Logical reasoning in natural language: It is all about knowledge

A formal, computational, semantically clean representation of natural language is presented. This representation captures the fact that logical inferences in natural language crucially depend on the semantic relation of entailment between sentential constituents such as determiner, noun, adjective, adverb, preposition, and verb phrases.The representation parallels natural language in that it accounts for human intuition about entailment of sentences, it preserves its structure, it reflects the semantics of different syntactic categories, it simulates conjunction, disjunction, and negation in natural language by computable operations with provable mathematical properties, and it allows one to represent coordination on different syntactic levels.The representation demonstrates that Boolean semantics of natural language can be successfully modeled in terms of representation and inference by knowledge representation formalisms with Boolean semantics. A novel approach to the problem of automatic inferencing in natural language is addressed. The algorithm for updating a computer knowledge base and reasoning with explicit negative, disjunctive, and conjunctive information based on computing subsumption relation between the representations of the appropriate sentential constituents is discussed with examples.     

METABANK: A KNOWLEDGE-BASE OF METAPHORIC LANGUAGE CONVENTIONS

The frequent and conventional use of nonliteral language has been a major stumbling block for natural language processing systems since the early machine translation efforts. Metaphor, metonymy, and indirect speech acts are among the most troublesome phenomena. Recent computational efforts addressing these problems have taken an approach that emphasizes the use of systematic knowledge about nonliteral language conventions. We are currently engaged in an effort to supply this knowledge in the case of conventional metaphor. We are constructing MetaBank: an empirically derived and theoretically motivated knowledge-base of English metaphorical conventions. This article describes our three-part approach to the construction of MetaBank: the collection of on-line textual resources and databases of linguistic generalizations, the development of a methodology for analyzing these resources, and the construction of a knowledge-base based on the preceding analyses.     

Natural language understanding and Montague grammar1, 2

This paper reevaluates some of the contributions of Montague grammar in view of the increasing importance of computational considerations in linguistic theory and the demand for linguistic theories that can provide support in the design of natural language systems. It also considers Montague grammar in relation to work on lexical semantics and semantic nets. In this perspective the techniques of Montague grammar for systematically linking syntactic form and a model-theoretic semantics emerge as the most significant feature of the theory, while a number of the specific semantic assumptions recede in importance. Yet, with different ways of thinking about the structure mapping between levels of linguistic form and interpretations (e.g., constraint systems), we can also implement this connection using different techniques from what Montague had at his disposal.     

一个多形式的知识库管理系统XFKBMS/V1.0

提出了一个多形式的知识库管理系统 XFKBMS/ V1 .0 .XFKBMS/ V1 .0在采用面向对象的“知识体·对象块·构件”知识表示方法的基础上 ,向用户提供了三种知识库管理环境 :基于 DBMS的数据库格式知识获取 &编辑环境 ;基于图的可视化知识获取 &编辑环境 ;基于知识库描述性语言的文本格式知识获取 &编辑环境 .这三种环境相互感应 .用户可以从一种环境切换到另一种环境 ,继续知识的获取 &编辑 .用户可以以自己熟悉的方式工作 ,大大提高了知识获取和编辑的效率     

Dynamic interpretation and hoare deduction

In this paper we present a dynamic assignment language which extends the dynamic predicate logic of Groenendijk and Stokhof [1991: 39–100] with assignment and with generalized quantifiers. The use of this dynamic assignment language for natural language analysis, along the lines of o.c. and [Barwise, 1987: 1–29], is demonstrated by examples. We show that our representation language permits us to treat a wide variety of donkey sentences: conditionals with a donkey pronoun in their consequent and quantified sentences with donkey pronouns anywhere in the scope of the quantifier. It is also demonstrated that our account does not suffer from the so-called proportion problem.Discussions about the correctness or incorrectness of proposals for dynamic interpretation of language have been hampered in the past by the difficulty of seeing through the ramifications of the dynamic semantic clauses (phrased in terms of input-output behaviour) in non-trivial cases. To remedy this, we supplement the dynamic semantics of our representation language with an axiom system in the style of Hoare. While the representation languages of barwise and Groenendijk and Stokhof were not axiomatized, the rules we propose form a deduction system for the dynamic assignment language which is proved correct and complete with respect to the semantics.Finally, we define the static meaning of a program of the dynamic assignment language as the weakest condition such that terminates successfully on all states satisfying , and we show that our calculus gives a straightforward method for finding static meanings of the programs of the representation language.     

