Table Of Contentcorpus-based and computational approaches
to discourse anaphora
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SCL
Studies in Corpus Linguistics
Studies in Corpus Linguistics aims to provide insights into the way a corpus can be
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¼ndings based on, or related to, the cumulative e¤ect of naturally occuring
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General Editor
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Jan Svartvik (University of Lund)
H-Z. Yang (Jiao Tong University, Shanghai)
Antonio Zampolli (University of Pisa)
Volume 3
Simon Botley and Anthony Mark McEnery (eds)
Corpus-based and Computational Approaches to Discourse Anaphora
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Corpus-based and
Computational Approaches
to Discourse Anaphora
Edited by
SIMON BOTLEY
ANTHONY MARK McENERY
john benjamins publishing company
amsterdam / philadelphia
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Corpus-based and computational approaches to discourse anaphora / edited by Simon
Botley, Anthony Mark McEnery.
p. cm. -- (Studies in corpus linguistics, ISSN 1388-0373 ; v. 3)
Includes bibliographical references and indexes.
1. Anaphora (Linguistics)--Data processing. 2. Discourse analysis--Data processing.
I. Botley, Simon. II. McEnery, Tony, 1964- . III. Series.
P299.A5C675 1999
401’.41'0285--dc21 99-43484
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Table of Contents
1. Discourse anaphora: The need for synthesis 1
SimonBotleyandTonyMcEnery
2. Demonstrative expressions in argumentative discourse: A
computer corpus-based comparison of non-native and native
English 43
StephaniePetch-Tyson
3. Is it possible to predetermine a referent included in a French N
De N structure? 65
DidierBaltazartandLaurenceKister
4. A corpus-based study of anaphora in English and Portuguese 81
MarcoRocha
5. Conversational strategies using full NP anaphors 95
HusseinShokouhi
6. Some uses of demonstratives in spoken Swedish 107
EvaLindström
7. Pronoun resolution: The practical alternative 129
RuslanMitkov
8. Quantitative evaluation of coreference algorithms in an
information extraction system 145
RobertGaizauskasandKevinHumphreys
9. Anaphoric reference and ellipsis resolution in a telephone-based
spoken language system for accessing email 171
SandraWilliams
10. Processing definite descriptions in corpora 189
RenataVieiraandMassimoPoesio
vi TABLEOFCONTENTS
11. Indirect reference in Japanese sentences 213
MasakiMurataandMakotoNagao
12. Generating coreferential anaphoric definite NPs 227
AgnèsTutinandEvelyneViegas
Name Index 249
Subject Index 253
C 1
Discourse anaphora
The need for synthesis
Simon Botley Tony McEnery
1.1 Introduction
Thisbookisconcernedwithanaphora—aphenomenonwhichhasgivenriseto
agreatdealofintellectualactivityinseveralfields,notablylinguistics,computa-
tional linguistics and cognitive science. Because of the diversity of approaches
these fields bring to the anaphora problem, we feel that a synthesis, or at least a
principledattempttodraw the differingstrandsof anaphora researchtogether,is
long overdue. Hence this book.
1.1.1 Aboutthisbook
Broadly speaking, we can divide this book between empirical descriptive
chapters, which make arguments based on corpus evidence (Chapters 2, 3, 4, 5
and 6), and those chapters which describe computer systems for automatically
processinganaphorsintexts(Chapters7,8,9,10,11and12).Therearechapters
which look at anaphora in spoken language (for example Chapters 4, 5 and 6)
andthosewhichdealwithwrittentexts(forexampleChapters2,3,andmanyof
the chapters dealing with computer systems). Not every chapter deals with
English only — anaphora in various languages such as Persian (Chapter 5),
Swedish (Chapter 6) and Japanese (Chapter 11) are also examined, introducing
an important multilingual dimension to the book.
Thechaptersinthisbookeachhaveashortprefacewhichsetsthecontribu-
tioninitsplacewithinthebook,aswellasorientingthereaderconcerningwhat
evidence and arguments are used, as well as the chapter’s methodological and
theoretical framework.
The rest of this introductory chapter is concerned with placing the work in
2 SIMONBOTLEYANDTONYMCENERY
this volume in context. There will follow a detailed review of the literature on
discourse anaphora, taking into account a number of major strands represented
inthisbook—linguistic,cognitive,computationalandcorpus-basedapproaches.
