FrameNet: Semantic Classification and Syntagmatic Information

1. FrameNet: Semantic Classification and Syntagmatic Information Miriam R. L. Petruck miriamp@icsi.berkeley.edu

2. Overview of Talk • The Point • Introduction to FrameNet • The Avoidance Family of Frames • Frame-to-frame Relations

3. Acknowledgments • Charles J. Fillmore • Collin Baker • Michael Ellsworth • Josef Ruppenhofer

4. The Point • Fine-grained semantic classification as in FrameNet captures syntactic facts better than syntactic alternation information. • Syntagmatic information of the sort provided in FrameNet serves the purpose of sense discrimination.

5. What is FrameNet? • a computational lexicography project based on the principles of Frame Semantics • building a lexical resource for contemporary English that provides a body of semantically and syntactically annotated sentences from which reliable information can be reported on the valences, or combinatorial possibilities, of each item analyzed.

6. Frame Semantics • an approach to the understanding and description of the meanings of lexical items (and grammatical constructions) which assumes that in order to understand the meanings of the words in a language we must first have knowledge of the semanticframes

7. Semantic Frame • a schematic representation of a situation, object or event providing the background structure against which words are understood

8. Similar Concepts • Minsky (1975) • frame • Schank & Abelson (1975) • script • Lakoff (1987) • ICMs - Idealized Cognitive Models • Johnson (1987) • Image schemas

9. A FrameNet Frame • schematic representation of a situation involving various participants, props, and other conceptual roles, each of which is a frame element • provides the background and motivation for the existence and use of a lexical item in a language

10. Lexicon Building • study words - lexical units (LUs), • describe the frames or conceptual structures which underlie them • examine sentences containing them (from the BNC, Newswire, and soon ANC) • record the ways in which information from the associated frames are expressed in these sentences

11. Lexical Unit (LU) • Pairing between a lemma and a frame • hot - It’s hot outside today. • hot - The curry is really hot. • hot - She’s one hot lady.

12. Frame Element • frame-specific semantic roles, the linguistic realizations of which highlight different participants and props of a frame

13. Communication • Charlie told Jo that Mike was late.

14. Communication • Speaker: Charlie • Addressee: Jo • Message: that Mike was late

15. Core vs. Non-core FEs • Core FEs - uniquely define a frame • Speaker, Addressee, Message • Non-Core FEs - describe aspects of events more generally • Time, Place

16. Frame Element • Semantic role • Speaker, Addressee, Message • Grammatical Function • External, Object, Dependent • Phrase Type • NP, Sfin

17. Avoid.v • We must avoid jumping to conclusions. • Victoria avoids weekend work. • They could not avoid criticism. • Young people can avoid getting into trouble.

18. Avoiding An Agent avoids an Undesirable_situation under certain Conditions, where that situation may be an event or an activity.

19. Core Frame Elements (FEs) • Agent: the person who avoids the Undesirable_situation • Undesirable_situation: the situation that the Agent avoids

20. Annotations • [WeAgent] must avoid[jumping to conclusions Undesirable_situation]. • [Victoria Agent]avoids[weekend work Undesirable_situation]. • [They Agent] could not avoid[criticism Undesirable_situation]. • [Young people Agent] can avoid[getting into trouble Undesirable_situation].

21. Non-core Frame Elements • Conditions: theConditions under which the Undesirable_situation is avoided • Manner: the Manner in which the Agent avoids the Undesirable_situation • Means: the Means by which an Agent avoids the Undesirable_situation

22. Avoiding.avoid.v: Valence

23. Avoiding: avoid.v - VPing/Dep • [He Agent]avoided[giving her a direct answer Undesirable_situation][when she asked Conditions]. • [The Art Loss Register Agent][carefully Manner] avoids[probing into the subject Undesirable_situation]. • [By being subtle Means]…[you Agent]avoid[appearing naïve Undesirable_situation].

24. FrameNet is Unique • Frame Semantics • Semantic Annotations • Syntagmatic Information

25. Other Lexical Resources • WordNet • www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/ • PropBank • http://www.cis.upenn.edu/~ace/ • Levin (1993) • English Verb Classes and Alternations

26. Other Lexical Resources • WordNet: classifies words into synsets; no useful syntagmatic information (so _s sth) • PropBank: adds predicate argument relations to Penn TreeBank (Arg0, Arg1, Arg2) • Levin (1993): based on syntactic alternation behavior of verbs in a “semantic” group

27. Levin (1993) on Avoid verbs • Semantically “related to avoidance” • Do not participate in the so-called locative preposition drop alternation • Jo left the museum./Jo left from the museum. • We avoided the area./*We avoided from the area. • Many are found with gerundive sentential complements (VPing).

