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?
  • What are the linguistic features of the commands we hope to deal with?
• parser design
• how to collect data - initial thoughts
• how are arguments marked in different languages? (contribute here)
  • argument structure alternations (e.g. ditransitive alternation in English)
  • arguments with no role markings
  • an inventory of semantic roles for use in matching arguments to verb arguments
  • parsing languages with case-marking
  • parsing arguments with portmanteau'ed articles
  • 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 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?
  • 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 friendlier command feed subscription
  • what does learning/teaching natural languages teach us about how users can learn Ubiq?
• how to localize Ubiquity
  • Adding Your Language to Ubiquity Parser 2
  • a data-based approach
• the presentation of suggestions
  • on the scoring of suggestions