Patent ID: 6937975

Claim:
A method of generating a machine executable instruction, the method comprising the steps of: inputting data representing a phrase, sentence, or passage of a natural language; analysing said input data to generate meaning data structured in computer usable form as lexical meaning representations and links therebetween having regard to the grammar of the natural language, said links indicating which of said lexical meaning representations modify others of said lexical meaning representations; comparing the meaning data for the input data with meaning data for reference data by determining equivalent lexical meaning representations in said meaning data for the input data and the reference data linked by equivalent links starting from a head lexical meaning representation which does not modify any others of said lexical meaning representations in said meaning data for the input data in accordance with a set of relationships defining equivalence between at least one of lexical meaning representations, linked lexical meaning representations, and links; and generating a machine executable instruction in dependence upon the result of the comparing step.