A generic framework for Arabic to English machine ... - Acsu Buffalo

3.6. SUMMARY
relevant distinctions that permit the expression of significant generalizations) (Van Valin
and LaPolla 1997).
3.6 Summary
RRG describes mainly a sentence of a specific language in terms of:
1) logical structure;
2) grammatical procedures.
We use RRG to model Arabic, because there are certain cases where the standard NP VP
categorisation does not apply due to the absence of a copula verb in the language. Since
RRG does not structure sentences based around a VP, it is more suited to representing
such sentences.
The main features of RRG are the use of lexical decomposition, based upon predicate
semantics. The RRG model creates a relationship between syntax and semantics and
can account for how semantic representations are mapped into syntactic representations.
RRG also accounts for the very different process of mapping syntactic representations to
semantic representations.
The division in the clause is between a core and a periphery The clause consists of the
core with its arguments, and then the nucleus, which subsumes the predicate. The core
arguments are those which are part of the semantic representation of the verb. The pe-
riphery is represented on the margin, and the arrow there indicates that it is an adjunct;
that is, it is an optional modifier of the core.
There are languages in which operators occur on both sides of the nucleus; for example,
in Arabic, the imperfect tense
ālf֒l ālmd. ār֒ marker is a prefix, while the
perfect tense ālf֒l ālmād. y marker is a suffix (Ryding 2007). In such cases
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