M. Hepple. 1994. Comments on Multimodal Systems. Lambek Calculus. Multimodal and Polymorphic Extensions. M. Moortgat (ed), DYANA Report R1.1.B. pp 37-44. OTS, Utrecht.


Abstract:

This paper sketches a view of multimodal categorial grammar that I have called the `hybrid' categorial approach. The paper is published alongside Michael Moortgat's paper "Residuation in mixed Lambek systems" (in DYANA Report R1.1.B, 1994), which presents a number of interesting ideas and results concerning mixed Lambek systems. The paper presents a view of multimodal categorial systems that differs to that described in Moortgat's paper in some important ways. Specifically, the two approaches make systematically contradictory claims concerning what are the `natural' directions of linkage between substructural levels within multimodal systems. The `hybrid' approach's alternative stance on this issue stems from its origins in ideas involving structural modalities and embedding translations. Having addressed this issue, the paper goes on to discuss some differences that follow from the hybrid view of linkage for the approach's use as a grammatical formalism, and also the `general linguistic approach' that the hybrid view tends to foster. Finally, the paper returns to the two contrasting views of linkage, and considers if there is a straightforward answer to whether one view is right and the other wrong.