JPH1049535A - Natural language analyzing method and device therefor - Google Patents

Abstract

PROBLEM TO BE SOLVED: To make it possible to obtain an analytical result required by a user without imposing excess burden to the user at the time of analyzing the structure of a sentence having ambiguity in the technology for analyzing the structure of natural language. SOLUTION: When a sentence to be analyzed is inputted from an input part 1, an analytical part 3 determines a minimum analysis range and displays the determined range on an analytical information display part 6. At the time of judging that an analytical result is not a required one from the display, a user corrects the minimum analysis range by using a user specification part 7. A user specification analyzing part 8 judges whether ambiguity is left in modification relation or not. When ambiguity is left, an analytical information comparing part 10 removes modification relation determined by the minimum analysis range stored in an analytical information storing part 9 from plural modification relation parts led based on the corrected minimum analysis range. An analysis part 3 executes analysis based on the modification relation.

Description

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

[0001]

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a natural language analysis method and apparatus for analyzing the structure of a sentence described in an input natural language, and more particularly, to analyzing a structure of an ambiguous sentence by a user. The present invention relates to a natural language analysis method and a natural language analysis method capable of obtaining an analysis result desired by a user without imposing too much burden on a user.

[0002]

2. Description of the Related Art In general, there are many ambiguities in the structure of a sentence described in a natural language. Therefore, in a natural language analysis method and a natural language analysis device used in current machine translation systems and the like, The analysis result may be different from what the user desires.

Therefore, in a natural language analysis method and a natural language analysis device used in a conventional machine translation system or the like, the analysis result is displayed on a screen to inform a user of the system analysis result. If it is not desired by the user, the user is allowed to correct the analysis result.

[0004] For example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. Hei 3-204080, "dependency change system", the result of the dependency analysis by the system is displayed as a graph connecting the segments with segments, and the analysis result is presented to the user. If the analysis result is not what the user desires, the user can specify the source and destination clauses to correct the analysis result.

[0005]

However, the above-mentioned prior art has the following problems.

The first problem is that the user has to strictly specify a correct dependency relationship, which greatly increases the burden on the user. Generally, humans use a language without being conscious of the dependency relationship, and therefore, it takes a lot of burden to specify the dependency relationship strictly.

A second problem is that the interface with the user becomes complicated. That is, in the above-described conventional technology, the analysis result must be displayed as a graph, and thus there is a problem that the interface becomes complicated.

Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to analyze a structure of a sentence with ambiguity, to obtain an analysis result desired by the user without putting too much burden on the user, and to provide an interface with the user. An object of the present invention is to provide a natural language analysis method and an apparatus that can be simplified.

[0009]

In order to achieve the above object, the present invention provides a natural language analysis method for analyzing the structure of a sentence described in a natural language. Determine the minimum analysis range in the, the input sentence, the determined minimum analysis range is displayed on a display device in a form that the user can recognize which part of the sentence,
Thereafter, when the user inputs a correction instruction of the minimum analysis range, the minimum analysis range in the sentence is corrected according to the correction instruction, and further, the modification of the minimum analysis range is affected by the clause in the sentence. If the relationship remains ambiguous, the relationship is determined based on the remaining relationship excluding the relationship determined by the minimum analysis range displayed on the display device from a plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. To analyze the structure of the sentence.

[0010] An apparatus suitable for carrying out the above-described method includes an analysis information display unit, an analysis information storage unit, and a minimum analysis range of an input sentence described in a natural language. Displaying the input sentence on the analysis information display unit in a format in which a user can recognize which part of the determined minimum analysis range is in the sentence, and displaying the sentence in the analysis information storage unit on the sentence. An analysis unit that stores information indicating the minimum analysis range, and then analyzes the structure of the input sentence based on the dependency relationship output to itself, and a user designation inputting a correction instruction of the minimum analysis range And the minimum analysis range in the sentence is corrected according to the correction instruction input from the user-specified unit, and furthermore, depending on the corrected minimum analysis range, does the ambiguity remain in the dependency relationship of the clauses in the sentence? Judge whether or not If the user-specified analysis unit determines that ambiguity remains, the analysis information storage unit stores the plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. An analysis information comparison unit that outputs a dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the information to the analysis unit.

