| EPSRC Reference: |
GR/M64208/01 |
| Title: |
AUTOMATED UNDERSTANDING OF METOPHORICAL UTTERANCES IN MUNDANE DISCOURSE |
| Principal Investigator: |
Barnden, Professor JA |
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| Department: |
School of Computer Science |
| Organisation: |
University of Birmingham |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research (Pre-FEC) |
| Starts: |
14 September 1999 |
Ends: |
13 June 2003 |
Value (£): |
189,560
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| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
| Human Communication in ICT |
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| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| Creative Industries |
Information Technologies |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
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Summary on Grant Application Form |
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Metaphor is important in mundane discourse (news articles, ordinary conversation, popular fiction, etc), and it is therefore important in the development of computer dialogue systems. A metaphor is a conceptual view of something as something qualitatively different, such as a view of commercial organisations as machines. A metaphor can be manifested in language in an indefinitely broad range of ways, so that the understander cannot rely on a dictionary, and is forced to apply powerful methods for (uncertain) reasoning. We have already developed a theoretical approach and prototype reasoning system for coping with this problem, which has not been adequately addressed by previous computational work on metaphor. However, our approach and system need major elaboration in various directions. We need to develop a better theoretical understanding of how metaphorical utterances tie in with surrounding context. We need to combine our approach with a treatment of time and change, since many metaphorical utterances describe processes rather than fixed states. We need to extend out approach to deal properly with various types of mixed metaphor. Also, we intend to expand our databank of examples of metaphor usage in mundane discourse, and to collect statistics on metaphor usage by searching large corpora.
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Key Findings |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Potential use in non-academic contexts |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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Impacts |
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| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
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Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
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This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
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| Project URL: |
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| Further Information: |
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| Organisation Website: |
http://www.bham.ac.uk |