Completion grammars and their applications
Luc Steels · DIGITAL.CSIC (Spanish National Research Council (CSIC)) · 1975
Three new types of grammars: open, closed and complex completion grammars, are formally defined and their relative parsing systems are discussed. Also it is shown how these systems together with interpretation mechanisms make up complete language understanding systems. The applicability is illustrated by computer programmed experiments in natural and artificial language processing. The basic novelties are a new approach towards the internal order of the elements in a language expression, the introduction of structures, distinct from constituent structure trees, for representing the information necessary far semantic interpretation and a strong procedural attitude towards language theory, as well an a syntactic as a semantic level. Completion grammers in general can serve as a model for functional or relational grammars in that the emphasis on order, which is basic to the concept of constituent structure grammars, is replaced by emphasis on internal relations due to semantic properties. As a result the currently widely accepted distinction between deep and surface structures becomes unnecessary. Indeed with the grammars defined it is possible to map the language input directly into structures which contain all the information for a semantic interpretation.