In the above configuration, when a sentence described in a natural language to be analyzed is input, the analysis unit determines a minimum analysis range, and further determines the minimum analysis range in any part of the sentence. Is displayed on the analysis information display unit in a form that can be recognized by the user, and information indicating the minimum analysis range is stored in the analysis information storage unit.

The user looks at the display on the analysis information display section,
If you determine that the results are not what you want,
An instruction to correct the minimum analysis range is input using the user instruction unit.

The user-specified analysis unit corrects the minimum analysis range according to a correction instruction from the user, and determines whether or not ambiguity remains in the dependency relationship depending on the corrected minimum analysis range.

If the user-specified analysis unit determines that the ambiguity remains, the analysis information comparison unit stores the analysis information in the analysis information storage unit from a plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. And outputting a dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the information to the analysis unit.

[0015] The analysis unit performs analysis using the dependency relationship with reduced ambiguity output from the analysis information comparison unit.

The present invention also provides a natural language analysis method for analyzing the structure of a sentence described in a natural language in order to display the minimum analysis range only when the user needs it. In addition, a minimum analysis range in a sentence described in a natural language is determined, the structure of the sentence is analyzed based on the determined minimum analysis range, and an analysis result is output. When a display instruction is input, the input sentence is displayed on a display device in a form in which the user can recognize which part of the determined minimum analysis range is in the sentence, and further, the minimum analysis from the user is performed. Waiting for the input of a range correction instruction, correct the minimum analysis range in the sentence according to the correction instruction, and if there is ambiguity in the dependency relationship of the clauses in the sentence depending on the corrected minimum analysis range, correct the rear To analyze the structure of the sentence based on the remaining dependency relationships of a plurality of dependency relationships were excluded dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range that is displayed on the display device derived based on a minimum analysis range.

An apparatus suitable for carrying out the above-described method is a natural language analyzing apparatus for analyzing a sentence structure described in a natural language, wherein an analysis information display unit and an analysis information storage unit are inputted. Determining a minimum analysis range of a sentence described in a natural language, further analyzing the structure of the sentence based on the determined minimum analysis range, and outputting an analysis result; An analysis unit that stores information indicating the minimum analysis range in the sentence, and then analyzes the structure of the input sentence based on the dependency relationship output to itself, and a modification of the minimum analysis range. A user designation unit for inputting an instruction, an analysis information display instruction unit for inputting a display instruction for a minimum analysis range, and a display instruction input from the analysis information display instruction unit, thereby determining the input sentence. Minimum analysis range Displays whether text which part of the of the analysis information display unit in a form that the user can recognize, then by correction instruction from the user designating unit is input,
The minimum analysis range is corrected according to the input correction instruction, and a user-specified analysis unit that determines whether or not ambiguity remains depending on the corrected minimum analysis range, and the user-specified analysis unit determines that the ambiguity remains. In this case, a dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the information stored in the analysis information storage unit from a plurality of dependency relationships derived on the basis of the corrected minimum analysis range. An analysis information comparison unit for outputting to the analysis unit.

In the above configuration, when a sentence described in a natural language to be analyzed is input, the analysis unit determines a minimum analysis range, and further based on the determined minimum analysis range, The structure is analyzed and an analysis result is output, and information indicating the minimum analysis range is stored in the analysis information storage unit.

The user looks at the analysis result output from the analysis unit, and if the analysis result is not the desired analysis result, inputs a display instruction of the minimum analysis range from the analysis information display instruction unit.

Thus, the user-specified analysis unit displays the sentence to be analyzed on the analysis information display unit in a format in which the user can recognize which part of the sentence has the minimum analysis range.

Further, the user inputs a correction instruction of the minimum analysis range from the user designation section.

Thus, the user-specified analysis unit corrects the minimum analysis range according to the input correction instruction, and determines whether or not ambiguity remains depending on the corrected minimum analysis range.

If it is determined that the ambiguity remains, the analysis information comparison unit determines the information stored in the analysis information storage unit from a plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. The dependency relation excluding the dependency relation determined by the indicated minimum analysis range is output to the analysis unit. The analysis unit performs analysis based on the result.

[0024]

Embodiments of the present invention will now be described in detail with reference to the drawings.

