The Logic of Typed Feature Structures: With Applications to Unification Grammars, Logic Programs and Constraint Resolution (Cambridge Tracts in Theoretical Computer Science, Series Number 32)

This book develops the theory of typed feature structures, a new form of data structure that generalizes both the first-order terms of logic programs and feature-structures of unification-based grammars to include inheritance, typing, inequality, cycles and intensionality. It presents a synthesis of many existing ideas into a uniform framework, which serves as a logical foundation for grammars, logic programming and constraint-based reasoning systems. Throughout the text, a logical perspective is adopted that employs an attribute-value description language along with complete equational axiomatizations of the various systems of feature structures. Efficiency concerns are discussed and complexity and representability results are provided. The application of feature structures to phrase structure grammars is described and completeness results are shown for standard evaluation strategies. Definite clause logic programs are treated as a special case of phrase structure grammars. Constraint systems are introduced and an enumeration technique is given for solving arbitrary attribute-value logic constraints. This book with its innovative approach to data structures will be essential reading for researchers in computational linguistics, logic programming and knowledge representation. Its self-contained presentation makes it flexible enough to serve as both a research tool and a textbook. This book develops the theory of typed feature structures, a data structure that generalizes both first-order terms and feature structures of unification-based grammars to include inheritance, typing, inequality, cycles and intensionality. The resulting synthesis serves as a logical foundation for grammars, logic programming and constraint-based reasoning systems. A logical perspective is adopted which employs an attribute-value description language along with complete equational axiomatizations of the various systems of feature structures. At the same time, efficiency concerns are kept in mind and complexity and representability results are provided. The application of feature structures to phrase structure grammars is described and completeness results are shown for standard evaluation strategies. Definite clause logic programs are treated as a special case of phrase structure grammars. Constraint systems are introduced and an enumeration technique is developed for solving arbitrary attribute-value logic constraints. This book, with its innovative approach to data structure, will be essential reading for researchers in computational linguistics, logic programming and knowledge representation. Its self-contained presentation makes it flexible enough to serve as both a research tool and a text book. Carpenter develops the theory of typed feature structures. The resulting synthesis serves as a logical foundation for grammars, logic programming and constraint based reasoning systems. Constraint systems and an enumeration technique are developed to solve arbitary attribute-value logic constraints In this monograph we motivate and provide theoretical foundations for the specification and implementation of systems employing data structures which have come to be known as feature structures. Bob Carpenter. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 245-258) And Indexes.