D. S. Brée
ABSTRACT
The function words of a language provide explicit information about how propositions are to be related. We have examined a subset of these function words, namely the subordinating conjunctions which link propositions within a sentence, using sentences taken from corpora stored on magnetic tape. On the basis of this analysis, a computer program for Dutch language generation and comprehension has been extended to deal with the subordinating conjunctions. We present an overview of the underlying dimensions that were used in describing the semantics and pragmatics of the Dutch subordinating conjunctions. We propose a Universal set of Linking Dimensions, sufficient to specify the subordinating conjunctions in any language. This ULD is a first proposal for the representation required for a computer program to understand or translate the subordinating conjunctions of any natural language.
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Digital Library
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- Linking propositions
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