A Multi-layer Annotated Corpus of Argumentative Text: From Argument Schemes to Discourse Relations

Elena Musi, Manfred Stede, Leonard Kriese, Smaranda Muresan, Andrea Rocci

Abstract: We present a multi-layer annotated corpus of 112 argumentative microtexts encompassing not only argument structure and discourse relations (Stede et al., 2016), but also argument schemes — the inferential relations linking premises to claims. We propose a set of guidelines for the annotation of argument schemes both for support and attack relations, and a new user-friendly annotation tool. The multi-layer annotated corpus allows us to conduct an initial study of dependencies between discourse relations (according to Rhetorical Structure Theory (Mann and Thompson, 1988)) and argument schemes. Our main contribution is that of offering the first resource for the combined study of (argumentative) discourse relations and inferential moves.