Constructional Analysis Using Constrained Spreading Activation in a FrameNet-Based Structured Connectionist Model

Ely Edison Matos, Tiago Torrent, Vânia Almeida, Adrieli Laviola, Ludmila Lage, Natália Duarte Marção, Tatiane Tavares

Abstract: This paper presents CARMA (Constructional Analyzer using Relations among Multiple Attribute-Value Matrices), a system for generating interpretations of sentences in Brazilian Portuguese in terms of the frames and constructions defined in the FrameNet Brasil database. The system converts sentences into multiple Attribute-Value Matrices (AVMs), which are related to each other in a network generated on the fly through spreading activation of its nodes. We report on a pilot experiment for differentiating two argument structure constructions in Brazilian Portuguese: the Active Transitive and the Split Object constructions. Both of them share the same syntax, [NP [V NP]], but differ in meaning: while the first evokes the Transitive_action frame, in which an Agent performs an action on a Patient, the latter evokes the Undergoing frame, in which an Entity is affected by an Event, and the Part_whole frame, which establishes a relation between a Part and the Whole it belongs to. Current limitations and future developments of CARMA are also discussed.