A Theory of Time and the Word Now

1
A Theory of Timeand the Word Now

• Jerry R. Hobbs
• USC Information Sciences Institute
• Marina del Rey, CA

2
Where Are We?

• Introduction Core theories of commonsense
• knowledge and their relation to the lexicon
• Framework Logic and abduction
• Cognition and the cognitive lexicon
• Time and now
• Causality and modality
• Similarity and like

3
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

4
Theory of Time Began as ...
DAML DARPA Agent Markup Language
Semantic Web? DAML Ontology of time for
describing temporal content of web pages
temporal properties of web pages temporal
properties of web services
5
Examples
E-Commerce
Need book by next Tuesday
Ships books within five business days
?
Genealogy
Marriage record for ancestor year Find birth
records for same name, between 15 and 45 years
before
6
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

7
Time Topology
instants
interval
inside
begins
ends
x
y
before(x,y)
before is anti-reflexive, anti-symmetric,
transitive
start before inside before end
8
Core and Extensions
A core temporal ontology everyone can agree on
Optional extensions Convexity
before(beginning(T),t) before(t,end(T))
-- inside(t,T)
Extensional collapse beginning(T1)
beginning(T2) end(T1) end(T2)
-- T1 T2 Total ordering
(??t1,t2) before(t1,t2) v t1t2 v before(t2,t1)
Points at and - infinity
9
Controversial Issuesand What to do about Them
Are the end points of an interval a part of the
interval? Can there be intervals of zero
length? Is an interval of zero length an
instant? Avoid these issues keep
ontology silent. (Many problems
arise when trying to identify 0-D
and 1-D entities) Is time totally ordered? Are
there points at infinity? Optional
extensions with triggers Total-order() --
(A t1,t2)before(t1,t2) v t1t2 v before(t2,t1)
10
Interval Relations in Terms of before, starts,
ends
T1
t2
t1
t3
t4
T2
(A T1,T2)int-overlaps(T1,T2)
proper-interval(T1) proper-interval(T2)
(E t2,t3)ends(t2,T1)
begins(t3,T2) before(t3,t2)
(A t1)begins(t1,T1) --
before(t1,t3)
(A t4)ends(t4,T2) -- before(t2,t4)
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The Interval Algebra
(Allen Ferguson, 1997)
before
meets
overlaps
Relations between this and start, end, and before
starts
equals
during
finishes
12
Events and Time
Temporal ontology is not an ontology of events,
e.g., no aspect, subevent relations,
event decomposition, etc. If you
reify events Predicates to interface events with
time at-time(e,t) during(e,T)
timeSpan(T,e) If you dont reify events Event
ontology can provide its own means p(x,t)
13
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

14
Time Duration
seconds(T) duration(T, Second) seconds(T)
60 minutes(T) days(T) ?? months(T)
-- requires calendar axioms
15
Concatenation and "Hath"
Concatenation(x,S) x is concatenation of
intervals in S
x
S
Concatenation(T1,T2,T3) --
duration(T1,u) duration(T2,u) duration(T3,u)
Hath(n,u,x) n units of type u comprises
x September(x,y) -- Hath(30,Day,x) minute(x)
-- Hath(60,Second,x)
x
u
u
u
u
Sn
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Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

17
Clock and Calendar
Time zones Not geographical regions, but
legal entities Property of hours days
months years C.E. CE(z) Common Era
in time zone z Various ways of saying
minit(y,n,x) minitFn(n,x) y
clock-int(y,n,Minute,x)
y is the nth minute in x
18
Clock and Calendar
dayofweek(d,3,w) Tuesday(d,w) mon(m,1,y)
January(m,y) leapyear(y)
yr(y,n,CE(z))
400 n v 4n 100n February(m,y)
leapyear(y) --
Hath(S,28,Day,y)
19
Month as a Unit of Duration
Need months as units of duration since since
charges are often by the month.
one month
nth day
nth day
But January 31 1 month February 28
January 30 1 month February 28 February
28 1 month March 28 or March 31? January
31 2 months March 31 January 30 2
months March 30 So January 30 1 month 1
month / January 30 2 months
20
Clock and Calendar
weekendday(d,w) Saturday(d,w) v
Sunday(d,w) da(d,4,m) July(m,y) --
holiday(d,USA) business-day(d,g) (E
w)weekendday(d,w)
holiday(d,g)
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Clock and Calendar
Time Stamps time-of(t,y,m,d,h,n,s,z)
in-interval(t,secFn(s,minFn(n,hrFn(h,daFn(d,monFn(
m,yrFn(y,CE(z))))))))
If t is 42538 pm PDT, January 28, 2003 then
time-of(t,2003,1,28,16,25,38,PDT)
Mapping onto ISO 8601 standard
22
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

