Title: The CitizenShield dialogue system in multilingual applications

Authors: Christina Alexandris

Addresses: National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Panepistimioupoli, GR, 15784 Zografou, Athens, Greece

Abstract: The present study involves the development of interlinguas (ILTs) as semantic templates for a possible multilingual extension of the CitizenShield dialogue system for consumer complaints. The proposed 'simple interlinguas' (S-ILTs) are designed to function within a very restricted sublanguage related to a specific task, but at the same time, for a very diverse range of languages and language families, in an attempt to meet the needs of the diverse community of foreign residents in Greece. The nature of the CitizenShield system's dialogue structure facilitates the construction of interlinguas (ILTs) designed to comply to the above-described standards. In the sublanguage of the present system, the construction of interlinguas involves the efficient handling of ambiguous expressions related to prosodic features affecting the lexical semantics of words in languages as diverse as Chinese and Greek and the reduction or minimalisation of language-related interference of ambiguities related to verb type and verb structure confronted in languages such as Persian, or phenomena in verb semantics such as 'multitasking' verbs or other 'primitive verbs' in Greek. Additionally, the simple interlinguas (S-ILTs) are designed to bypass the complex task of processing discourse information and subsequent strong cultural interference from languages as diverse as Arabic and Chinese.

Keywords: directed dialogues; keyword answers; simple interlinguas; S-ILTs; multitasking verbs; semantic templates; foreign residents; Greece; ambiguous expressions; prosodic features; lexical semantics; verb type; verb structure; verb semantics; discourse information; cultural interference.

DOI: 10.1504/IJASS.2014.065689

International Journal of Applied Systemic Studies, 2014 Vol.5 No.4, pp.231 - 248

Accepted: 28 Nov 2013
Published online: 14 Nov 2014 *

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