Electric Words: Dictionaries, Computers, and Meanings

291 Pages·1996·10.639 MB·ACL-MIT Series in Natural Language Processing

by  Yorick A. Wilks, Brian M Slator, Louise Guthrie

ElectWroircd s
ACL-MITP reSsse rieisnN aturaLla nguaPgreo cessing
AravinKd.J oshiK,a reSnp arcJko neasn,d M arkY .L ibennan,e dirtso
SpeakiFnrgo:m I ntenttioAo rnt iculabtyiW oinl,l eJm.M . Levelt
PlaRne congitiionnN aturLaaln guaDgiea logbuyeS ,a ndrCaa rberry
CognitMiovdee losf S peecPhr ocessPisnygc:lh ion guiasntdiC co mputatiPoenra­l
spectievdeist,be ydG errTy. M . Altmann
ComputatiMoonraplh oloPgrya:c tiMceaclh anisfmosrt heE ngliLsehx icobny,
GraemDe. R itchGirea,h aJm. R usseAllla,nW . Blacakn,d S tephGe.nP ulman
TheC oreLa nguagEen gineed,i tbeydH iyaAnl shawi
MorpholoagnydC omputatbiyoR ni,c haSrpdr oat
Generating Referring ExpresDseisocnrsi:p tiCinoao n nDssot mrauicontf iO nbg­
jectasn dP rocesbseyRs o,b ertD ale
TheL ogicAaplp roatcohS yntaFxo:u ndatiSopnesc.ifi catiaonndIs m.p lementations
ofT heoroifeGs o vernmeanntd B indibngyE, d warPd. S tablJerr.,
ExplanatainodIn n teracTthieoC no:m putGeern eratoifEo xnp lanatDoirayl ogues,
byA lisCoanw sey
ParticipiantE ixnpgl anatDoirayl oguIenst:e rpraentdiR negs pondtionQ gu estions
inC ontexbtyJ, o hanDn.aM oore
ElectrWiocr dsD:i ctionaCroimepsu.t earnsd.M eaningbsy, Y orickA . Wilks,
BriaMn. S latoanrd,L ouisMe.G uthrie
ElectricW ords YoricAk. W ilks,
DictionaCroimepsu,t ers, BriaMn. Slatoarn,d
andM eanings LouisMe. Guthrie
A BradfoBrodo k
TheM IT Press
CambridgMe,a ssachusetts
LondonE,n gland
© 1996M assachusIentsttsio tfuT teec hnology
Allri ghtrse serveNdo. p arotf t hibso okm ayb er eproduicnea dn yf orm bya ny
electroornm iecc hanimceaaln (si nclupdhiontgo copyriencgo,r dianngdi, n for­
matiosnt oraagnedr etrieval) withouitn w prietrmiinfsgrs oimto hnep ublisher.
Thibso okw ass eitn T imeRso manb yA scoT radTey pesetLttidn.Hg,o ngK ong
andw asp rintaenddb ounidn t heU niteSdt aetso fA merica.
Firpsritn ting.
LibraorfCy o ngreCsast aloging-in-PDuabtlai cation
WilkYso,ri ck1,9 39-
Electwroircd sd:i ctioncaormipeust,e arnsdm, e aninIgY so ricAk.
WilkBsri,a nM . SlatoLro,ui sMe. G uthrie.
p. cm.-(ACL-MPIrTe ssse riienns a tural-lapnrgoucaegses ing)
"A Bradfobrodo k."
Inclubdiebsl iograrpehfiecraelan ncdie nsd ex.
ISBN0 -262-23(1h8c2)- 4
I.N aturlaaln guapgreo ces(sCionmgp utsecri ence)
2.C omputatiloinnaglu isIt.Si lcast.Bo rri,a nM . IIG.u thrie,
LouisMe. IIIT.i tlIeV..S eries.
