The analysis in of quantified sentences, introduced by a temporal connective, gives the wrong tru... more The analysis in of quantified sentences, introduced by a temporal connective, gives the wrong truth conditions when the connective is before or after. In this paper, we show how splitting the different roles of Reichenbach's reference time may be used in order to solve this problem. We further enhance the analogy between pronominal and temporal anaphora, by proposing an analog of plural NP-anaphora in the form of temporal anaphora involving multiple event antecedents and an analog of an E-type analysis of pronouns in the analysis of quantified narrative discourse.
We propose a novel interpretation of natural-language questions using a modal predicate logic of ... more We propose a novel interpretation of natural-language questions using a modal predicate logic of knowledge. Our approach brings standard model-theoretic and proof-theoretic techniques from modal logic to bear on questions. Using the former, we show that our interpretation preserves Groenendijk and Stokhof's answerhood relation, yet allows an extensional interpretation. Using the latter, we get a sound and complete proof procedure for the logic for free. Our approach is more expressive; for example, it easily treats complex questions with operators that scope over questions. We suggest a semantic criterion that restricts what natural-language questions can express. We integrate and generalize much previous work on the semantics of questions, including Beck and Sharvit's families of subquestions, non-exhaustive questions, and multi-party conversations.
This paper presents a method for automatically translating natural language speci cations into te... more This paper presents a method for automatically translating natural language speci cations into temporal logic. Using this method, users may express complex speci cations in relatively free natural language, allowing multi-sentence speci cations, the use of pronouns instead of repeating the description of previously mentioned objects and complex temporal relations. These speci cations are translated into temporal logic, while ensuring the correctness of the translation. This approach overcomes a well-known obstacle of applying model-checking industrially. In contrast to prior attempts, the translation is linguistically based on a modern formalism for discourse representation. An implementation of this translation method is presented in one of the modern computational linguistics systems.
We present a novel calculus for reasoning with both indicative and interrogative sentences, simul... more We present a novel calculus for reasoning with both indicative and interrogative sentences, simultaneously modeling entailment between indicative sentences, entailment between interrogative sentences and answerhood relations. The logic is based on an interpretation of questions as entities of type t, the type of propositions. This is achieved by an algebraic reinterpretation of the domain of type t as a bilattice, rather than the standard boolean interpretation. We provide a Gentzen style axiomatization of the logic and prove its soundness and completeness with respect to the bilattice semantics. We also consider an alternative formulation using multi-valued free variable first-order tableaux, allowing for efficient algorithmic proof-search. We have implemented the tableau rules for the logic using a tableau-based theorem prover.
In this paper we reexamine the question of whether questions areinherently intensional entities. ... more In this paper we reexamine the question of whether questions areinherently intensional entities. We do so by proposing a novelextensional theory of questions, based on a re-interpretation of thedomain of t as a bilattice rather than the usual booleaninterpretation. We discuss the adequacy of our theory with respect tothe adequacy criteria imposed on the semantics of questionsby (Groenendijk and Stokhof 1997). We show that the theory is able to account in astraightforward manner for some complex issues in the semantics ofquestions including coordinated questions, combined indicative andinterrogative sentences, questions with quantifiers, and theimpossibility of negating questions.
This paper presents an analysis of temporal anaphora in sentences which contain quantification ov... more This paper presents an analysis of temporal anaphora in sentences which contain quantification over events, within the framework of Discourse Representation Theory. The analysis in of quantified sentences, introduced by a temporal connective, gives the wrong truth-conditions when the temporal connective in the subordinate clause is before or after. This problem has been previously analyzed in as an instance of the proportion problem, and given a solution from a Generalized Quantifier approach. By using a careful distinction between the different notions of reference time, based on (Kamp and Reyle, 1993), we propose a solution to this problem, within the framework of Dt~T. We show some applications of this solution to additional temporal anaphora phenomena in quantified sentences.
