Reification (linguistics)
Encyclopedia
Reification in natural language processing
refers to where a natural language statement is transformed so actions and events in it become quantifiable
variables. For example "John chased the duck furiously" can be transformed into something like
(chasing(e) & past_tense(e) & actor(e,John) & furiously(e) & patient(e,duck)).
Another example would be "Sally said John is mean", which could be expressed as something like
(saying(u) & past_tense(u) & actor(u,Sally) & that(u,v) & is(v) & actor(v,John) & mean(v)).
This is so that statements which seemingly cannot be expressed in classical first-order predicate calculus
, due to their use of tense, modality, adverbial constructions, propositional arguments (e.g. "Sally said that X"), etc., can in fact be manipulated using only the tools of classical first-order predicate calculus. This is an advantage because predicate calculus is better understood and simpler than the more complex alternatives (higher-order logics, modal logics, temporal logics, etc.), and there exist better automated tools (e.g. automated theorem provers and model checkers) for manipulating it.
Reified forms can be used for other purposes besides the application of first-order logic; one example is the automatic discovery of synonymous phrases.
The reified forms are sometimes called quasi-logical forms, and the existential variables are sometimes treated as Skolem constants.
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
refers to where a natural language statement is transformed so actions and events in it become quantifiable
Quantification
Quantification has several distinct senses. In mathematics and empirical science, it is the act of counting and measuring that maps human sense observations and experiences into members of some set of numbers. Quantification in this sense is fundamental to the scientific method.In logic,...
variables. For example "John chased the duck furiously" can be transformed into something like
(chasing(e) & past_tense(e) & actor(e,John) & furiously(e) & patient(e,duck)).
Another example would be "Sally said John is mean", which could be expressed as something like
(saying(u) & past_tense(u) & actor(u,Sally) & that(u,v) & is(v) & actor(v,John) & mean(v)).
This is so that statements which seemingly cannot be expressed in classical first-order predicate calculus
First-order logic
First-order logic is a formal logical system used in mathematics, philosophy, linguistics, and computer science. It goes by many names, including: first-order predicate calculus, the lower predicate calculus, quantification theory, and predicate logic...
, due to their use of tense, modality, adverbial constructions, propositional arguments (e.g. "Sally said that X"), etc., can in fact be manipulated using only the tools of classical first-order predicate calculus. This is an advantage because predicate calculus is better understood and simpler than the more complex alternatives (higher-order logics, modal logics, temporal logics, etc.), and there exist better automated tools (e.g. automated theorem provers and model checkers) for manipulating it.
Reified forms can be used for other purposes besides the application of first-order logic; one example is the automatic discovery of synonymous phrases.
The reified forms are sometimes called quasi-logical forms, and the existential variables are sometimes treated as Skolem constants.
See also
- Reification (knowledge representation)Reification (knowledge representation)Reification in knowledge representation involves the representation of factual assertions, that are referred to by other assertions; which might then be manipulated in some way...
- Reification (fallacy)Reification (fallacy)Reification is a fallacy of ambiguity, when an abstraction is treated as if it were a concrete, real event, or physical entity. In other words, it is the error of treating as a "real thing" something which is not a real thing, but merely an idea...
- Reification (computer science)Reification (computer science)Reification is the process by which an abstract idea about a computer program is turned into an explicit data model or other object created in a programming language. A computable/addressable object — a resource — is created in a system as a proxy for a non computable/addressable object...