Inference in Computational Semantics
Christof Monz, M. de Rijke · 2000
states of mind, etc. Natural language semantics, as a theory of meaning, determines what the meanings of words of the language are and how to semantically combine elements of a language to build up complex meanings. These meanings are most often represented as formulas in a logical language. Computational semantics investigates the computational properties that formal semantic theories need to enjoy to be applicable to real-world problems. Most approaches in formal semantics are evaluated with respect to criteria like expressiveness, explanatory adequacy, and generality, whereas typical criteria for evaluating approaches in computational semantics include coverage, robustness, eciency, and user-friendliness. Coverage measures the amount of phenomena that can described by a semantic theory. Although coverage should be regarded as a criterion f