Interpreting Clues in Conjunction with Processing Restrictions in Arguments and Discourse

Abstract

This paper extends previous work which provided a theory for the interpretation of and necessity for clue words in a particular kind of discourse - namely, one-way arguments. Previous work described a taxonomy of connective clues (words such 'hence or phrases such as a result), where each clue, classified according to the taxonomy, would set in place a default interpretation of its containing propcEtion, with respect to the representation for the argument so far. In this paper, we examine how to c0mbine the restrictions for clues with a basic processor for the discourse, offering a integrated processing algorithm, which takes advantage of clues to reduce processing and to detect incoherent arguments, and can still produce an analysis in the absence of clues. We conclude with some suggestions for incorporating clues of re-direction and clues that signal exceptional transmissions. We also demmstrate the implications of our results for discourse in general.