Patent ID: 6112168
Filing Date: 2000-08-29
Classification: G06F

Abstract:
A method in a computer system for generating a list of discourse structure trees for an input text that characterizes the discourse structure of the input text, the method utilizing syntactic information associated with the input text, the method comprising the steps of:dividing the input text into a plurality of clauses;for each ordered pair of the plurality of clauses:for each of a multiplicity of discourse relations:retrieving one or more ordered sets of conditions for hypothesizing the discourse relation, each condition directed to the syntactic information relating to the ordered pair of clauses;determining which of the retrieved sets of conditions are completely satisfied by the syntactic information relative to the pair of clauses, evaluating the conditions of each set in the order of the conditions in the set; andwhere the conditions of at least one set are satisfied:generating an indication that the discourse relation is hypothesized between the ordered pair of clauses, andgenerating for the hypothesized relation a quantitative relation score reflecting the relative likelihood that that the discourse relation is properly hypothesized, the quantitative score obtained by summing quantitative scores associated with the satisfied sets of conditions that, in each case, reflects the likelihood that the discourse relation is properly hypothesized in view of the satisfaction of the satisfied set of conditions;organizing the hypothesized relations into lists each containing the relations hypothesized between a different pair of clauses;applying to the identified clauses the hypothesized relations of the lists beginning from the list containing the highest relation score in the order of the relation scores; andstoring in a list of discourse structure trees each complete, correct, unique discourse structure tree generated by applying the hypothesized relations.