Automatically recognizing the discourse structure of a body of text
US6112168A · kind A · utility
Assignee
Inventors
Key dates
| Filing date | Oct 20, 1997 |
| Grant date | Aug 29, 2000 |
| Priority date | — |
| Expiry date | Oct 20, 2017 |
Classification
- Technology area (CPC G)Physics
- CPC primaryG06F40/253
- WIPO fieldComputer technology
- WIPO sectorElectrical engineering
Abstract
The present invention is directed to recognizing a discourse structure of a body of text. In a preferred embodiment, a discourse structure recognition facility utilizes syntactic information associated with the body of text to generate a discourse structure tree that characterizes the discourse structure of the body of text. The facility first identifies in the body of text a number of clauses. The facility then determines, for each distinct pair of clauses, which of a number of possible discourse relations should be hypothesized between the pair of clauses, based on the syntactic structure and semantic of the body of text relative to the pair of clauses. The facility then applies the hypothesized relations to the clauses in order to produce a discourse structure tree characterizing the discourse structure of the body of text. In certain embodiments, the facility further generates from the produced discourse structure tree a synopsis of the body of text reflecting the primary goals pursued by its author.
Source: USPTO / EPO open patent data. Objective bibliographic and citation counts.