Computational Syntax
Master of Language Technology course LT2204
University of Gothenburg, Spring 2018
News
26 May: extra lab session on 29 May at 13:15-15 in Lab 4 supervised by Herbert. Also recall the possibility of a cheat sheet in Monday's exam; see below under "exam" for details.
20 April: swapped lectures 7 and 8; added a link to 2017 exam
10 April: github repository for the course: https://github.com/GrammaticalFramework/comp-syntax-gu
The 2018 course starts with a lecture on 27 March at 10:15 in L308 (Lennart Torstenssonsgatan 8)
Basic information
Course responsible: Aarne Ranta http://www.cse.chalmers.se/~aarne/
Teaching assistant: Herbert Lange http://www.gu.se/omuniversitetet/personal/?userId=xlangh&departmentId=107824
GF web page: http://www.grammaticalframework.org/
GF book slides: http://www.grammaticalframework.org/gf-book/gf-book-slides.pdf
Schema in TimeEdit: https://se.timeedit.net/web/gu/db1/schema/ri1X50gQ3560YvQQ96Z6570Y0Zy2007511Y59Q720.html
Official course plan: http://kursplaner.gu.se/pdf/kurs/en/LT2204
Official GUL page: https://gul.gu.se/courseId/83533/content.do?id=39752548
Programme
- Lecture 1: introduction to the methods and applications of computational syntax: http://www.grammaticalframework.org/~aarne/gf-google-2016.pdf (Google tech talk video in https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x1LFbDQhbso ) with some hands-on coding in the GF cloud http://cloud.grammaticalframework.org/gfse/ (grammar MLT2018)
- Lecture 2: Introducing the GF shell, which can be downloaded from http://www.grammaticalframework.org/download/index.html Hands-on coding with focus on morphology: https://github.com/GrammaticalFramework/comp-syntax-gu/tree/master/examples Summary of GF and how it generalizes context-free grammars
- Lecture 3: GF for Python programmers (Herbert) https://daherb.github.io/GF-for-Python-programmers/
- Lecture 4: Fundamentals of syntax: GF book (or book slides) Chapter 9
- Lecture 5: Implementing a mini resource grammar https://github.com/GrammaticalFramework/comp-syntax-gu/tree/master/labs/lab1
- Lecture 6: The GF Resource Grammar Library: http://www.grammaticalframework.org/lib/doc/synopsis.html
- Lecture 7: Abstract Syntax and Universal Dependencies: http://www.grammaticalframework.org/~aarne/ud-gf-malta-2017.pdf
- Lecture 8: Application grammar programming: best practices and tutorial http://www.molto-project.eu/sites/default/files/MOLTO_D2.3.pdf, Shops example code https://github.com/GrammaticalFramework/comp-syntax-gu/tree/master/examples/shops
- Lecture 9: Recap with last year's exam ; getting started with projects
Each lecture is around 2 hours. In addition, there are supervised tutorials (in TimeEdit, the ones in Lab4 are tutorials)
To get accepted, one has to pass the exam and do two assignments.
Exam
The exam is on 28 May at 9:00-13 at Viktoriagatan 30. It will have the same format as previous exams:
- 2017: https://docs.google.com/document/d/15Hj6q8rJIocohG5CYD0o5n7jPL7bnbe5hcKmIi21S1E/edit?usp=sharing
- 2016: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1rZPazAfvECGmJMAwZtywqJyFqOvxveCnO2PELq5Es7Q/edit?usp=sharing
Like in 2017, you are allowed to take with you a cheat sheet, which is an A4 hand-written on both sides, and where you can write whatever you want. For instance, a specification of GF's rule notation.
Assignment
The assignment comes in two parts. The first should be finished by 15 May, the second by 15 June.
1. A Mini resource grammar for a language of your choice, containing all concrete syntax modules needed for
2. Either an Extended Mini Resource:
or an application grammar, to be specified and appear here:
The purpose of Assignment 1 is to give everyone hands-on experience about the core syntax of a language of your choice. You are free to pick any language that you want. This assignment requires 1-2 weeks of full time work.
In Assignment 2, you can continue on the linguistics of the language you chose in Assignment 1, by making the Extended Mini Resource. The new structures can be more demanding than in Assignment 1. This alternative is recommended for those interested in linguistics, and particularly for those who want to continue with a full resource grammar of some new language (which is a project of the size of a Masters thesis.
The alternative path, application grammar, is a more practical task, which you may encounter if you work in a language technology company. There you use the standard Resource Grammar Library without the need to go to the linguistic details of your target language. However, you will have to think more about semantics and idiomatic ways of expression.