面向对象模型对复杂结构知识的表示方法

传统关系型数据库在表示专家系统中具有嵌套、递归等复杂结构的知识时遇到了困难。对此，本文提出了一种采用对象模型的解决方案。该方案在关系数据库的基础上使用映射原理实现了一种面向对象的模型，利用该模型可以较好地在数据库中表示各类复杂结构的知识。该方案已经在地震预报专家系统中得到应用，并取得了较好的效果。     

Enhancing OODB semantics to support browsing in an OODB vocabulary representation

In previous work, we have modeled a vocabulary given as a semantic network by an object‐oriented database (OODB). The OODB schema thus obtained provides a compact abstract view of the vocabulary. This enables the fast traversal of the vocabulary by a user. In the semantic network vocabulary, the IS‐A relationships express the specialization hierarchy. In our OODB modeling of the vocabulary, the SUBCLASS relationship expresses the specialization hierarchy of the classes and supports the inheritance of their properties. A typical IS‐A path in the vocabulary has a corresponding shorter SUBCLASS path in the OODB schema. In this paper we expose several cases where the SUBCLASS hierarchy fails to fully correspond to the IS‐A hierarchy of the vocabulary. In these cases there exist traversal paths in the semantic network for which there are no corresponding traversal paths in the OODB schema. The reason for this failure is the existence of some IS‐A relationships between concepts of two classes, which are not connected by a SUBCLASS relationship. This phenomenon weakens the accuracy of our modeling. To rectify the situation we introduce a new OODB semantic relationship IS‐A to represent the existence of IS‐A relationships between concepts of a pair of classes which are not connected via a SUBCLASS relationship. The resulting schema contains both SUBCLASS relationships and IS‐A relationships which completely model the IS‐A hierarchy of the vocabulary. We define a mixed‐class level traversal path to contain either SUBCLASS or IS‐A relationships. Consequently, each traversal path in the semantic network has a corresponding mixed traversal path in the OODB schema. Hence the introduction of the semantic OODB IS‐A relationship improves the modeling of semantic network vocabularies by OODBs. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A Knowledge-based System with Audio-Visual Aids

A Knowledge-based System with Audio-Visual Aids (KS/AV) is presented. KS/AV is a knowledge-based system that has multiple types of knowledge represented not only in symbols but in audio-visual (AV) images, and it provides an environment for humanmachine communication through AV media. We define a predicate logic based on objects for knowledge representation in KS/AV. It is a first order predicate logic in which every individual is regarded as an object. All of the individuals including AV images are regarded as objects. Their definitions are based on the class concepts of Smalltalk-80. AV image objects presented in this paper include not only simple video and graphic images, but also composite images that consist of several component images. This paper presents the KS/AV system developed on a small computer system with various AV equipment. As a case study, we developed a reading advisory system for children on KS/AV, which communicates with children through AV images and gives their favourite picture books.     

一个并发对象演算

由于缺乏一个为人们接受的描述并发对象系统语义的形式化模型,开发面向对象程序设计语言的开发受到了很大的制约,为了给并发面向对象程序设计定义一个公共的语义框架,人们分别以π演算和ａｃｔｏｒ模型为基础进行了研究。     

多模态信息处理前沿综述:应用、融合和预训练

随着视觉、听觉、语言等单模态人工智能技术的突破,让计算机拥有更接近人类理解多模态信息的能力受到研究者们的广泛关注。另一方面,随着图文社交、短视频、视频会议、直播和虚拟数字人等应用的涌现,对多模态信息处理技术提出了更高要求,同时也给多模态研究提供了海量的数据和丰富的应用场景。该文首先介绍了近期自然语言处理领域关注度较高的多模态应用,并从单模态的特征表示、多模态的特征融合阶段、融合模型的网络结构、未对齐模态和模态缺失下的多模态融合等角度综述了主流的多模态融合方法,同时也综合分析了视觉-语言跨模态预训练模型的最新进展。     

The Use of Situation Theory in Context Modeling

At the heart of natural language processing is the understanding of context dependent meanings. This paper presents a preliminary model of formal contexts based on situation theory. It also gives a worked‐out example to show the use of contexts in lifting, i.e., how propositions holding in a particular context transform when they are moved to another context. This is useful in NLP applications where preserving meaning is a desideratum.     

