Path: utzoo!utgpu!jarvis.csri.toronto.edu!mailrus!cs.utexas.edu!wuarchive!udel!burdvax!finin@prc.unisys.com From: finin@prc.unisys.com (Tim Finin) Newsgroups: comp.ai Subject: Finding Spatial Relations in the World ... (Unisys AI seminar) Message-ID: <12199@burdvax.PRC.Unisys.COM> Date: 29 Nov 89 16:08:10 GMT Sender: news@PRC.Unisys.COM Organization: Unisys Paoli Research Center, PO Box 517, Paoli PA 19301 Lines: 47 AI SEMINAR UNISYS PAOLI RESEARCH CENTER Finding Spatial Relations in the World to Match our Prepositions Annette Herskovits Wellesley College and University of Pennsylvania Lexical meanings are notoriously difficult to define. For any definition, there seems to exist a counterexample. Focusing on spatial prepositions ("across", "at", "over", etc.), I will propose systematic, but quite complex, interactions between word meaning and cognition to account for the broad range of uses of a word. I will assume a geometric schema associated with each spatial preposition, but also active processes of fitting the schema onto real situations. Two phenomena account for the flexibility of lexical use: first, the fitting takes advantage of selections, groupings, idealizations, and tranformations which are part and parcel of spatial cognition (rather than strictly linguistic processes); second, approximate fits are acceptable, subject to well-defined conditions. However, this search for a best fitting schema cannot explain all prepositional uses. In addition, there are some standard types of situation, defined as functional interactions rather than strictly spatially, for which the use of a particular preposition is required, either by convention or because of salience. I will discuss the consequences of this analysis for linguistics and artificial intelligence. 11:00 pm Tuesday, December 5, 1989 BIC Conference Room Unisys Paoli Research Center Route 252 and Central Ave. Paoli PA 19311 -- non-Unisys visitors who are interested in attending should -- -- send email to finin@prc.unisys.com or call 215-648-7446 -- -- Tim Finin finin@prc.unisys.com (internet) Unisys Paoli Research Center 215-648-7446 (office) 215-648-7412 (fax) PO Box 517, Paoli, PA 19301 215-386-1749 (home) Brought to you by Super Global Mega Corp .com