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A Principled Approach to Grammars for Controlled Natural Languages and Predictive Editors

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Abstract

Controlled natural languages (CNL) with a direct mapping to formal logic have been proposed to improve the usability of knowledge representation systems, query interfaces, and formal specifications. Predictive editors are a popular approach to solve the problem that CNLs are easy to read but hard to write. Such predictive editors need to be able to “look ahead” in order to show all possible continuations of a given unfinished sentence. Such lookahead features, however, are difficult to implement in a satisfying way with existing grammar frameworks, especially if the CNL supports complex nonlocal structures such as anaphoric references. Here, methods and algorithms are presented for a new grammar notation called Codeco, which is specifically designed for controlled natural languages and predictive editors. A parsing approach for Codeco based on an extended chart parsing algorithm is presented. A large subset of Attempto Controlled English has been represented in Codeco. Evaluation of this grammar and the parser implementation shows that the approach is practical, adequate and efficient.

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  1. Department of Pathology, Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, CT, USA

    Tobias Kuhn

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  1. Tobias Kuhn
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Correspondence to Tobias Kuhn.

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The work presented here was funded by the research grant (Forschungskredit) programs 2006 and 2008 of the University of Zurich. I would like to thank Norbert E. Fuchs, George Herson, Stefan Höfler, Michael Hess, Kaarel Kaljurand, Marc Lutz, and Adam Wyner for comments, discussions and proof-reading on this paper and earlier versions thereof.

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Kuhn, T. A Principled Approach to Grammars for Controlled Natural Languages and Predictive Editors. J of Log Lang and Inf 22, 33–70 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10849-012-9167-z

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