1. Making Sense of Sentences Working Note 26 Peter Clark Knowledge Systems Boeing Maths and Computing Technology

2. Preamble This is an informal, brief note on making sense of sentences. The note looks at several variant ways of expressing the same basic idea (namely: hydraulic systems power some particular artifact). Each sentence can be seen as giving a highly incomplete description of some common, underlying system of relationships between events and artifacts (thus setting the context), and then adding or specializing some fact in that system. The sentence interpretation process can thus be seen as aligning the input with the appropriate general, background system of relationships, and then seeing what the new/specialized information is which the sentence is providing. Peter Clark 23rd May 2001

3. Some sentence variants... Hydraulic power moves the flight control surfaces The power supply for the flight control surfaces is hydraulic The hydraulic system provides power for the flight controls The hydraulic systems power the brakes Hydraulic power is used to extend and retract the landing gear The landing gear uses hydraulic power to deploy

4. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa Some Background Knowledge... Providing isa object = points of alignment of the sentence with the knowledge = assertions/specializations made by the sentence Blue text In the next slides:

5. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “Hydraulic power moves the flight control surfaces” involves Providing isa object Flight control surfaces Hydraulic

6. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “The power supply for the flight control surfaces is hydraulic” involves Providing isa object Flight control surfaces Hydraulic

7. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “The hydraulic system provides power for the flight controls” involves Providing isa object Flight control surfaces Hydraulic system

8. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “The hydraulic systems power [supply power to] the brakes” involves Providing isa object Brakes Hydraulic system

9. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “Hydraulic power is used to extend and retract the landing gear” involves Providing isa object Landing gear Hydraulic

10. Supplying Consuming Artifact Moving Power Power-Supply Power-Type Monitoring Controlling Operating Extending Retracting Deploying Using enables involves type object doer object involves object involves type doer isa “The landing gear uses hydraulic power to deploy” involves Providing isa object Landing gear Hydraulic