9780262140867

In Ontological Semantics, Sergei Nirenburg and Victor Raskin introduce a comprehensive approach to the treatment of text meaning by computer. Arguing that being able to use meaning is crucial to the success of natural language processing (NLP) applications, they depart from the ad hoc approach to meaning taken by much of the NLP community and propose theory-based semantic methods. Ontological semantics, an integrated complex of theories, methodologies, descriptions, and implementations, attempts to systematize ideas about both semantic description as representation and manipulation of meaning by computer programs. It is built on already coordinated "microtheories" covering such diverse areas as specific language phenomena, processing heuristics, and implementation system architecture rather than on isolated components requiring future integration. Ontological semantics is constantly evolving, driven by the need to make meaning manipulation tasks such as text analysis and text generation work. Nirenburg and Raskin have therefore developed a set of heterogeneous methods suited to a particular task and coordinated at the level of knowledge acquisition and runtime system architecture implementations, a methodology that also allows for a variable level of automation in all its processes. Nirenburg and Raskin first discuss ontological semantics in relation to other fields, including cognitive science and the AI paradigm, the philosophy of science, linguistic semantics and the philosophy of language, computational lexical semantics, and studies in formal ontology. They then describe the content of ontological semantics, discussing text-meaning representation, static knowledge sources (including the ontology, the fact repository, and the lexicon), the processes involved in text analysis, and the acquisition of static knowledge.

Preface

xiii

Acknowledgments

xix

PART I About Ontological Semantics

(156)

Chapter 1 Introduction to Ontological Semantics

(28)

1.1 A Model of Language-Communication Situation for Ontological Semantic Theory

(3)

1.1.1 Relevant Components of an Intelligent Agent's Model

(1)

1.1.2 Goals and Operation of the Discourse Producer

(1)

1.1.3 Operation of the Discourse Consumer

(1)

1.2 Ontological Semantics: An Initial Sketch

(2)

1.3 Ontological Semantics and Nonsemantic NLP Processors

(1)

1.4 Architectures for Comprehensive NLP Applications

(7)

1.4.1 The Stratified Model

(1)

1.4.2 The "Flat" Model

(1)

1.4.3 Toward Constraint-Satisfaction Architectures

(4)

1.5 The Major Dynamic Knowledge Sources in Ontological Semantics

(3)

1.5.1 The Analyzer

(1)

1.5.2 The Generator

(1)

1.5.3 World-Knowledge Maintenance and Reasoning Module

(2)

1.6 The Static Knowledge Sources

(1)

1.7 The Concept of Microtheories

(1)

1.8 Historical Record of Ontological Semantic Work

(6)

Chapter 2 Prolegomena to the Philosophy of Linguistics

(60)

2.1 Reasons for Philosophizing

(2)

2.2 Reasons for Theorizing

(6)

2.2.1 Introduction: Philosophy, Science, and Engineering

(2)

2.2.2 Reason 1: Optimization

(1)

2.2.3 Reason 2: Challenging Conventional Wisdom

(2)

2.2.4 Reason 3: Standardization and Evaluation

(1)

2.2.5 Reason 4: Explanation

(1)

2.2.6 Reason 5: Reusability

(1)

2.3 Components of a Theory

(8)

2.3.1 Purview

(2)

2.3.2 Premises

(1)

2.3.3 Body

(1)

2.3.4 Justification

(3)

2.4 Parameters of Linguistic Semantic Theories

(17)

2.4.1 Parameters Related to Theory Proper

(5)

2.4.2 Parameters Related to the Methodology Associated with a Theory

(7)

2.4.3 Parameters Related to the Status of Theory as Model of Human Behavior

(1)

2.4.4 Parameters Related to the Internal Organization of a Theory

(1)

2.4.5 Parameter Values and Some Theories

(3)

2.5 Relations among Theory, Methodology, and Applications

(14)

2.5.1 Theories and Applications

(5)

2.5.2 Blame Assignment

(1)

2.5.3 Methodologies for Applications

(1)

2.5.4 Aspects of Interactions among Theories, Applications, and Methodologies

(2)

2.5.5 Examples of Interactions among Theories, Applications, and Methodologies

(5)

2.6 Using the Parameters

(8)

2.6.1 Purview

(1)

2.6.2 Premises

(3)

2.6.3 Justification

(3)

2.7 "Postempirical" Philosophy of Linguistics

(4)

Chapter 3 Ontological Semantics and the Study of Meaning in Linguistics, Philosophy, and Computational Linguistics

(22)

3.1 Prehistory of Semantics

(1)

3.2 Diachrony of Word Meaning

(1)

3.3 Meaning and Reference

(1)

3.4 The Quest for Meaning Representation I: From Ogden and Richards to Bar Hillel

(5)

3.4.1 Option 1: Refusing to Study Meaning

(1)

3.4.2 Option 2: Semantic Fields, or Avoiding Metalanguage

(1)

3.4.3 Option 3: Componential Analysis, or the Dawn of Metalanguage

(1)

3.4.4 Option 4: Logic, or Importing a Metalanguage

100

(2)

3.5 The Quest for Meaning Representation II: Contemporary Approaches

102

(7)

3.5.1 Formal Semantics

102

(4)

3.5.2 Semantic vs. Syntactic Compositionality

106

(1)

3.5.3 Compositionality in Linguistic Semantics

107

(2)

3.6 A Trio of Freestanding Semantic Ideas from Outside Major Schools

109

(2)

