TTP: A Fast And Robust Parser For Natural Language

In this paper we describe TI~ , a fast and robust natural language parser which can analyze written text and generate regularized parse structures for sentences and phrases at the speed of approximately 0.5 sec/sentence, or 44 word per second. The parser is based on a wide coverage grammar for English, developed by the New York University's Linguistic String Project, and it uses the machine-readable version of the Oxford Advanced lw~arner's Dictionary as a source of its basic vocabulary. The parser operates on stochastically tagged text, and contains a powerful skip-and-fit recovery mechanism that allows it to deal with extra-grammatical input and to operate effectively under a severe time pressure. Empirical experiments, testing parser's speed and accuracy, were performed on several collections: a collection of technical abstracts (CACM-3204), a corpus of news messages (MUC-3), a selection from ACM Computer Library database, and a collection of Wall Street Journal articles, approximately 50 million words in total.