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Customizing verb definitions for specific semantic domains

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Abstract

We examine the functions performed by verb definitions in the process of semantic interpretation in PUNDIT, and the changes in the interpretation process that are caused by different uses of the same verb. We give detailed examples of how the interpretation process is affected by changes in thematic roles, selection restrictions and semantic predicates in the decompositions that constitute the verb definitions. In addition we introduce the notion of a change-of-state inference that must be drawn by reference resolution and argue that it plays an equally important function in capturing distinctions among verb senses. We demonstrate the role of the change-of-state inference with several different concrete representations of varying senses of the verb break.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Unisys Center for Advanced Information Technology, Paoli, Pennsylvania, USA

    Martha Palmer

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  1. Martha Palmer
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Rebecca Passonneau and Carl Weir have made major contributions to the theory and implementation of verb semantics in the PUNDIT system. Marcia Linebarger has provided invaluable insights into verb semantics illustrated by innumerable examples without which the last two sections of this paper would not exist. Also, Bonnie Webber made substantial contributions to the representations of the verb break.

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Palmer, M. Customizing verb definitions for specific semantic domains. Machine Translation 5, 5–30 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310040

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00310040

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