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Current approaches to punctuation in computational linguistics

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Abstract

Some recent studies in computational linguistics have aimed to take advantage of various cues presented by punctuation marks. This short survey is intended to summarise these research efforts and additionally, to outline a current perspective for the usage and functions of punctuation marks. We conclude by presenting an information-based framework for punctuation, influenced by treatments of several related phenomena in computational linguistics.

Varol Akman is a professor of computer engineering at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey. From 1980 to 1985, he was a Fulbright scholar at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Troy, New York, where he received a PhD degree in computer engineering. Prior to joining Bilkent in 1988, he held a senior researcher position with the Centrum voor Wiskunde en Informatica, Amsterdam, the Netherlands. His current research areas include artificial intelligence models of context, computational aspects of situation theory, and in general, language and philosophy.

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Abbreviations

DRT:

discourse representation theory

DRS:

discourse representation structure

NLP:

natural language processing

NLG:

natural language generation

RST:

rhetorical structure theory

SDRT:

segmented discourse representation theory

SDRS:

segmented discourse representation structure

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Computer Engineering and Information Science, Bilkent University, 06533 Bilkent, Ankara, Turkey

    B. Say & V. Akman

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  1. B. Say
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  2. V. Akman
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Correspondence to V. Akman.

Additional information

Bilge Say received her BS in Computer Engineering from Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey, in 1990, and her MS in Computation from Oxford University, Oxford, UK, in 1991. She worked two years as a systems support engineer in the industry. Currently, she is a PhD student at Bilkent University, Ankara, Turkey, studying the information-based aspects of punctuation. She has recently conducted research at the Computer Lab of Cambridge University, Cambridge, UK, on an extended visit.

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Say, B., Akman, V. Current approaches to punctuation in computational linguistics. Comput Hum 30, 457–469 (1996). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00057941

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