SEMANTICAL AND ONTOLOGICAL CONSIDERATIONS IN TELOS: A LANGUAGE FOR KNOWLEDGE REPRESENTATION DIMITRIS PLEXOUSAKIS

This paper focuses on the semantics of Telos, a language for representing knowledge about information systems. Telos is intended to support the development of information systems, especially in the requirements modeling phase. An object-oriented representational framework is supported by Telos. Its features include aggregation, generalization, and classification, the treatment of attributes as first-class objects and the explicit representation of time. Telos also provides an assertion sublanguage for expressing deductive rules and integrity constraints. A possible-worlds semantics is defined for Telos knowledge bases. This semantics is intended to capture the peculiarities involved in the interpretation of temporal expressions. The integration of time has also inspired the treatment of existence in Telos. An ontology of objects based on the property of existence is proposed. In the spirit of KRYPTON, Telos knowledge bases are specified functionally, in terms of the operations provided for querying and updating them. This knowledge-level analysis will allow us to specify exactly what a knowledge base can be ASK-ed or TELL-ed about the domain of discourse. Soundness, consistency, and completeness results have also been proven to complete the specification of Telos knowledge bases. This formal account of the language provides a logical framework that can be used to verify the correctness of any proposed implementation of the system.     

Language visualisation: Applications and theoretical foundations of a primitive-based approach

Language visualisation consists of using consistent and systematic mappings between language expressions and graphical forms, where the graphical forms constitute or convey the meaning of the expressions. Primitive-based applications are described for both natural and artificial language (story visualisation and program visualisation, respectively). On the basis of these and other applications some foundational concepts are identified in a bottom-up theory of visualisation. A universal visualisation system architecture is proposed, as is a basic visual object taxonomy for classifying any visualisation object. Also, preliminary steps are taken towards constructing a top-down theory.     

A creative arts approach to computer programming

This paper describes how the creative arts can provide an alternative approach to computer programming that may benefit students in the humanities in general. It focuses on creative arts projects using text, graphics and music that allow students to encounter the same programming concepts from a number of different perspectives. It also discusses the importance of symbolic programming for the arts and how the creative arts can provide a particularly rich environment for developing approaches to object-oriented programming.Gary Greenberg received his B. A. and M. A. in Music from Stanford University and his Ph.D. in Music from Harvard University. His activities include creating compositional programming environments (Composing with Performer Objects, The Proceedings of the 1988 International Computer Music Conference) and developing ways of using the computer to learn about music through compositional activities (Music Learning-Compositional Thinking). He is currently manager of the Northwestern University Advanced Technology Group where he coordinates the Computer Media Studio and is exploring ways to use computer multimedia in instruction and research.     

Sememe knowledge computation: a review of recent advances in application and expansion of sememe knowledge bases

A sememe is defined as the minimum semantic unit of languages in linguistics. Sememe knowledge bases are built by manually annotating sememes for words and phrases. HowNet is the most well-known sememe knowledge base. It has been extensively utilized in many natural language processing tasks in the era of statistical natural language processing and proven to be effective and helpful to understanding and using languages. In the era of deep learning, although data are thought to be of vital importance, there are some studies working on incorporating sememe knowledge bases like HowNet into neural network models to enhance system performance. Some successful attempts have been made in the tasks including word representation learning, language modeling, semantic composition, etc. In addition, considering the high cost of manual annotation and update for sememe knowledge bases, some work has tried to use machine learning methods to automatically predict sememes for words and phrases to expand sememe knowledge bases. Besides, some studies try to extend HowNet to other languages by automatically predicting sememes for words and phrases in a new language. In this paper, we summarize recent studies on application and expansion of sememe knowledge bases and point out some future directions of research on sememes.     

基于知识的制造资源信息查询

制造的网络化使得企业能够快速查找、获取和使用全球的制造资源,避免重新发明,从而节约成本并提高对市场的快速反应能力。基于关键字的传统查询方法有许多不足,本文设计实现了一个基于知识的信息服务平台,通过构造领域模型实现基于语义的信息查询,能够有效地满足企业对制造资源信息的要求。     

程序设计语言及相关领域的研究方向

本文主要讨论了程序设计语言的研究方向,以及与之有关的研究领域,并展望了程序设计语言的发展。