Referring to FIG. 1, a first embodiment of the present invention is an input unit 1 for inputting a sentence described in a natural language.
A knowledge base 2 in which knowledge necessary for analyzing a sentence structure such as knowledge of natural language words and knowledge of grammar, and a natural language described in the input unit 1 are described. An analysis unit 3 for analyzing a sentence using the knowledge stored in the knowledge base 2, displaying an analysis result,
Based on the analysis result output unit 4 to be printed out and the minimum analysis range information 5 output from the analysis unit 3, the sentence input from the input unit 1 is used by the analysis unit 3 to determine which part of the sentence is the minimum analysis range. An analysis information display unit 6 for displaying whether the user is in a format that the user can recognize, a user specification unit 7 for the user to input a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range, and a minimum analysis range according to the correction instruction input from the user specification unit A user-specified analysis unit 8 that determines whether or not ambiguity remains in the dependency relation of a clause in a sentence depending on the corrected minimum analysis range.
Information storage unit 9 for storing minimum analysis range information 5
When the user-specified analysis unit 8 determines that the ambiguity remains, a relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the minimum analysis range information 5 from a plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. An analysis information comparison unit 10 that outputs the remaining dependency relationship excluding the dependency relationship to the analysis unit 3 is provided.

Next, the operation will be described.

When a sentence described in a natural language to be analyzed is given, the input unit 1 inputs the sentence to the analyzing unit 3.

When a sentence to be analyzed is input, the analysis unit 3 determines the minimum analysis range of the sentence using the knowledge base 2 as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 2 (S1).
Here, the minimum analysis range is the minimum unit for first analyzing the structure.

Next, the analysis unit 3 outputs the minimum analysis range information 5 indicating the minimum analysis range determined in S1 to the analysis information display unit 6 and the analysis information storage unit 9 (S2). After that, the analysis unit 3 determines whether a continuation instruction or the corrected minimum analysis range is added from the user designation analysis unit 8 (YES in S3).
Or, if S4 is YES), the process waits until the dependency relation is notified from the analysis information comparing unit 10 (S5 is YES).

When the minimum analysis range information 5 is output from the analysis unit 3, the analysis information display unit 6 allows the user to recognize which part of the sentence to be analyzed is set by the analysis unit 3 in the minimum analysis range. To do so, for example, the above sentence is displayed, and a part corresponding to the minimum analysis range in the sentence is underlined. Further, the analysis information storage unit 9 stores the analysis unit 3
When the minimum analysis range information 5 is output from, it is stored.

When the user looks at the display of the analysis information display unit 6 and determines that a desired analysis result can be obtained if the minimum analysis range is displayed, the user specifies the analysis result from the user designation unit 7. To the effect. Thereby, the user-specified analysis unit 8 outputs a continuation instruction to the analysis unit 3.

When the continuation instruction is output from the user-specified analysis unit 8 (YES in S3), the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process according to the minimum analysis range determined in S1 (dependency relationship between clauses, parallel structure, etc.). The processing for analyzing the structure of a sentence such as (S6) is continued (S6), and the finally obtained analysis result is supplied to the analysis result output unit 4 (S7).

On the other hand, if it is determined from the display of the analysis information display section 6 that a desired analysis result cannot be obtained when the minimum analysis range is displayed, the user specifies the minimum analysis range. Enter the corrective instructions.

When a correction instruction is input from the user specification unit 7, the user specification analysis unit 8 corrects the display contents (minimum analysis range) of the analysis information display unit 6 from the user as shown in the flowchart of FIG. It is corrected according to the instruction (S11), and then it is determined whether or not there is an ambiguity in the dependency relation of the clause in the input sentence depending on the corrected minimum analysis range (S12).

If it is determined that there is no ambiguity (S12: NO), the analysis unit 3 is notified of the corrected minimum analysis range (S13). Thereby, the analysis unit 3
Performs analysis processing according to the notified minimum analysis range after correction, and supplies an analysis result to the analysis result output unit 4 (S4).
Is YES, S8, S7). If it is determined that there is an ambiguity (YES in S12), the analysis information comparing unit 10
And passes information indicating the minimum analysis range after correction (S
14).

When the analysis information comparison unit 10 is activated, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 4, the analysis information comparison unit 10 stores in the analysis information storage unit 9 the dependency relation of a plurality of phrases derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. The dependency relation of the phrase determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the minimum analysis range information 5 is excluded (S21), and the remaining dependency relation is notified to the analysis unit 3 (S22).

