Mystery Number Three - Computational Linguistics and Talking Robots - page 58

and coordination. This similarity of format allows us to base the interaction
between the two components on yet another application of pattern matching: 6

4.3.3 R EFERENCE AS LANGUAGE - CONTEXT PATTERN MATCHING

types

sur: der Hund sur: bellte

verb: bark
arg: dog
prn: 23

noun: dog
fnc: bark

language level

prn: 23

reference

sur: sur:

verb: bark
arg: dog
prn: c16

noun: dog

context level

fnc: bark

prn: c16

tokens

Language and context proplets differ in that the sur (for surface) attribute of
language proplets has a non-NIL value, e.g., der Hund , whereas the sur value
of context proplets is NIL, represented as empty space in the value slot, i.e.,
[sur: ] . Another difference is that in language proplets representing the sign
kind of symbols (cf. FoCL'99, Chap. 6) the core value is a concept 7 type ,
while the core value of corresponding context proplets is a concept token .
In summary, the matching (i) between rule patterns and content (3.4.1, 3.4.2,
3.4.3) and (ii) between (symbol) language proplets and context proplets differ
only in the compatibility of certain values. In rule-content matching the values
in question are restricted variables in the rule and constants in the content.
In language-context matching the values in question are concept types at the
language level and concept tokens at the context level.

4.4 Coreference-by-Address

Computer science uses the term “reference” differently from analytic philos-
ophy and linguistics. A computational reference is the address of a storage
location. This may be coded (i) as a symbolic address (declarative) or (ii) as a
pointer to the physical storage location in the memory hardware (procedural).

6 Neither the formulas of typed lambda calculus in SCG'84 (Montague Grammar) nor the trees gener-
ated from frames in CoL'89 (FrameKit, Carbonell and Josef 1986) proved to be practical for imple-
menting pattern matching between a language component and a context component. For a summary,
see FoCL'99, Sect. 22.2.