2,943 research outputs found
Lambda Dependency-Based Compositional Semantics
This short note presents a new formal language, lambda dependency-based
compositional semantics (lambda DCS) for representing logical forms in semantic
parsing. By eliminating variables and making existential quantification
implicit, lambda DCS logical forms are generally more compact than those in
lambda calculus
Reviving the parameter revolution in semantics
Montague and Kaplan began a revolution in semantics, which promised to explain how a univocal expression could make distinct truth-conditional contributions in its various occurrences. The idea was to treat context as a parameter at which a sentence is semantically evaluated. But the revolution has stalled. One salient problem comes from recurring demonstratives: "He is tall and he is not tall". For the sentence to be true at a context, each occurrence of the demonstrative must make a different truth-conditional contribution. But this difference cannot be accounted for by standard parameter sensitivity. Semanticists, consoled by the thought that this ambiguity would ultimately be needed anyhow to explain anaphora, have been too content to posit massive ambiguities in demonstrative pronouns. This article aims to revived the parameter revolution by showing how to treat demonstrative pronouns as univocal while providing an account of anaphora that doesn't end up re-introducing the ambiguity
Exploiting Deep Semantics and Compositionality of Natural Language for Human-Robot-Interaction
We develop a natural language interface for human robot interaction that
implements reasoning about deep semantics in natural language. To realize the
required deep analysis, we employ methods from cognitive linguistics, namely
the modular and compositional framework of Embodied Construction Grammar (ECG)
[Feldman, 2009]. Using ECG, robots are able to solve fine-grained reference
resolution problems and other issues related to deep semantics and
compositionality of natural language. This also includes verbal interaction
with humans to clarify commands and queries that are too ambiguous to be
executed safely. We implement our NLU framework as a ROS package and present
proof-of-concept scenarios with different robots, as well as a survey on the
state of the art
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