Syntax, Parsing and Production of Natural Language in a Framework of Information Compression by Multiple Alignment, Unification and Search

TL;DR

This paper presents a novel framework called ICMAUS that models natural language syntax, parsing, and production through information compression techniques, demonstrated with a software model that handles complex linguistic features.

Contribution

The paper introduces the ICMAUS framework and the SP61 model, offering a new approach to representing and processing natural language syntax via information compression.

Findings

Successfully parsed English and French sentences using ICMAUS

Produced sentences from compressed codes without modification

Handled context-sensitive syntax features effectively

Abstract

This article introduces the idea that "information compression by multiple alignment, unification and search" (ICMAUS) provides a framework within which natural language syntax may be represented in a simple format and the parsing and production of natural language may be performed in a transparent manner. The ICMAUS concepts are embodied in a software model, SP61. The organisation and operation of the model are described and a simple example is presented showing how the model can achieve parsing of natural language. Notwithstanding the apparent paradox of 'decompression by compression', the ICMAUS framework, without any modification, can produce a sentence by decoding a compressed code for the sentence. This is illustrated with output from the SP61 model. The article includes four other examples - one of the parsing of a sentence in French and three from the domain of English auxiliary verbs. These examples show how the ICMAUS framework and the SP61 model can accommodate 'context sensitive' features of syntax in a relatively simple and direct manner.