Semantic Relations Between NominalsVivi Nastase1, Preslav Nakov2, Diarmuid Ó Séaghdha3, and Stan Szpakowicz4(1FBK, Trento;2QCRI, Qatar Foundation;3University of Cambridge;4University of Ottawa) Morgan & Claypool (Synthesis Lectures on Human Language Technologies, edited by Graeme Hirst, volume 19), 2013, xvii+124 pp; paperbound, ISBN 978-1-60845-979-7, $40.00; e-book, ISBN 978-1-60845-980-3, $30.00 or by subscription
Lucy Vanderwende · Computational Linguistics · 2014
Understanding noun compounds is the challenge that drew me to study computational linguistics.Think about how just two words, side by side, evoke a whole story: cacao seeds evokes the tree on which the cacao seeds grow, and to understand cacao powder we need to also imagine the seeds of the cacao tree that are crushed to powder.What conjures up these concepts of tree and grow, and seeds and crush, which are not explicitly present in the written word but are essential for our complete understanding of the compounds?The mechanisms by which we make sense of noun compounds can illuminate how we understand language more generally.And because the human mind is so wily as to provide interpretations even when we do not ask it to, I have always found it useful to study these phenomena of language on the computer, because the computer surely does not (yet) have the type of knowledge that must be brought to bear on the problem.If you find these phenomena equally intriguing and puzzling, then you will find this book by Nastase, Nakov, Ó Séaghdga, and Szpakowicz a wonderful summary of past research efforts and a good introduction to the current methods for analyzing semantic relations.To be clear, this book is not only about noun compounds, but explores all types of relations that can hold between what is expressed linguistically as nominal.Such nominals include entities (e.g., Godiva, Belgium) as well as nominals that refer to events (cultivation, roasting) and nominals with complex structure (delicious milk chocolate). 1 In doing so, describing the different semantic relations between chocolate in the 20th century and chocolate in Belgium is within the scope of this book.This is a wise choice as there are then some linguistic cues that will help define and narrow the types of semantic relations (e.g., the prepositions above).Noun compounds are degenerate in the sense that there are few if any overt linguistic cues as to the semantic relations between the nominals.