3.7 Compositionality in Computational Semantics

111

(4)

Chapter 4 Choices for Lexical Semantics

115

(18)

4.1 Generativity

116

(6)

4.1.1 Generative Lexicon: Main Idea

116

(2)

4.1.2 Generative vs. Enumerative?

118

(1)

4.1.3 Generative Lexicon and Novel Senses

118

(2)

4.1.4 Permeative Usage?

120

(1)

4.1.5 Generative vs. Enumerative "Yardage"

121

(1)

4.2 Syntax vs. Semantics

122

(2)

4.3 Lexical Semantics and Sentential Meaning

124

(5)

4.3.1 Formal Semantics for Sentential Meaning

124

(1)

4.3.2 Ontological Semantics for Sentential Meaning

125

(3)

4.3.3 Lexical Semantics and Pragmatics

128

(1)

4.4 Description Coverage

129

(4)

Chapter 5 Formal Ontology and the Needs of Ontological Semantics

133

(24)

5.1 Ontology and Metaphysics

134

(2)

5.2 Formal Ontology

136

(11)

5.2.1 Formal Basis of Ontology

136

(2)

5.2.2 Ontology as Engineering

138

(1)

5.2.3 Ontology Interchange

139

(2)

5.2.4 The Semantic Web

141

(6)

5.3 Ontology and Natural Language

147

(7)

5.3.1 A Quick and Dirty Distinction between Ontology and Natural Language

147

(2)

5.3.2 The Real Distinction between Ontology and Natural Language

149

(5)

5.4 A Wish List for Formal Ontology from Ontological Semantics

154

(3)

PART II Ontological Semantics as Such

157

(200)

Chapter 6 Meaning Representation in Ontological Semantics

161

(30)

6.1 Meaning Proper and the Rest

161

(5)

6.2 TMR in Ontological Semantics

166

(8)

6.3 Ontological Concepts and Nonontological Parameters in TMR

174

(1)

6.4 The Nature and Format of TMR

175

(7)

6.5 Further Examples of TMR Specification

182

(5)

6.6 Synonymy and Paraphrases 186 6.7 Basic and Extended TMRs

187

(4)

Chapter 7 The Static Knowledge Sources: Ontology, Fact Repository, and Lexicons

191

(56)

7.1 The Ontology

192

(36)

7.1.1 The Format of Mikrokosmos Ontology

196

(11)

7.1.2 Inheritance

207

(2)

7.1.3 Case Roles for Predicates

209

(3)

7.1.4 Choices and Trade-Offs in Ontological Representations

212

(6)

7.1.5 Complex Events

218

(6)

7.1.6 Axiomatic Definition of Ontology

224

(4)

7.2 Fact Repository

228

(2)

7.3 The Lexicon

230

(15)

7.4 The Onomasticon

245

(2)

Chapter 8 Basic Processing in Ontological Semantic Text Analysis

247

(62)

8.1 Preprocessing

247

(4)

8.1.1 Tokenization and Morphological Analysis

248

(2)

8.1.2 Lexical Lookup

250

(1)

8.1.3 Syntactic Analysis

251

(1)

8.2 Building Basic Semantic Dependency

252

(11)

8.2.1 Establishing Propositional Structure

252

(6)

8.2.2 Matching Selectional Restrictions

258

(3)

8.2.3 Multivalued Static Selectional Restrictions

261

(2)

8.3 When Basic Procedure Returns More Than a Single Answer

263

(11)

8.3.1 Dynamic Tightening of Selectional Restrictions

264

(8)

8.3.2 When All Else Goes Wrong: Comparing Distances in Ontological Space

272

(2)

8.4 When Basic Procedure Returns No Answer

274

(10)

8.4.1 Relaxation of Selectional Restrictions

274

(1)

8.4.2 Processing Nonliteral Language

275

(4)

8.4.3 Processing Unattested Inputs

279

(3)

8.4.4 Processing Ellipsis

282

(2)

8.5 Processing Meaning Beyond Basic Semantic Dependencies

284

(17)

8.5.1 Aspect

285

(6)

8.5.2 Proposition Time

291

(4)

8.5.3 Modality

295

(6)

8.6 Processing at the Suprapropositional Level

301

(8)

8.6.1 Reference and Coreference

301

(4)

8.6.2 TMR Time

305

(1)

8.6.3 Discourse Relations

306

(2)

8.6.4 Style

308

(1)

Chapter 9 Acquisition of Static Knowledge Sources for Ontological Semantics

309

(44)

9.1 Automating Knowledge Acquisition in Ontological Semantics

311

(3)

9.2 Acquisition of Ontology

314

(8)

9.3 Acquisition of Lexicon

322

(28)

9.3.1 General Principles of Lexical Semantic Acquisition

322

(1)

9.3.2 Paradigmatic Approach to Semantic Acquisition I: "Rapid Propagation"

323

(3)

9.3.3 Paradigmatic Approach to Lexical Acquisition II: Lexical Rules

326

(5)

9.3.4 Steps in Lexical Acquisition

331

(1)

9.3.5 Polysemy Reduction

331

(8)

9.3.6 Grain Size and Practical Effability

339

(5)

9.3.7 Ontological Matching and Lexical Constraints

344

(6)

9.4 Acquisition of Fact Repository

350

(3)

Chapter 10 Conclusion

353

(4)

Notes

357

(14)

References

371

(40)

Index

411

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Ontological Semantics

0262140861

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