As a result, as shown in the flow chart of FIG. 2, the analysis unit 3 analyzes the sentence to be analyzed based on the notified dependency relationship, and outputs the final analysis result to the analysis result output unit 4. (S5 is YES, S9, S
7).

According to the first embodiment, when there is an ambiguity in the dependency relation of the clause based on the corrected minimum analysis range specified by the user, the ambiguity is displayed on the analysis information display unit 6. Only the difference between the phrase and the dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range can be extracted, and the analysis of the sentence structure can be continued. This eliminates the need for the user to strictly give the correct dependency relationship to the system, thereby reducing the burden on the user. In addition, the sentence to be analyzed is displayed on the display device in a format in which the user can recognize which portion of the minimum analysis range is in the sentence (for example, the portion of the minimum analysis range is underlined). Since the minimum analysis range is notified, the interface with the user can be simplified as compared with the related art in which the analysis result is notified to the user in the form of a graph. Furthermore, since the ambiguity of the minimum analysis range modified by the user can be reduced at an early stage, it is possible to minimize an increase in the amount of calculation, the amount of memory used, and the like.

Next, a second embodiment of the present invention will be described in detail.

Referring to FIG. 5, the second embodiment of the present invention includes an analysis information display instruction unit 11 in addition to the configuration of the first embodiment shown in FIG. Further, an analysis unit 3 ′ is provided in place of the analysis unit 3 shown in FIG. 1, and a user-designated analysis unit 8 ′ is provided in place of the user-designated analysis unit 8. The analysis information display instructing unit 11 is used when a user requests the system to display a minimum analysis range. In addition, other FIG.
The same reference numerals denote the same parts.

Next, the operation will be described.

When a sentence described in a natural language to be analyzed is given, the input unit 1 inputs the sentence to the analyzing unit 3 '.

When a sentence to be analyzed is input, the analysis unit 3 'determines the minimum analysis range of the sentence using the knowledge base 2 as shown in FIG. 6 (S31). Next, the analysis unit 3 ′ outputs the minimum analysis range information 5 indicating the minimum analysis range determined in S31 to the analysis information storage unit 9 (S32). As a result, the analysis information storage unit 9 stores the minimum analysis range information 5.

Thereafter, the analysis unit 3 'analyzes the sentence structure based on the minimum analysis range determined in S31, and supplies the analysis result to the analysis result output unit 4 (S33, S34). Thereby, the analysis result output unit 4 displays and prints out the analysis result.

Upon outputting the analysis result in S34, the analysis unit 3 'notifies the user-designated analysis unit 8' of an end instruction or a corrected minimum analysis range (S35: YES or S36: YES), or the analysis information Until the comparison unit 10 is notified of the dependency relationship (S37: YES), the standby state is established.

The user looks at the analysis result output from the analysis result output unit 4, and if it is desired,
An end instruction is input from the user designation unit 7. This allows
The user-specified analysis unit 8 'notifies the analysis unit 3' of an end instruction.

When the end instruction is notified (YES in S35 of FIG. 6), the analysis unit 3 'ends the processing.

On the other hand, if the analysis result output from the analysis result output unit 4 is not the desired one, the user inputs a display instruction of the minimum analysis range from the analysis information display instruction unit 11.

When the display instruction is input, the user-specified analysis unit 8 'stores the minimum analysis data stored in the analysis information storage unit 9 and determined by the analysis unit 3' in S31, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. The minimum analysis range information indicating the range is read and output to the analysis information display unit 6 (S51, S5).
2).

Thus, the analysis information display unit 6 displays, for example, the above sentence in order to allow the user to recognize which part of the sentence to be analyzed has been set by the analysis unit 3 'to the minimum analysis range. At the same time, the part corresponding to the minimum analysis range in the sentence is underlined.

When the minimum analysis range is displayed on the analysis information display section 6, the user inputs a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range from the user specification section 7.

The user designation analysis unit 8 ′ includes the user designation unit 7
When a correction instruction is input from the CPU, the first instruction shown in the flowchart of FIG.
Similarly to the process of the user-specified analysis unit 8 in the embodiment, the display content (minimum analysis range) of the analysis information display unit 6 is corrected according to a correction instruction from the user (S11), and then the corrected minimum It is determined whether or not there is an ambiguity in the dependency relation of the clause in the input sentence depending on the analysis range (S12).

