指向宾语的零形回指

零代词主要回指主语和主题位置上的指称对象,弄清它在什么情况下回指宾语位置上的指称对象有助于先行语的识别。语料分析发现,指向宾语的零形回指有四种类型:(1)先行语为前一小句的宾语,零回指为后一小句的主语;(2)先行语为前一小句的宾语,零回指为后一小句的宾语;(3)先行语和零代词为同一小句中的宾语;(4)先行语和零代词为主句的宾语成分和从句的主语。又分为同层次回指和次层次回指。同层次回指具有回指同位且不被其他零回指越过的特点,次层次回指具有回指异位和被其他零回指越过的特点。这些可分析性有助于指向宾语的零回指的识别及与指向主语的零回指的区分,可为计算机自然语言处理中零回指的识别提供参考。

Accessing Zero Anaphoric Antecedents to the Entities in Object Position

Zero anaphors usually refer back to entities mentioned in subject position and the position for sentential topic.An understanding of the conditions in which they refer back to entities mentioned in object position facilitates the identification of the antecedents.Data-analyses found that zero anaphors referring to the entities in object position fall into four types:(1) the antecedent is in the subject position of a previous clause while the zero anaphor is in the subject position of a subsequent clause;(2) the antecedent is the object of a previous clause while the zero anaphor is the object of a subsequent clause;(3) both the antecedent and the anaphor are objects in the same clause;and(4) the antecedent and the anaphor are the object of the main clause and the subject of a subordinate clause.These four types are further divided into Same Hierarchy and Secondary Hierarchy in terms of discourse structure.The Same Hierarchy references usually occur in the same syntactic position and do not crosscut while the Secondary Hierarchy references crosscut in positions and can be surpassed by higher level zero anaphoric reference.These analytic features favor the identification of the said antecedent and its distinction from that in subject position and can aid the computer processing of natural language in this regard.