After this review, we argue that what is needed is a synthesis covering all of
these approaches.
1.2 Whatisdiscourseanaphora?
Anaphoraallowsaspeaker/writertorecalltotheconsciousnessofahearer/reader
entities or concepts that have already been introduced into a discourse. In
English, for instance, anaphora can be realised by many different linguistic
markers,suchas pronouns,demonstrativepronouns,pronominalsubstitutionsor
ellipses. Some English examples, from the APHB1 corpus and the Lancaster
Anaphoric Treebank2 will illustrate some of these different types of anaphora.
Antecedents are underlined, and the anaphors are in bold italic type:3
Anaphorainvolvingpronouns:
(1) A tall woman in a long rustling gown appeared.
“Hotchkiss!” she said in a hushed but concerned voice.
Anaphorainvolvingdemonstrativedeterminers:
(2) “It is no great matter to me,” Hotchkiss concluded, “for I had only
the wages of my Portland engagement, and that was no great sum,
I assure you”.
Anaphorainvolvingpronominalsubstitution:
(3) About 3,500 anti-Klu Klux Klan demonstrators, some carrying
pictures of five persons slain three months ago in a “Death to the
Klan”rally,marchedthroughGreensboroSaturdayinfrigidweather.
Anaphorainvolvingellipsis: (Ellipsis marked by 0)
(4) “The Groundhog may be in the hole, but Steeler fans are not 0,”
Mayor Richard Caliguiri told the crowd…
Ascanbeseenfromtheexamplesabove,anaphoraisaphenomenonthatisboth
syntacticanddiscoursalinnature.Thisdistinctionisparticularlyimportantinthis
book, as some chapters deal with anaphora between sentences (inter-sentential
anaphora) and anaphora within sentences (intra-sentential anaphora). Note,
however, that the way in which anaphora is realised varies in different languag-
es, as is seen in some chapters of this book.
DISCOURSEANAPHORA 3
1.3 Theimportanceofanaphora
Anaphorahasreceivedagreatdealofattentionfromlinguists,cognitivepsychol-
ogists, philosophers and computer scientists. Firstly, in linguistics, anaphoric
phenomenaareofinterest becausethey tellusabouthowdiscourseisconstruct-
ed and maintained — how linguistic patterning above and beyond the sentence
is arranged.
Secondly,atthesentencelevel,anaphoricfeaturesfunctiontobindstructur-
al elements together, and therefore can play an important role in the syntactic
description of languages. The treatment of anaphora within linguistics is an
importantelementofthisbook,especiallywithregardtocorpus-basedlinguistics
(McEnery & Wilson 1996). With this in mind, Chapters 2–6 of this book deal
with corpus-based descriptive approaches to anaphora.
Thirdly, aswell asbeingofinterest tolinguists,anaphorahasbeenofgreat
interest to computational linguists, because of the immense challenges that
anaphorapresentsfornaturallanguageprocessing.Identifyingthecorrectormost
probable antecedent of an anaphoric proform is difficult for a computer to
achieve, and many complex algorithms have been proposed and implemented,
some of which are reviewed in this chapter. However, for now, a computer
system that can resolve all anaphors is effectively some way off.
Finally, cognitive psychology, and those branches of linguistics that share
many of the aims and assumptions of cognitive psychology, are also interested
in anaphora because it tells us some things about how language is understood,
and processed. In particular, such workers are interested in how anaphoric
phenomena function to recall concepts in discourse to the consciousness of the
hearerorreader,tofacilitate understanding.Some chaptersinthisbook,notably
chapters 3, 4 and 5, make reference to these cognitive approaches to anaphora,
though within a corpus-based linguistics framework. Such studies show the
relevance of corpus-based work in evaluating such theories of anaphora (though
see Botley 1999).
Nowthatthevariousreasonsforinterestinanaphorahavebeenoutlined,we
will give a more detailed overview of the field, in order to give some historical
contexttothis book,andtofurtherillustratetheneedforasynthesisofdifferent
approaches to discourse anaphora. The next three sections will deal in turn with
approaches to anaphora within linguistics, within computational linguistics and
computerscience,andfinallywithincorpus-linguistics.Afterthisreview,wewill
be able to more clearly justify the importance of this book, and will present an
outline of the chapters of this book, to show how they relate to the wider issues
discussed in this review.