If it is determined that there is no ambiguity (NO in S12), the corrected minimum analysis range is notified to the analysis unit 3 '(S13). Accordingly, the analysis unit 3 ′ performs an analysis process according to the notified minimum analysis range after the correction, and supplies an analysis result to the analysis result output unit 4 (FIG. 6, S36 is YES, S38, S39). If it is determined that there is an ambiguity (YES in S12),
The analysis information comparison unit 10 is started, and information indicating the corrected minimum analysis range is passed (S14).

When activated, the analysis information comparison unit 10 performs the same processing as described above, and determines the dependency relationship with the analysis unit 3 '.
(FIG. 4, S21, S22).

As a result, as shown in the flowchart of FIG. 6, the analyzing unit 3 'analyzes the sentence to be analyzed based on the notified dependency relationship, and outputs the final analysis result to the analysis result output unit. 4 (YES in S37, S40,
S39).

[0056]

FIG. 8 shows a sentence having an ambiguous structure.
(A) Japanese noun phrase "Commentary on the book he wrote"
Will be described when supplied to the input unit 1 in FIG.

In the noun phrase “commentary of the book he wrote” shown in FIG. 8A, there is an ambiguity as to whether the thing “he wrote” is “book” or “commentary”. And the respective analysis results correspond to those shown in FIGS. 8 (B) and 8 (C).

Assume that the minimum analysis range determined by the analysis unit 3 in S1 of FIG. 2 is "the book he wrote". When the analysis unit 3 determines the minimum analysis range to be “the book he wrote” in S1, the minimum analysis range information 5 indicating that
Is output (S2).

As a result, the analysis information display section 6
As shown in (D), the input sentence "commentary of the book he wrote" is displayed on the screen, and the part of the minimum analysis range "the book he wrote" is underlined. The analysis information storage unit 9
Stores the minimum analysis range information 5.

When the user looks at the display of the analysis information display section 6 and determines that the desired analysis result can be obtained if the minimum analysis range is displayed on the analysis information display section 6, That is input from the user designation section 7.
When the analysis is performed in accordance with the minimum analysis range shown in FIG. 8D, first, the "book written by him" is put together, and what he wrote is interpreted as a book. The analysis result of B) is obtained. That is, when the desired analysis result is the one shown in FIG. 8B, the user inputs that the desired analysis result can be obtained by the minimum analysis range displayed on the analysis information display unit 6. Thereby, the user-specified analysis unit 8 outputs a continuation instruction to the analysis unit 3.

When receiving the continuation instruction, the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process in accordance with the minimum analysis range "the book he wrote" determined in S1, and outputs the analysis result shown in FIG. 4 (S3 = YES, S6, S7).

On the other hand, if the user views the display of the analysis information display unit 6 and determines that a desired analysis result cannot be obtained if the minimum analysis range is displayed on the analysis information display unit 6, the user is prompted Then, a correction instruction of the minimum analysis range is input from the user specification unit 7. That is, the desired analysis result is shown in FIG.
In the case of (C), the user inputs a correction instruction from the user specification unit 7 to correct the minimum analysis range.

Assume that the user has modified the minimum analysis range to "book explanation" as shown in FIG. 8E in order to obtain the analysis result shown in FIG. 8C.

According to the minimum analysis range “book explanation”,
Since it is clear that what he wrote is a commentary, the user-specified analysis unit 8 determines that there is no ambiguity, and notifies the analysis unit 3 of the corrected minimum analysis range “commentary book”. (FIG. 3, S12 is NO, S13).

When notified of the minimum analysis range “commentary of a book”, the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process in accordance with the notification, and FIG.
The analysis result shown in (C) is supplied to the analysis result output unit 4 (FIG. 2, S5 is YES, S9, S7).

For example, it is assumed that the user has modified the minimum analysis range to "the commentary on the book he wrote" as shown in FIG. 8F in order to obtain the analysis result shown in FIG. 8C. I do.

This minimum analysis range "commentary of the book he wrote"
Then, since the ambiguity described above remains, the user-specified analysis unit 8 activates the analysis information comparison unit 10 and passes the corrected minimum analysis range “commentary of the book he wrote” (FIG. 2, S12).
Is YES, S14).

