Time Tracks and Time Segments. Rethinking the Way to Look ...dcristea//Talks/Synasc2016_Time_rails.ppt… · Tash Aw: Map of the invisible world SYNASC, Timișoara, 26th September

TimeTracksandTimeSegments.RethinkingtheWaytoLookatTexts

DanCristea“AlexandruIoanCuza”UniversityofIași,FacultyofComputerScience

RomanianAcademyIașibranch,[email protected]

Ourperceptionoftime

•  Sherememberedthewordsthatsome.mes,atthe.meofadolescence,hermothertoldher."Youareapersonapprehended,right?...

TashAw:Mapoftheinvisibleworld

SYNASC,Timișoara,26thSeptember2016

Ourperceptionoftime


Ourperceptionoftime

•  Inthekitchen,wai.ngforthewatertoboil,MargaretwonderedhowwasitthatshejumpedsonaturallytoembraceAdam.Shecouldnotrealizewhathadmadeherfeelsohappytoseehimagain.

TashAw:Mapoftheinvisibleworld


Ourperceptionoftime


Goals•  Acomputationalrepresentationoftemporalphenomenaoccurringinliterarytexts,preparingthusinvestigationtoolsthatwouldmakepossibletotacklethesephenomenabyautomaticanalysis

•  Therewerereadersperceive:– changesofthecurrentdirectionoftime,–  flashbacksandflashforwards,–  temporalruptures,– perspectivesofdifferentnarratorsonthesamestory

Inthistalk•  Timecanbebettervisualisedasthreadsthatinterlaceandseparate,– muchlikerailwaysdoincomplexrailyards:.metracks

•  ProposeanXMLnotationfortheserepresentations•  Showafewexamplesthatputinevidencedifferenttemporalmanifestations– commute,rupture,joinandsplitpoints

•  Makeapreliminaryevaluationoftheannotationsonasmallcorpus

•  Freelythinkfurther.Noconclusions!

Ourworkisframedin…

•  TemporalReasoning(andtemporallogic:Allen,etc.)

•  Annotationconventions/standardstocopewithtimeasmentionedinlanguageandtext

•  Muchinterest:–  informationextraction– questionanswering–  textualentailment

SincetheACLworkshoponSpa.alandTemporalReasoning(2001),LRECworkshoponAnnota.onStandardsforTemporalInforma.oninNaturalLanguage(2002)


Relatedwork–  Anotation:TimeML

–  TIMEX3:markupexplicittemporalexpressions(times,dates,durations,etc.)–  SIGNALannotatefunctionwordsthatindicatehowtemporalobjectsaretobe

relatedtoeachother(e.gon,during,when,if,etc.)–  TLINK-TemporalLinks:thetemporalrelationshipholdingbetweeneventsor

betweenaneventandatime–  SLINK-SubordinationLink:relationsbetweentwoevents,oraneventanda

signal–  ALINK-AspectualLink:relationshipbetweenanaspectualeventandits

argumentevent

–  EVENT JamesPustejovskyetal.(2003).TimeML:RobustSpecificationofEventandTemporalExpressionsinText,AAAITechnicalReportSS-03-07


Relatedwork

–  Asystem(theTARSQIToolkit)thatrecognises:•  temporalexpressions(TimeEx)•  events•  relationsbetweenthem

Verhagen&Pustejovsky:TemporalProcessingwiththeTARSQIToolkit,Coling2008


Relatedwork– NarrativeContainers:assumedwindowsprovideleftandrightboundariesforwhenunanchoredeventsmostlikelyoccurred;sizeparameterizedbyDocumentCreationTime(DCT)andtheperiodicityofthesource

– NarrativeScope:thetimespanbetweentheearliestandlatesteventsdescribedinthedocument

– NarrativeTime:thecurrenttemporalanchorforeventsinadocument;temporalfocusshiftsasthereadermovesthroughthedocument

=>themannerinwhicheventsarelinked(related)totheDCTinTimeML Pustejovsky&Stubbs(2011).IncreasingInformativenessin

TemporalAnnotation,ProceedingsoftheFiIhLawWorkshop(LAWV),Portland

Relatedwork•  ThemodelofNarrativeContaineranditsrelationswrtto:– Channel:isthedocumentwrittenorspoken?– Productioncircumstances:howwasthedocumentdistributed?broadcast,newswire,dailypublication

– Style:whatformatwasusedtopresenttheinformation?

– Presenceofatemporalanchor:whetheranarticlecontainedaNarrativeTimeinthefirstsentenceofthedocument

Pustejovsky&Stubbs(2011).IncreasingInformativenessinTemporalAnnotation,ProceedingsoftheFiIhLawWorkshop(LAWV),Portland

However…

•  Fictionnevermentionedinthesestudies– mostinterestattachedtoprocessnewswiresandbroadcastedinformation

•  Lessornoattentiongiventothelinkbetweeneventsandcharactersinvolved– andthereismorethanthemereroleofagentinanevent:JohnmetAnawhenexi.ngtheOperaHouse.Hesaid:Amazingvoices!


Weareinterestedinconnectedsequencesofevents

•  Inhistoricalstudies,dramaturgyandnarratology– 1906:storyline:

Amer.PhysicianMar.86/1:Hehadtoconfesshisinabilitytodothestory-linejus.ce.