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Deictic Time
now(t,u) instant/interval t is now in
utterance/document u today(d,u) now(t,u)
in-interval(t,d) day(d,n,x) past(t,u)
now(t1,u) before(t,t1) ago(t,T,u)
now(t1,u) interval-betw(t,t1) T
CREATION_TIME, EXPIRATION_TIME,
MODIFICATION_TIME, PUBLICATION_TIME,
RELEASE_TIME, ...
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Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

25
Temporal Aggregates
five business days every third Monday in
2001 every morning for the last four years
four consecutive Sundays the first nine
months of 1997 three weekdays after January
10 the fourth of six days of voting
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Temporal Aggregates
temporal sequence set of nonoverlapping
instants and/or intervals ordered by
before first(s), nth(s,n) futurep(p,u) s
(A t)member(t,s)
(E t1,t2)p(t) now(t1,u) begins(t2,t)

before(t1,t2) (sequence of all the ps
after now)
27
Example
next Tuesday Tuesday(first(futurep(cal-we
ek,u))) five business days
nth(futurep(business-day,u),5)
delivery
5 business days
order
?
next Tuesday
28
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

29
Vague Temporal Concepts
Vague Temporal Concepts recently, soon, a
little while, .... Where text annotation can
help immensely what durations do people
intend? She had recently 3 mos bought a
laptop. In recent 5 yrs years farmers have
been enjoying record yields. The recent 1 wk
computer crash was costly. Need data on what
these terms mean.
30
Encoding the Temporal Information in Text
clock calendar intervals instants
2001
inclusion
intervals
6 mos
Sept 11
durations
before
warning
instantaneous events
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Example
The top commander of a Cambodian resistance force
said Thursday he has sent a team to recover the
remains of a British mine removal expert
kidnapped and presumed killed by Khmer Rouge
guerrillas two years ago.
resist
command
recover
sent
Thursday
said
now
2 years
presumed
remove
kidnap
killed
remain
32
Outline

• A Theory of Time
• Topological relations
• Durations
• Clock and Calendar
• 4. Deictic Time
• 5. Temporal Aggregates
• Vague Temporal Concepts
• The Word Now

33
Questions
What does now convey in discourse? Does it
refer to real time or to discourse time?
What are the categories of use? What coherence
relations does it signal? How great a time span
does it apply to, and how do we know? As a
discourse particle, does it introduce a new
topic or does it shift the perspective, and
can we define this distinction precisely? Does
stress reliably indicate this distinction?
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Investigation

• Close examination of 124 examples of now
• in a variety of genres
• Carson McCullers Ballad of the Sad Cafe (22)
• 2. San Jose Mercury News business section (20)
• 3. Science articles on AIDS (7)
• 4. Shakespeares sonnets (27)
• 5. Transcripts of decision-making meetings (25)
• Lyrics of country n western songs (23)
• Makes both depth of analysis and generality
  possible