When the corrected minimum analysis range “explanation of the book he wrote” is passed, the analysis information comparison unit 10 ambiguously modifies the dependency relationship of the phrase derived based on it, that is, Is the thing a book or a commentary
The dependency relationship excluding the dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range “the book he wrote” stored in the analysis information storage unit 9 (the one he wrote is “book”) from the dependency relationship of “what” (What he wrote is "commentary") is notified to the analysis unit 3 (FIG. 4, S21, S22).

As a result, the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process according to the notified dependency relationship, and supplies the analysis result shown in FIG. 8C to the analysis result output unit 4 (FIG. 2, S5 is Y).
ES, S9, S7).

As described above, even if there is ambiguity in the minimum analysis range corrected by the user, an analysis result desired by the user can be obtained, so that the burden on the user can be reduced.

Next, as a sentence having an ambiguous structure, FIG.
The operation when the Japanese sentence "I knew she went out yesterday." Shown in FIG.

The sentence "I knew she went out yesterday" shown in FIG. 9A includes "I knew" that she went out yesterday or "She went out." There is an ambiguity as to whether "I knew yesterday", and the respective analysis results correspond to FIGS. 9B and 9C.

Now, for example, it is assumed that the minimum analysis range determined by the analysis unit 3 in S1 of FIG. 2 is "She went out yesterday". When the analysis unit 3 determines that the minimum analysis range is "She went out yesterday" in S1, the analysis unit 3 outputs the minimum analysis range information 5 indicating that (S2).

As a result, the analysis information display section 6
As shown in (D), the input sentence "I knew she went out yesterday." Is displayed on the screen, and the portion of the minimum analysis range "She went out yesterday" is underlined. Further, the analysis information storage unit 9 stores the minimum analysis range information 5.

When the user looks at the display of the analysis information display section 6 and determines that a desired analysis result cannot be obtained if the minimum analysis range is displayed on the analysis information display section 6, the user is prompted An instruction to correct the minimum analysis range is input from the specifying unit 7. When the analysis is performed according to the minimum analysis range shown in FIG. 9D, the analysis result of FIG. 9B is obtained. In other words, when the desired analysis result is as shown in FIG. 9C, the user inputs a correction instruction from the user specifying unit 7 to correct the minimum analysis range.

Assume that the user has modified the minimum analysis range to "She went out" as shown in FIG. 9E in order to obtain the analysis result shown in FIG. 9C.

In this modified minimum analysis range "She went out", "I knew" that "She went out yesterday" or "I knew that she went out" The user-specified analysis unit 8 activates the analysis information comparison unit 10 and passes the corrected minimum analysis range “She went out” (S12 in FIG. 2).
Is YES, S14).

When the corrected minimum analysis range “She went out” is passed, the analysis information comparing section 10 makes the ambiguity of the dependency relation of the phrase derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range, that is,
It is stored in the analysis information storage unit 9 from the dependency relationship of "I knew" that she went out yesterday or "I knew yesterday" that she went out. Dependency relationships that depend on the minimum analysis range "She went out yesterday"("I knew that she went out yesterday") were excluded. To the analysis unit 3 (FIG. 4, S21, S22).

As a result, the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process according to the notified dependency relationship, and supplies the analysis result shown in FIG. 9C to the analysis result output unit 4 (FIG. 2, S5 is Y).
ES, S9, S7).

Next, as a sentence having an ambiguity in the structure, FIG.
The English sentence "I sawa girl wi
the telescope. Will be described when "" is supplied to the input unit 1.

The sentence "I saw a shown in FIG.
girl with a telescope "
There is an ambiguity as to whether the preposition phrase “with a telescope” is related to the noun phrase “a girl” or the verb “saw”, and the analysis results are shown in FIGS. 10 (B) and (C). ). The former meaning is "I saw her with a telescope" and the latter meaning "I saw her with a telescope"
It is.

Now, for example, the minimum analysis range determined by the analysis unit 3 in S1 of FIG. 2 is “a girl with a
telescope ". The analysis unit 3
In S1, the minimum analysis range is set to “a girl with a
When it is determined as "telescope", the minimum analysis range information 5 indicating that is output (S2).

As a result, the analysis information display section 6
As shown in (D), the input sentence "I saw a
girl with a telescope. Is displayed on the screen, and the minimum analysis range “a girl
The word "with a telescope" is underlined. Further, the analysis information storage unit 9 stores the minimum analysis range information 5.

