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The UNL Program. A program created by the United Nations University / Institute of Advanced Studies Now carried out by the UNDL Foundation www.undl.org. Distinctive features. UNL is designed for multilingual information services , not for MT. Distinctive characteristics:
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The UNL Program A program created by the United Nations University / Institute of Advanced Studies Now carried out by the UNDL Foundation www.undl.org
Distinctive features • UNL is designed for multilingual information services, not for MT. • Distinctive characteristics: • Open technology. Patents held by UN • Internet based. • UNL docs are re-usable. Draft first, refine later. • UNL docs are upgradable as better generators are developed. • UNL system is scalable to new languages.
UNL System Chinese People French Chinese French People Spanish Hindi Internet Hindi People Spanish People UNL Philosophy
French Generator Chinese Generator Document Base Hindi Generator UNL Document Base Spanish Generator Other language Generator UNL System
UNL Editor Language Generator Generated documents UNL Dictionary Language Server Analyzer UNL Document Base Text in natural language UNL Architecture
UNL as an interlingua (1/4) • UNL is a partially formalised, artificial language for expressing informational content in a language-independent way. • Essential components of this language are: • Universal words (UWs): They represent concepts valid in all languages. • Attributes : Modify the meaning of the UWs • Relations: Express the semantic relation between two UWs.
neige snow snow Schnee nieve UNL as an interlingua (2/4) • Universal Wordscomposed by: • Basic UW: It is an English “headword” (for practical reasons) (e.g.: snow) • Restrictions: They perform a more accurate semantic definition of the UW. {e.g.: cat (icl>animal) or snow(icl>thing) vs. snow(icl>occur) }
UNL as an interlingua (3/4) • Attributes: modifiers of the UW meanings • number (singular or plural);(e.g. @pl) • reference (definite or indefinite); (e.g. @def) • time and aspect; • epistemic and deontic modalities; • pragmatic intentions; • etc...
UNL as an interlingua (4/4) • Conceptual Relations • Semantic relations between UWs • 41 conceptual relations, grouped into 8 families • Example: “the storm broke the windows” agt storm(icl>action).@def break(icl>do).@entry.@past obj window(icl>thing).@def.@pl
UNL EDITOR Language Rules Texts in UNL Enconverter Language/UNL Dictionary How to write a document in UNL? Yesterday I ran in the street. Hier, Je courais dans la rue. [S] agt(run(icl>do).@entry.@past, I) ppl(run(icl>do).@entry.@past, street.@def) tim(run(icl>do).@entry.@past, yesterday) [/S] Ayer yo corría en la calle Cat Chat Gato cat(icl>animal)
UNL Organization (1/2) • Initially promoted by the United Nations University (UNU/IAS) (Tokyo) • Fourteen languages involved. • In 2000 the UNU/IAS decided to create an independent organization to be in charge of the UNL Program. • In 2001 the UNDL Foundation has started its activities (Geneva)
UNL Organization (2/2) UNDL Foundation UNL Center Co-ordination Maintenance Promotion • UNL System • Specifications • UW Dictionary • Knowledge Base • Architecture • UNL Society • Individuals • Corporations • Institutions • Free membership for R&D activities • Language Centers • 12 at the moment