28. The Avoidance Family: LUs abstain, abstinence, avoid, avoidance, dodge.n, dodge.v, do_without, duck, eschew, evade, evasion, evasive, elude, elusive, escape, forbear, forbearance, forbearing, forego, keep_away, refrain, shirk, shun, sidestep, skip, skirt, stay_away, etc.

29. The Avoidance Family of Frames • Avoiding: We must avoid jumping to conclusions. • Evading: Possums evade predators by playing dead. • Dodging: She dodged a wet sponge. • Escaping: Benjamin escaped from Germany. • Foregoing: Chuck skips lunch frequently. • Elusive_goal: Success eluded her.

30. Avoiding-Evading-Dodging • Avoiding: An Agent avoids an Undesirable situation, which may be an event or an activity. • Evading: An Evader moves under its own power to avoid Capture or contact with a moving Pursuer. • Dodging: A Dodger acts to avoid an oncoming moving Bad_entity. The motion is relative since the Dodger may be moving.

31. Avoiding.evade.v: Annotations [I Agent] have evaded[a central issue Undesirable_situation]. [The governmentAgent] was evading [its responsibilities Undesirable_situation]. [He Agent] evaded[answering a questionUndesirable_situation]. …[trade unionsAgent] could evade [making payments to their members Undesirable_situation].

32. Avoiding.evade.v: Valence Undesirable_situation is realized as NP or VPing.

33. [He Agent] evaded[answering a question Undesirable_situation].

34. Evading.evade.v: Annotations [HeEvader] was able to evade[long term imprisonment Capture]. [HowardEvader]evaded[the FBI Pursuer]. If only [she Evader] had been able to evade[her pursuers Pursuer]…

35. Evading.evade.v: Valence Neither Capture nor Pursuer is realized as VPing.

36. Avoiding.dodge.v: Annotations [Zoe Agent]dodged [the question Undesirable_situation]. [Ministers Agent] were not dodging[an arms ban Undesirable_situation]. [They Agent]dodge[joining in discussions of…Undesirable_situation].

37. Avoiding.dodge.v: Valence Undesirable_sitaution is realized as NP or VPing.

38. Dodging.dodge.v: Annotations Nor can [you Dodger]dodge[these attacks Bad_entity][by approaching obliquely Means]. [TheyDodger] can dodge[the tax man Bad_entity]. [They Dodger] are dodging[flying shrapnel Bad_entity].

39. Dodging.dodge.v: Valence Bad_entity is realized only as NP.

40. Distinguishing Avoiding from Evading and Dodging • Avoiding verbs allow NP-Object complements or VP-ing complements. • Evading and Dodging verbs only allow NP-Object complements. • Only the Avoiding senses of evade.v and dodge.v occur with gerundive sentential complements.

41. Demonstrating that… • Fine-grained semantic classification as in FrameNet captures syntactic facts better than syntactic alternation information. • Syntagmatic information of the sort provided in FrameNet serves the purpose of sense discrimination.

42. So What? NLU system can exploit FrameNet data, specifically valence descriptions of LUs, to distinguish Avoiding.evade from Evading.evade He evadedanswering a question. VPing/Dependent = Avoiding

43. Paraphrase • In the interview, Bush sidestepped discussing the issue of… • Bush avoided discussing the issue… • Bush stayed_away from discussing the issue…

44. FrameNet on the Avoidance Family • Frame descriptions • Frame Element definitions • Lexical Units • Semantically annotated corpus attestations • Valence descriptions • Syntagmatic relations

45. Frame-to-Frame Relations • Inheritance • Using

46. Inheritance …a relationship between a more general frame (parent) and a more specific frame (child). For each FE, frame relation and semantic characteristic in the parent frame, there is a corresponding entity in the child frame that is the same or more specific.

47. Frame and FE Inheritance - I • Evading inherits from Avoiding • Evader : Agent • Pursuer : Undesirable_situation [HowardEvader]evaded[the FBI Pursuer].

48. Frame and FE Inheritance - II • Dodging inherits from Avoiding • Dodger : Agent • Bad_entity : Undesirable_situation

49. Using …a relationship between a more general frame (parent) and a more specific frame (child) in which only some of the FEs in the parent frame have a corresponding entity in the child frame; if correspondences exist, they are more specific.

50. Using - I • Evading uses Motion • Evader : Theme • Pursuer : Source