When the user looks at the display on the analysis information display section 6 and determines that a desired analysis result cannot be obtained if the minimum analysis range is displayed on the analysis information display section 6, the user is prompted An instruction to correct the minimum analysis range is input from the specifying unit 7. When the analysis is performed according to the minimum analysis range shown in FIG. 10D, the analysis result of FIG. 10B is obtained. In other words, when the desired analysis result is as shown in FIG. 10C, the user inputs a correction instruction from the user designation unit 7 to correct the minimum analysis range.

Now, for example, in order to obtain the analysis result shown in FIG. 10C, the user sets the minimum analysis range as shown in FIG.
As shown in “I saw a girl with
atescope ".

The modified minimum analysis range “I saw
In the "a girl with a telescope", there is an ambiguity as to whether the preposition phrase "with a telescope" is related to the noun phrase "a girl" or the verb "saw". 8 activates the analysis information comparison unit 10 and modifies the minimum analysis range “I saw a girl”
with a telescope ”(FIG. 2,
S12 is YES, S14).

The analysis information comparison unit 10 sets the minimum analysis range “I saw a girl with a tel” after the correction.
When "escape" is passed, the ambiguity of the dependency relation of the clause derived based on it, that is, "with"
Is the preposition phrase "a telescope" related to the noun phrase "a girl" or the verb "s
Because of the ambiguity of “aw”, the minimum analysis range “a girl with” stored in the analysis information storage unit 9
Dependency relationships that depend on "a telescope" (the dependency relationship of "with a telescope" is "a girl") are excluded (the dependency relationship of "with a telescope" is "saw"). ) Is notified to the analysis unit 3 (FIG. 4, S21, S22).

Thus, the analysis unit 3 performs an analysis process according to the notified dependency relationship, and supplies the analysis result shown in FIG. 10C to the analysis result output unit 4 (FIG. 2, S5 is YES, S9 , S7).

In the above description, the minimum analysis range of a sentence described in an input natural language is displayed by underlining the sentence, but it is enclosed in parentheses or the like. Alternatively, the character string in the minimum analysis range may be displayed by highlighting or inverting the character string, or the font and color of the character in the minimum analysis range may be different from those of other parts. Further, the input unit 1 shown in FIG.
Then, when the above-mentioned sentences are input, the same operation as described above is performed. However, in this case, it is necessary for the user to input a display instruction from the analysis information display instruction section 11 and to display the minimum analysis range determined by the analysis section 3 'on the analysis information display section 6.

[0090]

As described above, according to the present invention, if there is an ambiguity in the dependency relation of the clauses in the sentence depending on the modified minimum analysis range after the correction according to the correction instruction from the user, the correction is performed. From the plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the later minimum analysis range, the sentence structure is formed based on the remaining dependency relationships excluding the dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range displayed on the display device and informed to the user. Since the analysis is performed, the analysis result desired by the user can be obtained without strictly specifying the dependency relation desired by the user. Therefore, the burden on the user can be reduced as compared with the related art in which the user has to strictly specify a desired dependency relationship.
Further, the ambiguity in the minimum analysis range corrected by the user's correction instruction can be reduced at an early stage, so that an increase in the amount of calculation, the amount of memory used, and the like can be suppressed to a minimum.

Further, according to the present invention, a sentence to be analyzed is displayed on a display device in a format in which the user can recognize which part of the sentence has the minimum analysis range (for example, the part of the minimum analysis range is underlined). Since the display indicates the minimum analysis range to the user, the interface with the user can be simplified as compared with the related art in which the analysis result is notified to the user in the form of a graph.

Further, according to the present invention, when a display instruction of the minimum analysis range is input from the user, the user can recognize the sentence to be analyzed on the display device and which part of the minimum analysis range in the sentence. Since it is displayed in the format, the minimum analysis range can be displayed only when the user needs it.

[Brief description of the drawings]

FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a first embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an analysis unit 3;

FIG. 3 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of a user designation analysis unit 8;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a processing example of an analysis information comparison unit 10;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing a second embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing a processing example of an analysis unit 3 '.

FIG. 7 is a flowchart showing a part of a processing example of a user designation analyzing unit 8 ′;

FIG. 8 is a diagram for explaining an operation when a Japanese noun phrase having an ambiguous structure is input.

FIG. 9 is a diagram for explaining an operation when a Japanese sentence having an ambiguous structure is input.

