Annotation graphs as a framework for multidimensional linguistic data analysis

In recent work we have presented a formal framework for linguistic annotation based on labeled acyclic digraphs. These `annotation graphs' oer a simple yet powerful method for representing complex annotation structures incorporating hierarchy and overlap. Here, we motivate and illustrate our approach using discourse-level annotations of text and speech data drawn from the CALLHOME, COCONUT, MUC-7, DAMSL and TRAINS annotation schemes. With the help of domain specialists, we have constructed a hybrid multi-level annotation for a fragment of the Boston University Radio Speech Corpus which includes the following levels: segment, word, breath, ToBI, Tilt, Treebank, coreference and named entity. We show how annotation graphs can represent hybrid multi-level structures which derive from a diverse set of le formats. We also show how the approach facilitates substantive comparison of multiple annotations of a single signal based on dierent theoretical models. The discussion shows how ann...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 1999
• Where: CORR
• Authors: Steven Bird, Mark Liberman
• Keywords: Annotation, Complex Annotation Structures, CORR 1999, Education, Hybrid Multi-level Annotation