en>John F Symons at 02:50, 28 July 2013

2013-07-28T02:50:28Z

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In [[linguistics]], '''center embedding''' refers to the process of embedding a [[phrase]] in the middle of another phrase of the same type. This often leads to difficulty with [[parsing]] which would be difficult to explain on grammatical grounds alone. The most frequently used example involves embedding a [[relative clause]] inside another one as in:

: A man that a woman loves <math>\Rightarrow</math>
: A man that a woman that a child knows loves <math>\Rightarrow</math>
: A man that a woman that a child that a bird saw knows loves <math>\Rightarrow</math>
: A man that a woman that a child that a bird that I heard saw knows loves

In theories of [[natural language parsing]], the difficulty with multiple center embedding is thought to arise from limitations of the human [[short term memory]]. In order to process multiple center embeddings, we have to store many [[subject (linguistics)|subject]]s in order to connect them to their [[Predicate (grammar)|predicate]]s.

An interesting theoretical point is that sentences with multiple center embedding are [[Grammaticality|grammatical]], but unacceptable. Such examples are behind [[Noam Chomsky]]'s comment that, “Languages are not 'designed for parsability' ... we may say that languages, as such, are not usable.” (Chomsky, 1991)

Some researchers (such as [[Peter Reich]]) came up with theories that though single center embedding is acceptable (as in "the man that boy kicked is a friend of mine"), double center embedding is not. The linguist [[Anne De Roeck]] and colleagues provided a counter-example: "Isn't it true that example-sentences that people that you know produce are more likely to be accepted?" (De Roeck et al., 1982).

The linguist [[Fred Karlsson]] provided empirical evidence in 2007 that the maximal degree of multiple center-embedding of clauses is exactly 3 in written language. He provided thirteen genuine examples of this type from various Indo-European languages (Danish, English, German, Latin, Swedish). No real examples of degree 4 have been recorded. In spoken language, multiple center-embeddings even of degree 2 are so rare as to be practically non-existing (Karlsson 2007).

Unusually for an obscure aspect of [[grammar]], center embedding is the focus of a [[science fiction]] novel, [[Ian Watson (author)|Ian Watson]]'s ''[[The Embedding]]'', and plays a part in [[Ted Chiang]]'s ''[[Story of Your Life]]''.

== References ==
* Chomsky, N. (1991). Linguistics and Adjacent Fields: a Personal View. In A. Kasher (Ed.), ''The Chomskyan Turn''. (pp. 3–25). Cambridge, Mass: Basil Blackwell.
* De Roeck, Anne, Roderick Johnson, Margaret King, Michael Rosner, Geoffrey Sampson, and Nino Varile. (1982). A Myth about Centre-Embedding. ''Lingua'' 58: 327-340.
* Karlsson, Fred. (2007). Constraints on multiple center-embedding of clauses. ''Journal of Linguistics'' 43 (2): 365-392.

== See also ==
* [[Recursion]]

== External links ==
* [http://specgram.com/CLI.2/03.bakery.disorder.html New speech disorder linguists contracted discovered!]: A humorous example of excessive center embedding. The general gist is quite understandable, but the details of the relationships are hard to manage.

[[Category:Natural language parsing]]
[[Category:Syntactic relationships]]

Independence-friendly logic - Revision history

en>John F Symons at 02:50, 28 July 2013