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 wiki, email me or find me on IRC.

See also Blair's list of localization issues to consider for Uplift.

• what is the goal?
  • some initial thoughts: what kind of "natural" interface are we going for?
• how are arguments marked in different languages? (contribute here)
  • argument structure alternations (e.g. ditransitive alternation in English)
  • languages with case-marking
  • 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?
• the structure of imperatives in different languages
  • what do imperatives look like in so-called "information-structure-heavy" or "topic-comment" languges?
• 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?
  • what does learning/teaching natural languages teach us about how users can learn Ubiq?