In this paper we describe the definition of semantics for a Multi-Language interpreter (MLI), which provides the execution of the given program, receiving and exploiting corresponding language syntax and the desired semantics. We analyze the simplest solution – the MLI receives the language syntax and the semantics descriptions, which have already been compiled to executable objects. Semantics ...

This chapter presents the semantics and pragmatics of prosodic focus in alternative semantics. Half a dozen examples are given of empirical phenomena that are to be covered by the theory. Then a syntax marking the locus, scope, and antecedent for focus is introduced. The syntax is interpreted semantically and pragmatically by a presupposition involving alternatives. The alternative sets that ar...

Hobbs, J.R., M.E. Stickel, D.E. Appelt and P. Martin, Interpretation as abduction, Artificial Intelligence 63 (1993) 69-142. Abduction is inference to the best explanation. In the TACITUS project at SRI we have developed an approach to abductive inference, called "weighted abduction", that has resulted in a significant simplification of how the problem of interpreting texts is conceptualized. T...

The generation perspective taken by optimality theoretic syntax has a lot in common with the insights gained in natural language generation. This paper explores how insights about NP generation (e.g. Reiter & Dale (2000), van Deemter (2004)) can be made fruitful for explaining the semantics and pragmatics of sentences with more than one plural NP by exploiting optimality theoretic pragmatics, a...

In this paper we propose a model of human sentence processing that is based on Optimality Theory (OT). In contrast to most other OT approaches to language processing, we use constraints from OT semantics rather than OT syntax to explain on-line comprehension. We illustrate the workings of our model by investigating the processing of coordinated structures. The psycholinguistic evidence that is ...

The computer simulation classes in the Computer and Information Sciences and Engineering Department at the University of Florida emphasize a skill set focusing on dynamic system model construction, syntax, and execution. Simulation models are treated as types of formal languages, resulting in instruction that concentrates on key facets of language such as syntax, semantics, and pragmatics. For ...

Learning and understanding natural languages are usually considered as independent tasks in natural language processing. These two tasks, however, are strongly interrelated and are presumably unsolvable as separate problems. In this paper, we present an algorithm called Frequent Rule Graph Miner (FRGM) that tackles these problems by alternately improving on the language model and the example in...

On a high level of abstraction a Web Information System (WIS) can be described by a storyboard, which in an abstract way specifies who will be using the system, in which way and for which goals. While syntax and semantics of storyboarding has been well explored, its pragmatics has not. This paper contributes context analysis as a step towards closing this gap. We classify various aspects of con...

Aktract-This paper gives a detailed account of a system environment for the treatment of general problems of image and speech understanding. It provides a framework for the representation of declarative and procedural knowledge based on a suitable definition of a semantic network. The syntax and semantics of the network are clearly defined. In addition, the pragmatics of the network in its use ...