Patent ID: 7177799

Claim:
A method of interpreting a linguistic representation of a textual input, comprising: receiving a linguistic discourse representation structure (DRS) as the linguistic representation of the textual input; receiving an entity-and-relation model of a non-linguistic domain; and generating a semantic discourse representation structure (SemDRS) in terms of the entity-and-relation model and based on evidence derived from the linguistic DRS, by receiving a set of semantic mapping rules, each rule having a first side that matches DRS segments of a specified form and a second side that specifies at least a partial SemDRS; wherein applying the set of semantic mapping rules to the linguistic DRS, comprises: identifying applicable semantic mapping rules as rules having first sides that match any segments of the linguistic DRS; generating patterns associated with the linguistic DRS, the patterns including a plurality of partial SemDRSs corresponding to the second sides of the applicable semantic rules; and combining some of the patterns, consistently with the entity-and-relation model, into a single combined solution pattern; wherein the linguistic DRS has elements arranged in a box structure and wherein generating a SemDRS further comprises arranging the solution pattern in a box structure based on the box structure of the linguistic DRS by restoring the box structure of the linguistic DRS onto the solution pattern to obtain the SemDRS.