For class on W Oct 13
1. Required preparation
- In class, we will be discussing the MaxEnt Grammar Tool provided by Bruce Hayes; please download and carefully read the (short!) manual for this software
- How are the concepts in the manual related to our MaxEnt (and GLA) course readings?
2. Very strongly encouraged preparation
- If you have a laptop running Java (most do), download and install the MaxEnt Grammar Tool, and please bring your laptop to class on Wed
- Use the manual and the sample files that Hayes provides to figure out how the software works
- What format do the input files take? What kinds of information do they need to include?
- How do we define constraints? Specify inputs? Outputs? Frequency distributions of outputs?
- How do we set parameters like n, σ, μ (as discussed in the Goldwater & Johnson reading)?
3. Optional preparation
- No RR is required, but feel free to use the Discussion Board provided on Blackboard to discuss software questions, etc.
- Have a look at this Excel file by Karen Jesney, which she describes as follows:
"This is a basic MaxEnt calculator set up to allow basic investigation of the range of variable systems that can be generated in a MaxEnt/OT grammar of the type discussed by Goldwater & Johnson (2003) and Jäger (to appear), among others."
- What is this file for? What does it do? How does it work?
- Can you find a way to use this file with the MaxEnt Grammar Tool?
- Is there any other grammar or scenario you would like to throw at the MaxEnt Grammar Tool? What would be interesting to try, and why? What kind of input file(s) would you have to write for your exploration?