35
Categories of Use of Now
1. Real Time now anchors the time of a
condition or event in real time or in the
time of the story Large numbers went out of
business and are now bringing a
class-action suit. 2. Generic Process
Development A general process is described
and not anchored in time now introduces a new
state in that process AsnH100a rotates
to the distal side of the H3 loop where it now
points away from the binding site. 3.
Text Development now signals change in the
common structure the speaker and hearer are
building Equation 1, describing how the
density of viral strain i changes over
time, now becomes dvi/dt vi (r -sz-pxi).
36
Categories of Use of Now
4. Perspective Shift now signals a shift to
a different perspective on the same scene or
topic She wiped her cheek with a red
handkerchief, got up, and closed the
office door. Now to the group on the porch
this gesture acted as a signal. 5.
Topic Shift now signals a shift to a new
scene or topic A I mean Im
assuming were all gonna take Mr. Smith
to lunch. B Mhmm. A Now, uh as you
know, my project is a million bucks a year.
37
Some Results
RealTime
ProcDev TextDev Perspect Topic
TOTAL Novel 9
- - 13
- 22 Business News
20 - -
- - 20 Science
3 3
1 - -
7 Shakespeare 24
3 - -
- 27 Transcripts
1 1 2
8 13 25 Lyrics
19 -
1 3 -
23 TOTAL 76
7 4 24
13 124
38
Some Genre Differences
In Science, the processes explicated are
unanchored in real time scientific
progress is anchored in real time.
RealTime
ProcDev TextDev Perspect Topic
TOTAL Novel 9
- - 13
- 22 Business News
20 - -
- - 20 Science
3 3
1 - -
7 Shakespeare 24
3 - -
- 27 Transcripts
1 1 2
8 13 25 Lyrics
19 -
1 3 -
23 TOTAL 76
7 4 24
13 124
39
Some Genre Differences
Perspective shift now occurs only in Novel,
Transcripts, Lyrics More colloquial style,
esp. Southern
RealTime
ProcDev TextDev Perspect Topic
TOTAL Novel 9
- - 13
- 22 Business News
20 - -
- - 20 Science
3 3
1 - -
7 Shakespeare 24
3 - -
- 27 Transcripts
1 1 2
8 13 25 Lyrics
19 -
1 3 -
23 TOTAL 76
7 4 24
13 124
40
Some Genre Differences
Topic shift now occurs only in Transcripts
Colloquial, unplanned, more likely to have
multiple topics.
RealTime
ProcDev TextDev Perspect Topic
TOTAL Novel 9
- - 13
- 22 Business News
20 - -
- - 20 Science
3 3
1 - -
7 Shakespeare 24
3 - -
- 27 Transcripts
1 1 2
8 13 25 Lyrics
19 -
1 3 -
23 TOTAL 76
7 4 24
13 124
41
Some Genre Differences
Transcripts Most occurrences are Topic or
Perspective shifts May be artificial
nature of conversation.
RealTime
ProcDev TextDev Perspect Topic
TOTAL Novel 9
- - 13
- 22 Business News
20 - -
- - 20 Science
3 3
1 - -
7 Shakespeare 24
3 - -
- 27 Transcripts
1 1 2
8 13 25 Lyrics
19 -
1 3 -
23 TOTAL 76
7 4 24
13 124
42
Process Development
Generic Process Development A general process
is described and not anchored in time now
introduces a new state in that process
AsnH100a rotates to the distal side of the H3
loop where it now points away from the
binding site. Betwixt mine eye and heart a
league is took, And each doth good turns now
unto the other, When that mine eye is
famished for a look, Or heart in love with
sighs himself doth smother With my loves
picture then my eye doth feast And to the
painted banquet bids my heart B Yeah,
see I I wouldnt mind going into lunch needing
now to discuss the issue.
43
Text Development
Text Development now signals change in the
common structure the speaker and hearer are
building Equation 1, describing how the
density of viral strain i changes over
time, now becomes dvi/dt vi (r -sz-pxi).
A And then from twelve th, s
to one lets say. B
From twelve,
twelve thirty to one fifteen A Well,
lets make it to one. B
Okay to one. A Will be
your pleadings. B Well, this is now
during lunch, right. We like pistols and
Stetsons, dance halls and cafes. Now you
know where were coming from. Come and dance
the night away.
44
What Coherence Relation is Signalled, if Any?
In the non-discourse marker uses of now Does
the phrase or clause that now modifies
participate in any coherence relation with
some other information expressed explicitly
nearby in the text? If so, what coherence
relation? Or is now merely saying the event
happened in the present?
45
Coherence Relations
Result
16 Next step in a standard process
13 Change from P to P
39 No change Contrary to expectation
4 Its now or never
4 Now and forever
4 No coherence relation
0
46
Coherence Relations
Result
16 Next step in a standard process
