n\t\t cognitive factors such as information density. Our paper\n\t\t thus illustrates an important way in which older\n\t\t variationist corpora can continue to be valuable resources\n\t\t for studying fine-grained patterns of variation,\n\t\t particularly in their cognitive aspects.},\n url_pdf\t= {../Docs/papers/liang21_lvc.pdf},\n url_paper\t= {https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/language-variation-and-change/article/new-ways-of-analyzing-complementizer-drop-in-montreal-french-exploration-of-cognitive-factors/B404338C8D0B7F46A8B0066BDB1C890E},\n url_hal\t= {https://hal.science/hal-03780696v1},\n doi\t\t= {10.1017/S0954394521000223}\n}\n\n
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\n In this paper, we return to the well-studied yet still puzzling phenomenon of complementizer omission in a large spoken corpus of Quebec French, with the help of modern computational methods for annotation and mixed effects logistic regression models. Supporting previous work, our study reveals that complementizer que omission is conditioned by social factors and grammatical factors; however, we also find that que omission is conditioned by cognitive factors such as information density. Our paper thus illustrates an important way in which older variationist corpora can continue to be valuable resources for studying fine-grained patterns of variation, particularly in their cognitive aspects.\n
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\n\n \n \n Brusini, P., Seminck, O., Amsili, P., & Christophe, A.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n The Acquisition of Noun and Verb Categories by Bootstrapping from a few Known Words: A Computational Model.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n
Frontiers in Psychology, 12: 3348. 2021.\n
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@Article{\t brusini21.frt,\n author\t= {Brusini, Perrine and Seminck, Olga and Amsili, Pascal and\n\t\t Christophe, Anne},\n title\t\t= {The Acquisition of Noun and Verb Categories by\n\t\t Bootstrapping from a few Known Words: A Computational\n\t\t Model},\n journal\t= {Frontiers in Psychology},\n volume\t= {12},\n pages\t\t= {3348},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n doi\t\t= {10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661479},\n url_hal\t= {https://hal.science/hal-03768128v1},\n url_paper\t= {https://www.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.661479},\n url_pdf\t= {../Docs/papers/brusini21_frt.pdf},\n issn\t\t= {1664-1078},\n abstract\t= {While many studies have shown that toddlers are able to\n\t\t detect syntactic regularities in speech, the learning\n\t\t mechanism allowing them to do this is still largely\n\t\t unclear. In this article, we use computational modeling to\n\t\t assess the plausibility of a context-based learning\n\t\t mechanism for the acquisition of nouns and verbs. We\n\t\t hypothesize that infants can assign basic semantic\n\t\t features, such as ``is-an-objec'' and/or ``is-an-action,''\n\t\t to the very first words they learn, then use these words,\n\t\t the semantic seed, to ground proto-categories of nouns and\n\t\t verbs. The contexts in which these words occur, would then\n\t\t be exploited to bootstrap the noun and verb categories:\n\t\t unknown words are attributed to the class that has been\n\t\t observed most frequently in the corresponding context. To\n\t\t test our hypothesis, we designed a series of computational\n\t\t experiments which used French corpora of child-directed\n\t\t speech and different sizes of semantic seed. We partitioned\n\t\t these corpora in training and test sets: the model\n\t\t extracted the two-word contexts of the seed from the\n\t\t training sets, then used them to predict the syntactic\n\t\t category of content words from the test sets. This very\n\t\t simple algorithm demonstrated to be highly efficient in a\n\t\t categorization task: even the smallest semantic seed (only\n\t\t 8 nouns and 1 verb known) yields a very high precision\n\t\t (~90\\% of new nouns; ~80\\% of new verbs). Recall, in\n\t\t contrast, was low for small seeds, and increased with the\n\t\t seed size. Interestingly, we observed that the contexts\n\t\t used most often by the model featured function words, which\n\t\t is in line with what we know about infants' language\n\t\t development. Crucially, for the learning method we\n\t\t evaluated here, all initialization hypotheses are plausible\n\t\t and fit the developmental literature (semantic seed and\n\t\t ability to analyse contexts). While this experiment cannot\n\t\t prove that this learning mechanism is indeed used by\n\t\t infants, it demonstrates the feasibility of a realistic\n\t\t learning hypothesis, by using an algorithm that relies on\n\t\t very little computational and memory resources. Altogether,\n\t\t this supports the idea that a probabilistic, context-based\n\t\t mechanism can be very efficient for the acquisition of\n\t\t syntactic categories in infants.}\n}\n\n
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\n While many studies have shown that toddlers are able to detect syntactic regularities in speech, the learning mechanism allowing them to do this is still largely unclear. In this article, we use computational modeling to assess the plausibility of a context-based learning mechanism for the acquisition of nouns and verbs. We hypothesize that infants can assign basic semantic features, such as ``is-an-objec'' and/or ``is-an-action,'' to the very first words they learn, then use these words, the semantic seed, to ground proto-categories of nouns and verbs. The contexts in which these words occur, would then be exploited to bootstrap the noun and verb categories: unknown words are attributed to the class that has been observed most frequently in the corresponding context. To test our hypothesis, we designed a series of computational experiments which used French corpora of child-directed speech and different sizes of semantic seed. We partitioned these corpora in training and test sets: the model extracted