CONCEPTUAL DEPENDENCY THEORY

This chapter explains by means of examples and discussion to demonstrate how one can know what the best representation for a sentence is.

Abstract

The problem of how one knows what is a correct conceptual dependency diagram for a given sentence is not entirely straightforward. The chapter explains by means of examples and discussion to demonstrate how one can know what the best representation for a sentence is. The representation problem depends to a large extent on the intent of the representor. If it is desired, as it is in conceptual dependency theory as practiced by the authors, to account for the meaning, focus, and intent of sentences that are heard in the way that they were intended by the speaker, then what follows should reveal the procedures for doing that. The first basic principle in conceptual dependency is that an act is something that is done by an actor to an object. Once natural language sentences can be reduced to the conceptualizations underlying them with the use of primitive actions, the inference process is simplified. The problem of inference is by no means solved by the use of these primitives.