13 Change from P to P
39 No change Contrary to expectation
4 Its now or never
4 Now and forever
4 No coherence relation
0
Deborah Schiffrin, Discourse Markers, observes
that now often involves comparisons.
47
Result
The now-event is the result of some eventuality
described nearby. Miss Amelia would prowl
about and find him some present -- so that now
there was hardly anything left close at hand to
give him. Large numbers went out of business and
are now bringing a class-action suit. Assume
all viral strains have the same replication rate
r .... Equation 1 now becomes .... Mine eye hath
played the painter and hath steeled Thy beautys
form in table of my heart.... Now see what good
turns eyes for eyes have done Married at
sixteen, two kids by twenty-one. But he couldnt
take it. Now shes raisin them on her own.
48
Next Step in Standard Process
(usually life or love)
The now-event is the next step in a standard or
common process or temporally-ordered
schema. The sky had burned above the town like a
sheet of flame all day. Now the green twilight
was near and there was a feeling of
repose. Nativity once in the main of
light Crawls to maturity, wherewith being
crowned, Crooked eclipses gainst his glory
fight, And Time that gave, doth now his gift
confound. So I would rather concentrate on the
demos .... Yeah, see I I wouldnt mind going into
lunch needing now to discuss the issue. He only
did what he had to do, and now hes growing old.
49
Change from P to P
There was a change from the now-state not being
true to its being true, or there will be a
change from the now-state being true to its
not being true. She had had a great-aunt who
owned the livery stable in Cheehaw, but that
aunt was now dead. It used to be copper cable
two feet wide, and you couldnt cut it. Now
its a three-inch fiber-optic, and if you cut it,
you can cut out New York. The compound was
effective against a spectrum of HIV-1 strains
3B, Bru (now known to be Lai), BAL/95, NIT, and
RF. But thou, to whom my jewels trifles
are, Most worthy comfort, now my greatest grief,
... I would pick, and we would sing To the
rhythm of that front porch swing.... Now Im a
star, ....
50
Change on a Scale
In many cases, the changed property is a value on
a scale. The hunchback still wept, but he was
quieter now. Stock prices are dangerously high
right now.
Change of Role
In some cases, esp. business news, the changed
property is a change in role. ....
Charles Mathias, a former senator who is now a
First American director, told the House Banking
Committee.
51
Contrary to Expectation
The now-event is in contrast with what had been
expected. Few people had even seen these rooms,
but it was generally known that they were
well-furnished and extremely clean. And now
Miss Amelia was taking up with her a dirty little
hunchbacked stranger, come from God knows
where. The companys figures showed hed need
90,000 and would start making money his second
year. Now in his third, he has invested
300,000 and isnt yet in the black. Best known
for building oil refineries around the world, it
now helps clean them up.
52
Its Now or Never
Make P be true now, not later. Look in thy glass
and tell the face thou viewest, Now is the time
that face should form another, Whose fresh repair
if now thou not renewest, Thou dost beguile the
world, unbless some mother. Then hate me when
thou wilt, if ever, now, Now while the world is
bent my deeds to cross, Join with the spite of
fortune, make me bow, And do not drop in for an
after-loss.
53
Now and Forever
P is predicated to be true now, but also earlier
or later. Then do thy office Muse, I teach thee
how, To make him seem long hence, as he shows
now. Make me as thin at 60 as I am now at
20. A Okay, uh, well, uh, we have a pretty
large project, uh, wa, a million dollars a
year, so uh... C This is a current project you
have, now? C is trying to get funded in the
future. Now and for always till time
disappears, Well hold each other whenever we
hear, In the still of the night, ... I know
you loved him a long time ago. Even now in my
mind, you still want him, I know.
54
Coherence Relations Summary
Even when its not a discourse marker,
now is a discourse marker. There are very few
examples in discourse where now merely
asserts the time of an event it almost
always signals a relation with some other
nearby information in the text.
55
When Is Now?
Present

