In this paper discourse segments are defined and a method for discourse segmentation primarily based on abduction of temporal relations between segments is proposed. This method is precise and computationally feasible and is supported by previous work in the area of temporal anaphora resolution. 1 I n t r o d d c t i o n B. Webber in [22] explains how discourse segmentation contributes to the i...

then the most natural interpretation is that the Fuji Gardens is a restaurant at which the speaker would like to eat with the hearer. The text is heard as exhibiting a problem-and-solution structure. Consequently, we can say that there is a proposition which says that there is a "solutionhood" relation between the two sentences. In this case, going to the Fuji Gardens (partially) solves the hun...

In this paper we describe a method to obtain summaries focussed on chosen characters of a free text. Summaries are extracted from discourse structures, which resemble rhetorical trees. They are obtained by exploiting cohesion and coherence properties of the text. Evaluation intends to evidence the contribution of each module in the final result.

An algorithm was implemented for automatically generating tree-like discourse structures. This was used to generate a variety of discourse trees by using diierent attachment rules. The information used by these rules was essentially referential, and included continuity of theme, temporal reference, and pronominalisation in general. The trees in turn formed the basis for reference resolution, in...

Due to the relatively simple structure of dialogues in previous spoken dialogue systems, discourse structure has seen limited applications in these systems. We investigate the utility of discourse structure for spoken dialogue systems in complex domains (e.g. tutoring). Two types of applications are being pursued: on the system side and on the user side. On the system side, we investigate if th...

In this paper we explore a new theory of discourse structure that stresses the role of purpose and processing in discourse. In this theory, discourse structure is composed of three separate but interrelated components: the structure of the sequence of utterances (called the linguistic structure), a structure of purposes (called the intentional structure), and the state of focus of attention (ca...

In addition to deciding what to say, s p e a k ers must decide how t o s a y it. The central premise of studies on the relationship between syntax and discourse function is that a speaker's use of a particular structural option is constrained by s p e-ciic aspects of the context of utterance. Work in discourse has uncovered a variety of speciic discourse functions served by individual syntactic...

The current debate regarding the data structure necessary to represent discourse structure, specifically whether tree-structure is sufficient to represent discourse structure or not, is mainly focused on written text. This paper reviews some of the major claims about the structure in discourse and proposes an investigation of discourse structure for simultaneous spoken Turkish by focusing on tr...

Purpose. The purpose of this article is to describe the peculiarities functioning discourse markers in institutional format mediation discourse.
 Methodology. General scientific methods and specific linguistic (contextual analysis, continuous sampling method, pragmatic analysis discourse) were used research.
 Results. This study deals with as a tool structuring. Particular attention p...

Two self-paced reading-time experiments are reported that examine the time course of pronoun interpretation processes based on local discourse structure and on world knowledge. The characterization of local discourse structure is based on recent work on centering, which provides a specific formulation of how the ways in which sentences make reference to common entities determines the coherence ...