the two-word contexts of the seed from the training sets, then used them to predict the syntactic category of content words from the test sets. This very simple algorithm demonstrated to be highly efficient in a categorization task: even the smallest semantic seed (only 8 nouns and 1 verb known) yields a very high precision ( 90% of new nouns; 80% of new verbs). Recall, in contrast, was low for small seeds, and increased with the seed size. Interestingly, we observed that the contexts used most often by the model featured function words, which is in line with what we know about infants' language development. Crucially, for the learning method we evaluated here, all initialization hypotheses are plausible and fit the developmental literature (semantic seed and ability to analyse contexts). While this experiment cannot prove that this learning mechanism is indeed used by infants, it demonstrates the feasibility of a realistic learning hypothesis, by using an algorithm that relies on very little computational and memory resources. Altogether, this supports the idea that a probabilistic, context-based mechanism can be very efficient for the acquisition of syntactic categories in infants.\n
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\n\n \n \n Amsili, P.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n La sémantique et la pragmatique.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, Introduction, pages XLI–XLVI. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21a.ggf,\n author\t= {Amsili, Pascal},\n title\t\t= {La sémantique et la pragmatique},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {Introduction},\n pages\t\t= {XLI--XLVI},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Godard, D., & Amsili, P.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Les quantifieurs `chaque' et `chacun'.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, V - La détermination et la quantification, pages 615–618. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21b.ggf,\n author\t= {Godard, Danièle and Amsili, Pascal},\n title\t\t= {Les quantifieurs `chaque' et `chacun'},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {V - La détermination et la quantification},\n pages\t\t= {615--618},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Godard, D., & Amsili, P.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Les quantifieurs `tout' et `tous'.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, V - La détermination et la quantification, pages 619–630. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21c.ggf,\n author\t= {Godard, Danièle and Amsili, Pascal},\n title\t\t= {Les quantifieurs `tout' et `tous'},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {V - La détermination et la quantification},\n pages\t\t= {619--630},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Amsili, P.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Les subordonnées circonstancielles de finalité.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, XIV - Les subordonnées circonstancielles, pages 1588–1599. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21d.ggf,\n author\t= {Amsili, Pascal},\n title\t\t= {Les subordonnées circonstancielles de finalité},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {XIV - Les subordonnées circonstancielles},\n pages\t\t= {1588--1599},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Amsili, P., Desmets, M., & Roussarie, L.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Les constructions comparatives, superlatives et consécutives.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, XV - Les comparatives et les consécutives, pages 1641–1648. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21e.ggf,\n author\t= {Amsili, Pascal and Desmets, Marianne and Roussarie,\n\t\t Laurent},\n title\t\t= {Les constructions comparatives, superlatives et\n\t\t consécutives},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {XV - Les comparatives et les consécutives},\n pages\t\t= {1641--1648},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Amsili, P., Desmets, M., & Abeillé, A.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Les constructions comparatives incomplètes.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Abeillé, A., & Godard, D., editor(s),
La Grande Grammaire du Français, XV - Les comparatives et les consécutives, pages 1686–1698. Actes Sud, Arles, 2021.\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21f.ggf,\n author\t= {Amsili, Pascal and Desmets, Marianne and Abeillé, Anne},\n title\t\t= {Les constructions comparatives incomplètes},\n xcrossref\t= {ggf21},\n chapter\t= {XV - Les comparatives et les consécutives},\n pages\t\t= {1686--1698},\n editor\t= {Abeillé, Anne and Godard, Danièle},\n booktitle\t= {La Grande Grammaire du Français},\n publisher\t= {Actes Sud},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n address\t= {Arles}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Amsili, P., & Beyssade, C.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Plus in the French negative system. A presuppositional and non-quantificational n-word.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Dragomirescu, A., & Nicolae, A., editor(s),
Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2017: Selected papers from Going Romance 31, Bucharest, volume 335, pages 30–47. John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 2021.\n
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\n\n \n \n Paper\n \n \n\n \n \n doi\n \n \n\n \n link\n \n \n\n bibtex\n \n\n \n \n \n abstract \n \n\n \n \n \n 9 downloads\n \n \n\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\n \n \n \n\n\n\n
