Knowledge Representation and the Semantics of Natural Language (Cognitive Technologies)
The book presents an interdisciplinary approach to knowledge
representation and the treatment of semantic phenomena of natural
language, which is positioned between artificial intelligence,
computational linguistics, and cognitive psychology. The proposed
method is based on Multilayered Extended Semantic Networks (MultiNets),
which can be used for theoretical investigations into the semantics of
natural language, for cognitive modeling, for describing lexical
entries in a computational lexicon, and for natural language processing
(NLP). Part I deals with fundamental problems of semantic knowledge
representation and semantic interpretation of natural language
phenomena. Part II provides a systematic description of the
representational means of MultiNet, one of the most comprehensive and
thoroughly specified collections of relations and functions used in
real NLP applications. MultiNet is embedded into a system of software
tools comprising a workbench for the knowledge engineer, a semantic
interpreter translating natural language expressions into formal
meaning structures, and a workbench for the computer lexicographer. The
book has been used for courses in artificial intelligence at several
universities and is one of the cornerstones for teaching computational
linguistics in a virtual electronic laboratory.