# DisCoCat for Donkey Sentences

arXiv: https://arxiv.org/abs/2308.04519 · HTML: https://mlsanity.com/paper/2308.04519/

## Key facts

- No citing papers in the map yet (data through 14 Oct 2026).
- Builds on 7 of its 24 references that are in the map.
- First posted on arXiv 8 Aug 2023.

## Builds on (most cited first, 7 of 7)

- [The Frobenius anatomy of word meanings I: subject and object relative pronouns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1404.5278/) (2014)
- [A CCG-Based Version of the DisCoCat Framework](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2105.07720/) (2021)
- [Lambek vs. Lambek: Functorial Vector Space Semantics and String Diagrams for Lambek Calculus](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1302.0393/) (2013)
- [The Frobenius anatomy of word meanings II: possessive relative pronouns](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1406.4690/) (2014)
- [A Generalised Quantifier Theory of Natural Language in Categorical Compositional Distributional Semantics with Bialgebras](https://mlsanity.com/paper/1602.01635/) (2016)
- [Categorical Vector Space Semantics for Lambek Calculus with a Relevant Modality (Extended Abstract)](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2101.10486/) (2021)
- [Anaphora and Ellipsis in Lambek Calculus with a Relevant Modality: Syntax and Semantics](https://mlsanity.com/paper/2110.10641/) (2021)

## Abstract (arXiv)

We demonstrate how to parse Geach's Donkey sentences in a compositional distributional model of meaning. We build on previous work on the DisCoCat (Distributional Compositional Categorical) framework, including extensions that model discourse, determiners, and relative pronouns. We present a type-logical syntax for parsing donkey sentences, for which we define both relational and vector space semantics.