Co-operation of syntax and semantics in flexive languages

Abstract The idiosyncrasies of the fiexic Slavonic languages, such as the rich case system and complex morphology, entail a free word-order and require a specialized approach when parsed. We claim complex morphology is not the only disadvantage of the language. Augmented transition networks for Slovak are introduced, and their adequacy for Slovak and comparison to English networks are discussed. Further, we introduce briefly our concept of semantic analysis, based on a semantic case system, verb and noun valency frames. The phenomenon of nominalization is investigated. The central theme of this paper is the close communication of syntax and semantics. The sequentially working modules shift misinterpretations and ambiguities from one to another. This leads to combinatorial explosions and the loss of effectiveness. The communication between the syntactic and semantic modules enables the exclusion of some syntactically correct, but semantically nonsensical interpretations in early phases of sentence processi...