QA76.9.N38W15959 5
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Contents
Prefacvei i Chapt8e r 121
Acknowledgmenitxs The ConstructioofnM odemL exicons
Chapte1r Chapt9e r 137
Introduction AutomatiTce chniquesf orAn alyzing
Machine-ReadaDbilceti onaries
Chapt2e r II
Chapt1e0r 161
A ShortHi storoyf M eaning
GenuHise rarchiaesn dN etworks
Chapt3e r 29
Chapt1e1r 183
SymboliAcc counotfsD efinitional
Meaning NumericMaelt hodfso rL anguage
Proescsing
Chapt4e r 45
Chapt1e2r 207
Primitives inM eaningD efinition
AutomatiPcr ocesisngo fB ilingual
Chapt5e r 63 Dictionaries
WordbooakssH uman Artifacts:
Chapte1r3 223
DictionaarinesdT hesauri
ConsumPerr ojeUcstsi nMga chine­
Chapt6e r 81 ReadabDlil:c tionaries
EarlCyo mputatiAopnparlo aches:
Chapte1r4 239
Tasksa ndT ools
The Present
Chapt7e r 97
Referenc2e5s7
TextAn alysiasn dI tsR elationsthoi p
DictionarDiiesc:ti onaraisTes e xts Index2 81
Preface
Itw aso nly2 0y earasg o,a longt imei nt hifise lbdu ts hortf orm ost
things, "tchoamtp utianngdt hel exicowna"s a topitch arta isoendl y
yawnsf rom muocfht hec omputatiloinnaglu istics coDmimcutniiot­y.
narietsh emselwveerste h eb ookyso uw oulfidn do nloyn t hed esokf t hose
whoc ouldsn'pte lTlh.e yw erekn own tob ep ronteo e rrolri,ka el hlu man
endeavoarnsd,a reasonaabtltei ttuodt eh emm ighhta veb eent haotf
Johnsotnoh iosw ng readti ctionaashr eyp ,u ti t",i nsenstiotp irvaeio sre
blameS."u chb ookjsu swte rweh att hewye rea,n dt hadti dn otf,o rm ost
oft hosienc omputational liinncgluuibdseeti inacgns o ,b jefcotrr esearch
orc omputation.
How ith asa lclh angeadsg, o vernmenatg encianedsl argceo rporations
competteog ett heihra ndosn l arglee xictoons sp eetdh eg rowtohf t heir
natural language (NpLrPo)sc yesstseimnnsga; t ionnaele dasr ea ppealed
to,l exickanlo wledbgaes ehsa ves omethionfgt hec achetth arte cently
attachteodr eal-wokrnlodw ledbgaes eOsf.m orei nterpeesrth,a ptsh,e
continuoiftd yi ctionaarnidle esx icownist ht hee xploratoiffo unn da­
mentails suteods o w iht thee xpressainodrn e presentoafmt eiaonni nhga s
agaibne ern ecognized.
How hasa ltlhi sc omea boutF?i rsitth, a sb eent hroudgihs satisfaction
witthh et rivsiizaelo fm ostN LP systeamnsd a realizatthiatothn i cso uld
notc ontiniufte h erwee reev etro b es eriouNsL P applicatTihoennts h.e re
wasg rowinrge spefcotrt hec onteanntd c onsistoefnr ceyad li ctionaries;
nott hatth ewye rep erfecbtu tb ecausuen,l imkuec ha cademliicn guistics
andp hilosopthhye,ia ru thohrasd t akerne aclo ncredteec isiaobnosu t
meaninegv erdya yj,u sats j udgetsa kper actimcoarla dle cisieovnesr y
dayw,h ileet hicpahli losopchoenrtsi ntuode e bataen dd iscuss.
Noneo ft haptr ovetsh atth em eaninrge preseonntsia ntd iictiroineas,
eveni ft hecya nb ee xtracatreedt ,h eo nesth ahtu manuss eo rt haNtL P
viii Preface
systenmese dB.u ts uddeniltayl sle emewdo rtah t rya,n dt hel argaen d
colorsfuublj emcatt teorft hisb ookc amei ntboe inLgo. okinbga ckm,a ny
researcwheerrsesl otwo r ecognizteh ep ioneering eofffto hrotswseh ofi rst
investigdaitcetdi onacroimepsu tatioonna plrilmyi timvaec hineOsl:n ey,
Amslera,n dW alkerT.o Don Walkeri,np articuwlea dre,d icatthei s
book.
