Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Vaillette, Nathan
Language:English
Published: The Ohio State University / OhioLINK 2004
Subjects:
Online Access:http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1072058657
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spelling ndltd-OhioLink-oai-etd.ohiolink.edu-osu10720586572021-08-03T05:48:25Z Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing Vaillette, Nathan Natural Language Processing linguistics finite-state transducer monadic second-order logic regular relation same-length relation replace operator two-level morphology <p>This thesis is concerned with the use of a logical language for specifying mappings between strings of symbols; specifically, the regular relations, those which can be computed by finite-state transducers. Because of their efficiency and flexibility, regular relations and finite-state transducers are widely used in Natural Language Processing (NLP) for tasks such as grapheme-to-phoneme conversion, morphological analysis and generation, and shallow syntactic parsing. By exploiting logical representations for finite-state transductions, the technique advocated in this thesis combines efficient processing with the advantages of declarative specification, thus taking a step in the direction of providing finite-state NLP with the best of both worlds.</p><p>Previous work has demonstrated how all sets of strings recognized by finite-state automata can be described in monadic second-order logic. A formula of this logic describing a set can be automatically compiled into the finite-state automaton recognizing that set. This technique unfortunately does not carry over to relations on strings without further restrictions, since the class of regular relations lacks certain crucial closure properties. In this thesis we introduce the logical language MSO(SLR), a language for same-length relations, a proper subset of the regular relations which has the necessary closure properties. We discuss how a formula of MSO(SLR) describing a relation can be automatically compiled into the finite-state transducer implementing that relation. Although there are many regular relations which MSO(SLR) cannot describe directly, we show how MSO(SLR) can characterize such relations indirectly by describing aligned representations of them.</p><p>To demonstrate the usefulness of MSO(SLR), we use it to define the finite-state conditional replace operator φ → ψ / λ_ρ in a declarative fashion. We argue that this approach improves on previous definitions in terms of clarity, maintainability, extensibility, and formal verifiability. We justify these claims by discussing several extensions and variations of the operator and providing rigorous proofs of correctness for our definitions.</p><p>A further demonstration of MSO(SLR)’s usefulness is given in the form of definitions of the rule formalisms used in two-level morphology. As with the replace operator definition, our declarative definitions give us a compiler automatically and make extensions and formal verification easy.</p> 2004-02-04 English text The Ohio State University / OhioLINK http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1072058657 http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1072058657 unrestricted This thesis or dissertation is protected by copyright: all rights reserved. It may not be copied or redistributed beyond the terms of applicable copyright laws.
collection NDLTD
language English
sources NDLTD
topic Natural Language Processing
linguistics
finite-state transducer
monadic second-order logic
regular relation
same-length relation
replace operator
two-level morphology
spellingShingle Natural Language Processing
linguistics
finite-state transducer
monadic second-order logic
regular relation
same-length relation
replace operator
two-level morphology
Vaillette, Nathan
Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
author Vaillette, Nathan
author_facet Vaillette, Nathan
author_sort Vaillette, Nathan
title Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
title_short Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
title_full Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
title_fullStr Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
title_full_unstemmed Logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
title_sort logical specification of finite-state transductions for natural language processing
publisher The Ohio State University / OhioLINK
publishDate 2004
url http://rave.ohiolink.edu/etdc/view?acc_num=osu1072058657
work_keys_str_mv AT vaillettenathan logicalspecificationoffinitestatetransductionsfornaturallanguageprocessing
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