52 AHD 1 At the present time. Past


3 AHD 3 In the immediate past very recently.
Often preceded by just He left
just now. The antibody-antigen complexes
determined up until now have been
characterized by small conformational
changes. Future

2? AHD 2 At once
immediately. Stop that now. AHD 4 In the
immediate future very soon. Often preceded
by just They are going just now. ?
Now is the time that face should form another,
56
How Long Is Now?
AHD 1 At the present time. AHD 6 Nowadays
Now women rarely wear long skirts. Thus is
his cheek the map of days outworn, When
beauty lived and died as flowers do now,
1000Yrs The town then was the same as
it is now.... 10Yrs
Now speed reading often is considered a
necessity 3Yrs
57
How Long Is Now?Half Orders of Magnitude
A qualitative logarithmic scale such that a
change in HOM -- a change in our
relation to it 2 hr meeting vs 2 1/2 hr
meeting -- inconsequential 2 hr
meeting vs all-day meeting -- consequential Logari
thmic scale with base 10.5, or about 3, or
several A Its raining now. 1 minute
later B Is it still raining? 3 days later B
You said its raining! Categories 15S, 1Min, 5Min, 15Min, 1Hr, 3Hr, 12Hr, 1Da, 3Da,
1Wk, 1Mon, 3Mon, 1Yr, 3Yr, 10Yr, 30Yr, 100Yr,
300Yr, 1000Yr
58
How Long Is Now?
For each real time or process example of
now in the data, I estimated what range
the now-event/state/proposition was true for
on the HOM time scale (over 90 intracoder
reliability) What general rules are there that
allow us to infer these ranges?
59
Categories of Entities
Virus 3 Persons
57 Weather 4 Organizations
14 Society 4 Culture
2
(Metaphors count twice)
60
Proteins and Virus
Things too small to see move too fast to notice
the H3 loop where it now points away from the
binding site. Virus evolves 3Mon A few
strains with high reproductive rates can now have
disproportionate influence.
Weather
Weather condition 1Hr - 1Da The sky had
burned above the town ... all day. Now the green
twilight was near and there was a feeling of
repose. Season 3Mon Not that the summer is
less pleasant now
61
Organizations
Prices at same level 1Mon - 1Yr Stock prices
are dangerous high right now. Organization /
team / community learns 3Mon We have now
determined the 3-dimensional structure of Fab
17/9... Organization in financial situation 1Yr
- 3Yr Now in his third year, he ... isnt yet
in the black. Business plan / policy / Org-wide
project 1Yr - 3Yr Many utilities now have
conservation programs.
62
Society
State of societys infrastructure 10Yr The
town then was the same as it is now, except
... Society has knowledge / technology 10Yr -
30Yr It used to be copper cable two feet wide...
Now its a 3-inch fiber-optic, ...
Culture
Cultural era 30Yr - 1000Yr Thus is his cheek
a map of days outworn, When beauty lived and died
as flowers do now, ...
63
Persons Categories
Cognitive / Emotional (10) Relationships
(15) Economic / Life Situation (10) Stages of
Life (17) Ownership (1) Change of Location wrt
Region Size (2) Typical Coherent Activities (2)
Small number of categories gives promise of
convergence.
64
Persons Cognitive / Emotional
Seeing something 1Sec-15Sec Now see what good
turns eyes for eyes have done, Persons volatile
feelings 15Min-1Hr The hunchback still wept,
but he was quieter now. Persons mood
3Hr-1Da But when I get that foggy feeling, what
Im feeling now, Persons opinions
3Mon-1Yr Now ... agricultural experts are
downplaying those dire forecasts. Persons
nonsituational beliefs / abilities
1Yr-10Yr Now speed reading is often considered
a necessity
65
Persons Economic / Life Situation
Coherent Project w Product 1Da - 3Mon For such
a time do I now fortify Against confounding ages
cruel knife, writes this sonnet Person in job
/ life situation 1Yr - 3Yr ... who is now a
First American director ... Now Bettys back
home with her mother ... Stage of career
10Yr Now Im a star ...
66
Persons Relationships
Stage of relationship 1Mon - 3Mon And now Miss
Amelia was taking up with her dirty little
hunchbacked stranger. Most worthy comfort, now
my greatest grief Long-term relationship
10Yr - 30Yr Now and for always til time
disappears, Well hold each other whenever we
hear ...
Persons Stages of Life
Stages of life 10Yr Her face was hard, stern,
and had now whitened to its natural color. When
forty winters shall beseige thy brow, And dig
deep trenches in thy beautys field, Thy youths
proud livery so gazed on now, Will be a tattered
weed of small worth held. He only did what he
had to do, and now hes growing old.
67
Summary of Duration Study
The duration of the now-event can vary
widely. What do we know that enables us to know
how long the now-event is? Use intuition
to judge length of now-events in examples. Group
like examples together. Articulate the common
property they instantiate. When we encode
knowledge of the activities of an entity,
typical durations is an important property to
include. Thus, use examples of now to drive
development of knowledge used to interpret
now.
68
Now for Something Completely DifferentPerspectiv
e vs. Topic Shifts
Topic shift now signals a change to a new
topic Perspective shift now
signals a change to a new
perspective on the same
