Argument Realization in Dutch

Abstract

The treatment of argument realization is rather straightforward for a language like English, but for a language with relatively free word order, such as Dutch, it is a complex matter. It is not surprising then that the devices which are commonly used to deal with it show a high degree of computational complexity. They typically include movement, as in transformational grammar, or the dissociation of order-in-the-representation from the surface order, as in certain types of monostratal grammar. For the purpose of natural language description these devices are certainly convenient, but for the purpose of natural language processing they are less attractive. For this reason, I propose an alternative treatment of argument realization, which is consistently monostratal and surface-oriented. Its cornerstone is the GENERALIZED ARGUMENT REALIZATION PRINCIPLE. It is a generalization of the Argument Realization Principle which is proposed in (Ginzburg and Sag 2000) to deal with English.