FIG. 10 is a diagram for explaining an operation when an English sentence having an ambiguous structure is input.

[Explanation of symbols]

 DESCRIPTION OF SYMBOLS 1 ... Input part 2 ... Knowledge base 3, 3 '... Analysis part 4 ... Analysis result output part 5 ... Minimum analysis range information 6 ... Analysis information display part 7 ... User designation part 8, 8' ... User designation analysis part 9 ... Analysis Information storage unit 10 Analysis information comparison unit 11 Analysis information display instruction unit

Claims (4)

[Claims] In a natural language analysis method for analyzing a structure of a sentence described in a natural language, a minimum analysis range of an input sentence described in a natural language is determined. The sentence is displayed on the display device in a form that allows the user to recognize which part of the determined minimum analysis range is in the sentence. Thereafter, when a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range is input by the user, the correction instruction is displayed. The minimum analysis range in the sentence is corrected in accordance with the above formula. Further, if ambiguity remains in the dependency relation of the clause in the sentence depending on the corrected minimum analysis range, it is derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. Analyzing the sentence structure based on a remaining dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by a minimum analysis range displayed on the display device from a plurality of dependency relationships. Word analysis method. 2. A natural language analysis method for analyzing a structure of a sentence described in a natural language, wherein a minimum analysis range of an input sentence described in a natural language is determined. Analyzing the structure of the sentence based on the analysis range and outputting the analysis result. Thereafter, when a display instruction of the minimum analysis range is input by the user, the input sentence is converted to the determined minimum analysis range. Is displayed on the display device in a format that allows the user to recognize which part of the sentence is in the sentence, and further, after inputting a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range from the user, corrects the minimum analysis range in the sentence according to the correction instruction However, in the case where ambiguity remains in the dependency relation of the clause in the sentence depending on the corrected minimum analysis range, it is displayed on the display device from a plurality of dependency relations derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. A natural language analysis method characterized by analyzing a structure of the sentence based on a remaining dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by a minimum analysis range. 3. A natural language analyzing apparatus for analyzing the structure of a sentence described in a natural language, comprising: an analysis information display unit, an analysis information storage unit, and an input sentence described in a natural language. Determine the minimum analysis range, furthermore, the input sentence is displayed on the analysis information display unit in a format in which the user can recognize which part of the sentence the determined minimum analysis range is,
An analysis unit that stores information indicating a minimum analysis range in the sentence in the analysis information storage unit, and then analyzes the structure of the input sentence based on a dependency relationship output to itself; A user-specifying unit for inputting a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range, and correcting the minimum analysis range in the sentence in accordance with the correction instruction input from the user specification unit. A user-specified analysis unit that determines whether or not ambiguity remains in the dependency relation of a clause; and a plurality of variances derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range when the user-specified analysis unit determines that ambiguity remains. Analysis information to output to the analysis unit a dependency relationship excluding a dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the information stored in the analysis information storage unit from the dependency relationship Natural language analysis apparatus characterized by comprising a comparison unit. 4. A natural language analyzing apparatus for analyzing the structure of a sentence described in a natural language, comprising: an analysis information display unit, an analysis information storage unit, and an input sentence described in a natural language. Determining the minimum analysis range, further analyzing the sentence structure based on the determined minimum analysis range and outputting an analysis result,
An analysis unit that stores information indicating a minimum analysis range in the sentence in the analysis information storage unit, and then analyzes the structure of the input sentence based on a dependency relationship output to itself; A user designation unit for inputting a correction instruction for the minimum analysis range; an analysis information display instruction unit for inputting a display instruction for the minimum analysis range; and a display instruction input from the analysis information display instruction unit. The sentence is displayed on the analysis information display unit in a form in which the user can recognize which part of the determined minimum analysis range is in the sentence, and thereafter, a correction instruction is input from the user designation unit, so that the input is performed. The minimum analysis range is corrected in accordance with the corrected instruction, and the user-specified analysis unit determines whether or not ambiguity remains depending on the corrected minimum analysis range. When it is determined that the dependency relationship determined by the minimum analysis range indicated by the information stored in the analysis information storage unit is excluded from the plurality of dependency relationships derived based on the corrected minimum analysis range. A natural language analysis device, comprising: an analysis information comparison unit that outputs a receiving relationship to the analysis unit.