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@InCollection{\t amsili21.gr,\n author\t= {Amsili, Pascal and Beyssade, Claire},\n title\t\t= {Plus in the {F}rench negative system. {A} presuppositional\n\t\t and non-quantificational n-word},\n booktitle\t= {Romance Languages and Linguistic Theory 2017: Selected\n\t\t papers from Going Romance 31, Bucharest},\n publisher\t= {John Benjamins Publishing Company},\n volume\t= {335},\n pages\t\t= {30--47},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n editor\t= {Dragomirescu, Adina and Nicolae, Alexandru},\n doi\t\t= {https://doi.org/10.1075/cilt.355.02ams},\n url\t\t= "https://www.jbe-platform.com/content/books/9789027258427-cilt.355.02ams",\n abstract\t= {This contribution focuses on the place of plus (``no\n\t\t more'') in the system of negation in French. Is it merely\n\t\t the presuppositional counterpart of pas (``not''), or does\n\t\t it belong to the class of n-words, such as personne\n\t\t (``nobody'') and rien (``nothing''), which can combine with\n\t\t each other and give rise to negative concord readings? We\n\t\t show that when plus co-occurs with an n-word, it brings\n\t\t different semantic contributions depending on the place it\n\t\t occupies. This leads us to assume that two instances of\n\t\t plus have to be distinguished: one that incorporates a\n\t\t sentential negation and the other which has only a\n\t\t presuppositional contribution. These two instances differ\n\t\t in assertive content, but convey the same presuppositional\n\t\t content. The chapter shows how to derive the observed\n\t\t interpretations in each kind of configuration.},\n address\t= {Amsterdam}\n}\n\n
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\n This contribution focuses on the place of plus (``no more'') in the system of negation in French. Is it merely the presuppositional counterpart of pas (``not''), or does it belong to the class of n-words, such as personne (``nobody'') and rien (``nothing''), which can combine with each other and give rise to negative concord readings? We show that when plus co-occurs with an n-word, it brings different semantic contributions depending on the place it occupies. This leads us to assume that two instances of plus have to be distinguished: one that incorporates a sentential negation and the other which has only a presuppositional contribution. These two instances differ in assertive content, but convey the same presuppositional content. The chapter shows how to derive the observed interpretations in each kind of configuration.\n
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\n\n \n \n Chen, S., Amsili, P., & Liang, Y.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Inter-clausal Anaphora in Chinese Conditionals: a Multi-factorial Analysis.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In Jong-Bok, K., Zong, C., & Chersoni, E., editor(s),
Proceedings of the 35th Pacific Asia Conference on Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 35), Shanghai, November 2021. \n
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@InProceedings{\t chen21.paclic,\n author\t= {Chen, Shunting and Amsili, Pascal and Liang, Yiming},\n title\t\t= {Inter-clausal Anaphora in Chinese Conditionals: a\n\t\t Multi-factorial Analysis},\n booktitle\t= {Proceedings of the 35th Pacific Asia Conference on\n\t\t Language, Information and Computation (PACLIC 35)},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n editor\t= {Kim Jong-Bok and Zong, Chengqing and Chersoni, Emmanuele},\n month\t\t= nov,\n address\t= {Shanghai},\n url_paper\t= {../Docs/papers/chen21_paclic.pdf},\n url_slides\t= {../Docs/talks/slides_chen21_paclic.pdf}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Liang, Y., Amsili, P., & Burnett, H.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Exploring the polarity effect on future variation in Parisian French.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In
Paper presented at the 13th biennal conference ``UK Language Variation and Change'', September 2021. University of Glasgow\n
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@InProceedings{\t liang21.uklvc,\n author\t= {Liang, Yiming and Amsili, Pascal and Burnett, Heather},\n title\t\t= {Exploring the polarity effect on future variation in\n\t\t Parisian French},\n booktitle\t= {Paper presented at the 13th biennal conference ``UK\n\t\t Language Variation and Change''},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n month\t\t= sep,\n organization\t= {University of Glasgow},\n url_abs\t= {../Docs/papers/liang21_uklvc_abstract.pdf},\n url_slides\t= {../Docs/talks/slides_liang21_uklvc.pdf}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Chen, S., Liang, Y., & Amsili, P.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n \n Chinese Inter-clausal Anaphora in Conditionals: A Mixed Effects Logistic Regression Study.\n \n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In
Abstract presented at the 34th Paris Meeting on East Asian Linguistics (JLAO34), 2021. Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale, CNRS\n
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@InProceedings{\t chen21.jlao,\n author\t= {Chen, Shunting and Liang, Yiming and Amsili, Pascal},\n title\t\t= {Chinese Inter-clausal Anaphora in Conditionals: A Mixed\n\t\t Effects Logistic Regression Study},\n booktitle\t= {Abstract presented at the 34th Paris Meeting on East Asian\n\t\t Linguistics (JLAO34)},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n url_abstract\t= {../Docs/papers/chen21_jlao_abstract.pdf},\n organization\t= {Centre de Recherches Linguistiques sur l'Asie Orientale,\n\t\t CNRS}\n}\n\n
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\n\n \n \n Liang, Y., Amsili, P., & Burnett, H.\n\n\n \n \n \n \n Revisiter l'omission du complémenteur ``que'' en français montréalais: exploration de facteurs cognitifs.\n \n \n \n\n\n \n\n\n\n In
Paper presented at the Anual Conference of the Canadian Linguistic Association, June 2021. \n
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@InProceedings{\t liang21.acl,\n author\t= {Liang, Yiming and Amsili, Pascal and Burnett, Heather},\n title\t\t= {Revisiter l'omission du complémenteur ``que'' en français\n\t\t montréalais: exploration de facteurs cognitifs},\n booktitle\t= {Paper presented at the Anual Conference of the Canadian\n\t\t Linguistic Association},\n year\t\t= 2021,\n month\t\t= jun\n}\n\n
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