Acknowledgments
We thanka ltlh osweh oo fferehde lpfcuolm mentosn e arliderra ftasn d
providheedl pfmualt erieaslp,e ciBaelclkyy B ruceN,i coleCtatlaz olari,
JimC owieThi,e rry FonteneRlilceh,a Frodw lePra,t riHcakn ksa,n dP aul
ProctMearn.y t hankfso ro urd iscussoivoentrsh ey earasr eo wedt ot he
NaturLaaln guaRgees earGcrho upa tt heC omputiRnegs earLcahb ora­
toryN.e w MexicSot atUen iversTirteym.e ndohuesl wpi tthh efin alp ro­
ductioofnt heb ookw asg ivebny B eaG uzmana ndV enuRsa ulOsn.e o f
thea uthors tthhaenM kass tearn dF elloowfsT riniHtayl lC,a mbridge
Universwihtoy,sf ee llowaslhliopwh eidmt ow rithei psa rotf t heb ook.
ElectWriocr ds
Chapter 1
Introduction
Dictionaanrdci oemsp utaatriteow nos ubjencoottfs t berno ugthotg ether
int hsea mbeo oko,re veinnt hsea mper oposuinttirioelnc enTthleay i.m
oft hisb ooikst oe xpltohrgeer owirnegl atbieotnwset ehnea mn di,np ar­
ticutloia nrv,e stwihgeatthweeh rai tfs o unidnt raditdiiocntailo cnaanri es
beo fs ervtioct eh ocsoen cernwietdhg ettcionmgp utteopr rso caensds,
somewo ulsda yu,n dersntaatnudlr aanlg ualgiekEsen gliJsahp,a nese,
Spanisahn,ds oo n.
Artifiicnitaell l(iAgIew)ni clbelea s ubjneecvtfe arfr r otmh ceo ncerns
oft hibso okM.o sotf i tasd herheanvtcesl aitmheadct o dekdn owleodfg e
three awlo rlwda sr equiirfme adc hinweesr teou ndersltaanngdu iang e
anys eriosuesn sTeh.ep roblweamsa lwahyosw t og eitt t:h ewreer neo
suitsaobulreac nedns o t imteoh andciritan fA.t r eceandtv ertifsoerm ent
anO xforddi ctiorneaaryd" sS:oi fy oudri ctiodnoaersykn n'otw w ho
JohnM ajoirsi ,s ni'ttti myeo us wappieftdo orn eth adto esT?h"a sth ows
thatth dei stinbcettiwoednei nc tioannaderi necsy clompaeydb ieha asr der
tod ratwo datyh awnh en Tcoodudwl rdi itnet hper eftaochi esr evision
ofJ ohnsong'rse adti ctio(n[a1r7y5 5]t/h1a8"t2h 7ew) h om ake[sd ic­
tionamriuessot]f twerni otfwe h ahte d oenso utn derstDaincdt.i"o naries,
likeen cyclopaerdneio awos f,s omiem mediianttee troea snty ownheo
shartehske n owledge-gdoiarolefsAc It.e d
Patrick uSsuetpdops easy2 ,5y eaargso t,h ahtew oulodn lbyei nter­
estiendm achitnrea nsl(aMtTiw)oh ne pnr ogrcaomuspl rdo caew shso le
bookI.nf actth,ea yl recaoduyla dn dd iwdh ehne s iadt habtu,ht i rse ­
marwka si nt hrei gshpti rAiltt.h oMuTg,hb ym ethondoswc onsidered
superficbiyma ols wth ow orikn A Ip,r ocelsasrevgdoe l umoefts e xbty
thmied -196t0hso,As Ier esearwchhoae irmse fdos ro methdienegpf eorr,
am odeloifnw gh amto speto plweo ulcda "lul nderstaant deixwntrg,o" t e
progratmhsap tr ocesosnelady f ews entenac feasco,tf tdeins guised in