In this paper we reexamine the question of whether questions are inherently intensional entities.... more In this paper we reexamine the question of whether questions are inherently intensional entities. We do so by proposing a novel extensional theory of questions, based on a re-interpretation of the domain of type t as a bilattice rather than the usual boolean interpretation. We discuss the adequacy of our theory with respect to the adequacy criteria imposed on the semantics of questions by . We show that the theory is able to account in a straightforward manner for some complex issues in the semantics of questions including coordinated questions, combined indicative and interrogative sentences, questions with quantifiers, and the impossibility of negating questions.
This paper presents a method for automatically translating natural language specifications into t... more This paper presents a method for automatically translating natural language specifications into temporal logic. Using this method, users may express complex specifications in relatively free natural language, allowing multi-sentence specifications, the use of pronouns instead of repeating the description of previously mentioned objects and complex temporal relations. These specifications are translated into temporal logic, while ensuring the correctness of the translation. This approach overcomes a well-known obstacle of applying model-checking industrially. In contrast to prior attempts, the translation is linguistically based on a modern formalism for discourse representation. An implementation of this translation method is presented in one of the modern computational linguistics systems.
Recent years have shown a surge in interest in temporal database systems, which allow users to st... more Recent years have shown a surge in interest in temporal database systems, which allow users to store time-dependent information. We present a novel controlled natural language interface to temporal databases, based on translating natural language questions into SQL/Temporal, a temporal database query language. The syntactic analysis is done using the Type-Logical Grammar framework, highlighting its utility not only as a theoretical framework but also as a practical tool. The semantic analysis is done using a novel theory of the semantics of temporal questions, focusing on the role of temporal preposition phrases rather than the more traditional focus on tense and aspect. Our translation method is considerably simpler than previous attempts in this direction. We present a prototype software implementation of the method.
Abstract tural analogies between tenses and pronouns in English. Journal of Philosophy, LXX: 601-... more Abstract tural analogies between tenses and pronouns in English. Journal of Philosophy, LXX: 601--609. Partee, B. and M. Rooth. 1983. Generalized conjunction and type ambiguity. In R. Bauerle, C. Schwarze, and A. von Stechow, editors, Meaning, Use and Interpretation ...
A Semantics for Temporal Questions
ABSTRACT. In this paper, we develop a theory of the semantic interpretation of temporal questions... more ABSTRACT. In this paper, we develop a theory of the semantic interpretation of temporal questions. This analysis combines the well-known model-theoretic interpretation of questions of [GS84] with the proposal of [PF98] for the semantics of temporal modification ...
We describe a novel method for improving the efficiency of natural language text input under degr... more We describe a novel method for improving the efficiency of natural language text input under degraded conditions, for instance by disabled users or on mobile telephones. Previous approaches to this problem were based on prediction of the input text. Prediction, however, requires the user to take overt action to verify or select the system's predictions, causing an increased cognitive load that eliminates any speed advantages .
Arabic Diacritization Using Weighted Finite-State Transducers
... 2004. Issues in Arabic orthogra-phy and morphology analysis. In Ali Farghaly and KarineMegerd... more ... 2004. Issues in Arabic orthogra-phy and morphology analysis. In Ali Farghaly and KarineMegerdoomian, editors, COLING 2004 Computational Approaches to Arabic Script-based Languages, pages 31-34, Geneva, Switzerland, August 28th. COLING. ...
Aligning sentences belonging to comparable monolingual corpora has been suggested as a first step... more Aligning sentences belonging to comparable monolingual corpora has been suggested as a first step towards training text rewriting algorithms, for tasks such as summarization or paraphrasing. We present here a new monolingual sentence alignment algorithm, combining a sentence-based TF*IDF score, turned into a probability distribution using logistic regression, with a global alignment dynamic programming algorithm. Our approach provides a simpler and more robust solution achieving a substantial improvement in accuracy over existing systems.
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Papers by Rani Nelken