topic In the decision-making meetings 13
topic shifts 8 perspective shifts
69
Topic Shifts
In the decision-making meetings, task structure
imposes several large-scale tasks
describe projects allocate amount of time to
projects plan lunch plan order of
presentations A topic shift is a change from one
of these large-scale tasks to another. A
I mean Im assuming were all gonna take Mr.
Smith to lunch. B Mhmm. A Now, ay as you
know, my project is a million bucks a year. B
So that works out to 45 minutes each, plus 45
minutes for lunch. A Okay, so now now is the
question about who goes first. C ... introduce
him to some of the work that were doing. A Now
we do have ideas about how to coordinate the
presentations B ... at the end of the demos
... we are going to sneak in ... comments
about okay, now where do we stand...
70
Kinds of Perspective Shifts
Shift from a fine-grained view to a
coarse-grained view Shift from an objective
view to an evaluation Shift from an objective
view to perspective of one of the
characters Shift from the perspective of one
character to that of another Conditional or
concession or amendment Statement followed by
question or expression of doubt
71
Kinds of Perspective Shifts
Shift from a fine-grained view to a
coarse-grained view I rise in the morning but I
dont shine ... Its plain to see, youre gettin
to me again. Now I spend every waking hour
thinkin about you. Shift from an objective view
to perspective of one of the characters She
wiped her cheek with a red handkerchief, got up,
and closed the office door. Now to the group on
the porch his gesture acted as a signal. Cozily
settled, with his little legs crossed, he took
from his coat pocket a certain object. Now it
took some moments for the men in the store to
regain their ease.
72
Kinds of Perspective Shifts
Schiffrin
Shift from an objective view to an evaluation My
projects a 150K a year, uh, but and its been
funded through an IRD. Now its been very
successful so far,... I cant believe Im out
here on her front porch in the swing. Just
a-swinging. Well now, Charlotte shes a darling,
shes the apple of my eye. Shift from the
perspective of one character to that of
another There were a number of customers, ...
and they all wanted liquor. Now Miss Amelia had
dug up an aged barrel only three days past. ...
this lover can be man, woman, child, or indeed
any human creature on this earth. Now, the
beloved can also be of any description.
73
Kinds of Perspective Shifts
Conditional or concession or amendment Two demos
that take, plus uh presentations. Um, now the,
I mean we can pr squeeze the demos down to say
15 minutes each. Walk away from trouble if you
can. Now it wont mean youre weak if you turn
the other cheek. Statement followed by question
or expression of doubt A We could take a bit
less on the assumption that, i, we kind of
handle lunch in a certain way. B Now what way
is that? B ... we could start off with the
possible new one before lunch. A Well now,
see....
74
Shifts and Stress
The meeting transcripts were coded for
intonation. Are there regularities in stress for
topic vs perspective shifts?
IDEAL stressed
unstressed total Topic Shift
100 0
100 Perspective Shift 0
100 100 Total
100 100
100
75
Shifts and Stress
The meeting transcripts were coded for
intonation. Are there regularities in stress for
topic vs perspective shifts?
REAL stressed
unstressed total Topic Shift
6 (46) 7 (54)
13 Perspective Shift 3 (38)
5 (62) 8 Total
9 12
21
Maybe.
76
What Stress
Pierrehumbert-Hirschberg theory of intonational
meaning (as reinterpreted by Hobbs,
1990) H important and new L important and
not new (given or false) 8 of 9 examples in the
transcripts were H The other ... so thats 40
minutes right there. Now L L-L obviously we
can shave a little off.
77
What Stress
Pierrehumbert-Hirschberg theory of intonational
meaning (as reinterpreted by Hobbs,
1990) H important and new L important and
not new (given or false) 8 of 9 examples in the
transcripts were H The other ... so thats 40
minutes right there. Now L L-L obviously we
can shave a little off.
78
Shifts and Power
A 1M project in scenario manager in real
life B 300K project in scenario high-level
researcher in real life C 150K project in
scenario junior researcher in real life A has
40 of turns and words B has 40 C has 20
Does power influence who shifts?
A
B C total Topic Shift
10 2 1
13 Perspective Shift 5 2
1 8 Total
15 4 2
21
Probably.
(No relation between stress and power.)
79
Shifts and Power Who Nows Whom
1st speaker now-ee
A B C
A 7 7 1
2nd speaker B 2 2
0 now-er C 1 0
1
- Then A rejects Cs suggestion
Schiffrin notes that now sometimes used to
regain control of topic 5 clear cases of that
in my data.
80
Now as a Resource for Disfluencies
In the meeting transcripts, now occurred in
disfluency strings 10 of 21 times. Um, now
the, I mean we can pr squeeze ... Yeah, now,
uh, I think that ... Okay. Now I, lets see, um
... and thats, um, um now lets see, uh it
since he has ... So, um, now, so lets see, so
lets, if if my group... Um, see now, Carl, your
demo, all right, a, I mean, a demo that
requires...
81
A Summary of Sorts
Now is not a property its a relation.