Compiling phrase structure grammar rules into register vector grammar

A procedure is described for compiling context-free phrase structure grammar (PSG) rules into equivalent context-free register vector grammars (RVG). The procedure makes use of finite-state automata (FSA) as an intermediate form, as well as standard FSA transformation and reduction algorithms to minimize the size of the resulting register vector grammars. An example using the syntax of English auxiliary verbs demonstrated the use of FSA in the translation process, and it was shown that such automata must be reduced to yield fewer RVG productions. It was also shown that an additional optimization phase is needed to further reduce the size and increase the efficiency of register vector grammars. The PSG-to-RVG compiler enables natural-language interface developers to design grammars at the phrase structure rule level, but execute them at the register vector grammar level. This approach maximizes both the understandability and efficiency of syntactic analysis.<
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