return to the Mike Allott homepage

Background to the Word-code system (conceived by Mike Allott 2001)

AMBIGUITY & METAGRAPHEMICS

Overview

The area of proposed research will be the technologies associated with Information-Interchange and Natural-Language Processing, with particular attention to the emergence of English as the main international natural-language. In the context of Information-Interchange there will be an examination into the inefficiencies that result from a lack of mutual-understanding mainly through inadequate or incorrect use of given words, but also because of variations in the way that given words are presented in text format. This will include difficulties of exact mutual-understanding between man and machine.

Problem of Ambiguity

Ambiguity means having more than one possible meaning and as most English words have varying levels of ambiguity then there is clearly a problem with mutual understanding. One of the prime objectives of the proposed research will be to carry out an object-based investigation into the real-world nature of word ambiguity. A new disambiguation process will be suggested which will be termed a single word lexical profile. And new labelling concepts of text-translation, word-choice, word-selection, correct-meaning, universal-consensus and verification will be explained and introduced as a preliminary to further research.

Keyboard-driven Text:

The assumption is made that - for most practical applications - the medium for information-interchange will be a qwerty keyboard and screen. An increasing cause of ambiguity, particularly with the growth of E-mail is the use, or non-use, of metagraphemic devices i.e. punctuation marks, allographs, fonts, ideograms, and spacings. Metagraphemics, the study of these linguistic devices is currently under-researched. New approaches will be suggested on ASCII de-coding.

Semantic Coding (see: Meaning Code Schedule)

There will be a close examination of how the meanings of a given piece of text can be variously interpreted in real-world by analysing the precise system of information-interchange currently in use. As such, and following a first-stage analysis, an encoded classification of 17 types of ambiguity or, semantic variation, is presented as a single page introduction and taxonomy. It is proposed that ambiguity classification will be further simplified using text-driven colour coding. There are no published papers, insofar as can be identified, that attempts this approach.

Purpose of Proposed Research:

First, to contribute to the development of a new bolt-on technology to enable existing word-processors to part dis-ambiguate keyboard-driven text, as a practical aid to man to man communication. Second, to apply these techniques to automatic communication between man and machine.

Note: One possible tool for text-translation could be a codified version of “Basic English” invented in the 30’s by CK Ogden, of Cambridge, and intended for use as a medium of international communication. His works will be examined in detail and “contemporized to establish current enhancement viability.”

"BASIC” is an acronym for “British-American-Scientific-International-Commercial” and best understood in Ogden's handbook: DEBABELIZATION (end of Overview)