View source for User:Mitcho/ResearchTopics

Here are some future research topics in linguistics relevant to Ubiquity, in particular for the localization of Ubiquity. Please comment here on the [[User_talk:Mitcho/ResearchTopics|wiki]], [mailto:mitcho@mitcho.com email me] or find me on [irc://irc.mozilla.org/ubiquity IRC].

See also [[User:Blur/UbiquityUplift#Localization|Blair's list of localization issues to consider]] for Uplift.

* what is the goal?
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/how-natural-should-a-natural-interface-be/ some initial thoughts: what kind of "natural" interface are we going for?]
** What are the linguistic features of the commands we hope to deal with?
* [[User:Mitcho/ParserTNG|parser design]]
* how to collect data - [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/ubiquity-i18n-questions-to-ask/ initial thoughts]
* [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/three-ways-to-argue-over-arguments/ how are arguments marked in different languages?] ([http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/contribute-how-your-language-identifies-its-arguments/ contribute here])
** argument structure alternations (e.g. ditransitive alternation in English)
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/observation/attachment-ambiguity/ arguments with no role markings]
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/rolling-out-the-roles/ an inventory of semantic roles] for use in matching arguments to verb arguments
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/in-case-of-case/ parsing languages with case-marking]
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/solving-a-romantic-problem/ parsing arguments with portmanteau'ed articles]
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/writing-commands-with-semantic-roles/ mapping argument structures between languages]
** do the same oblique arguments (prepositional phrases) map cleanly into prepositions in other languages? Short answer: no.
** how do you parse for verb-final languages? => see [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/ubiquity-in-firefox-japanese/ Japanese] for the time being
* the structure of imperatives in different languages
** what do imperatives look like in so-called "information-structure-heavy" or "topic-comment" languges?
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/observation/wheres-the-verb/ the position of the verb in target sentences]
*** multiple possible word orders: infinitives + subjunctives in imperative contexts (see German, Greek, etc.)
* pronouns, a.k.a. "magic words"
** how do deictic pronouns behave in imperative contexts?
** do we/should we distinguish between different kinds of pronouns?
* learnability/usability/discoverability
** how do you learn new commands? => see [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/friendlier-command-feed-subscription/ friendlier command feed subscription]
** what does learning/teaching natural languages teach us about how users can learn Ubiq?
* how to localize Ubiquity
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/how-to/adding-your-language-to-ubiquity-parser-2/ Adding Your Language to Ubiquity Parser 2]
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/projects/automating-the-linguists-job/ a data-based approach]
* the presentation of suggestions
** [http://mitcho.com/blog/observation/scoring-and-ranking-suggestions/ on the scoring of suggestions]