– 1907:.meline–Alineusedtoillustrateorrepresentachronologicalsequenceofevents;achronology;achronologicalsequenceJ.W.ADAMSONPract.ofInstr.II.iv.275:A.melineforEnglishhistory…canbemadewithgreatadvantagewhentheclassistakingitsfirstconnectedcourseinEnglishhistory.

OxfordEnglishDictionarySYNASC,Timișoara,27thSeptember2016

Thankyou,Ja

mesDaven

port!


•  InNLP– TimeLine:arepresentationofeventswhicharechronologicallyordered,ingeneralspecificforanentity(acharacterorparticipantinanaction,ageographicalplaceorregion)

– StoryLine:groupsofinteractingTimeLines,ormergersoftwoormoreTimeLineswherethesamecharactersorentitiesaretakingpartintheaction.Akindoftextstructurewhichisnotrelatedtotheflowoftime.

ChambersandJurafsky(2008).UnsupervisedLearningofNarrativeEventChains.InACL.

Laparra,AldabeandRigau(2015).FromTimeLinestoStoryLines:Apreliminaryproposalforevaluatingnarratives.InACL-IJCNLP.


•  InNLP– .meline(orfabula):asetofeventinstancesorderedintime(anchoredtotimeexpressionsorrelativetoeachother)andasetofbridgingrelationsbetweeneventswithexplanatoryandpredictivevalue(risingaction,climaxandfallingaction)

– storyline:thetimelinemadeofthoseeventswhichhavethehighestconnectivityscore

⇒ detectstorylineinmassivestreamsofnews⇒ notconcernedwithdecipheringthetemporalstructureoftexts

Vossen,CaselliandKontzopoulou(2015).Storylinesforstructuringmassivestreamsofnews.InACL-IJCNLP

Motivationandgoal

•  Largetextsaredifferentthennews– news:sequencesofevents,opinions,commentaries– novels:eventsareseldompresentedinnon-sequentialorder,sameeventsareinterpretedfromdifferentperspectives

•  Charactersparticipateinevents•  Eachhasher/hisowntrajectory/destiny/evolution•  Althoughcharacters’trajectoriesintersectintime,onewouldliketodistinguish/separatethem


The.meyardmodel

•  ATimeYard(TY)isarepresentation(resemblingadiagram)ofthecharacters’destinies(atoo…preciousterm)inatext,unfoldedonthestorytimeaxis

•  ATYismadeofTimeTracks(TTs)•  ATTismadeofTimeSegments(TSs)•  AbookisasequenceofTimeSegments


TimeTracks

•  ATTdisplaysthestorydevelopmentofonecharacterorastablegroupofcharactersoveraperiodofstorytime.– TTsaredecipheredbythereaderashavingaunityofcharacters,actionanddevelopment

– OneTTcanbenarratedbyoneormorerelators– TTsarenotnecessarilycharacterisedbyaunityofplace


BorderpointsofTTs

•  Timetrackscanbeborderedby:– startpoints–wheretheystart,– endpoints–wheretheyfinish,–  joinpoints–inwhichtwodifferenttimetracksunify,

– splitpoints–whereonetimetracksplitsintotwoseparatetimetracks.


TimeSegments

•  ATSgroupsasequenceofeventsofonecharacterorastablegroupofcharactersoveraperiodofstorytime,thatisuninterruptedlytoldinaspanoftext.– oneTSisnecessarilytoldinacontinuousspanoftext–  inaTS,thestorytimeevolveslinearly– oneTScanbenarratedbyonlyonerelator


BorderpointsinTSs•  IfinnertoTTs,TSscanbeborderedby:–  rupturepoints–wherethestorycommutesfromonetimetrackontoadifferentone

– commutepoints–inwhich,althoughthestorygoeson,itissaidfromadifferentperspective,byadifferentstoryteller;oritmovesforthorbackonthesameTT.

•  IfattheextremeofTTs,TSscanalsobeborderedby:– startorsplitpoints–ontheleftside–  joinorstoppoints–ontherightside.


Margaretinthekitchen…

•  TS1:[Inthekitchen,wai.ngforthewatertoboil,Margaretwonderedhowwasitthat]

•  TS2:[shejumpedsonaturallytoembraceAdam.]

•  TS3:[Shecouldnotrealizewhathadmadeher]•  TS4:[feelsohappytoseehimagain...]”


TTsandTSsinMargaret&Adam’sepisode

commutepoints


Margaretandhermother…

•  TS1:[Sherememberedthewords]•  TS2:[thatsome.mes,atthe.meofadolescence,hermothertoldher."Youareapersonapprehended,right?...]


TTsandTSsinMargaret&hermother’sepisode


Splitpoints

•  TS1:[Uptoclimbintothetruckanddisappearafterthetarpaulinfalldown,]

•  TS2:[hefollowedthemslowly,withhisclumsygait.]


Joinpoints

•  TS1:[Itwasonlywhenshecametothedoorwaythatsherealized]

•  TS2:[someonewasthere,lyingonthefrontsteps.Hewasaboy,ateenager,almostcrouchedinthewomb.]


TashAw’s“Mapoftheinvisibleworld”bird’seyetimeyard


ReadingtheTYdiagrams

•  Misses/discontinuities⇒ horizontalaxisinaTYrepresentsthestory-time⇒ notcompulsorythatatextincludesacompletedescriptionofaninterval

⇒ segmentsmaynotfillcontiguouslyacertainTT⇒ discontinuities:pauses,misses(interruptedlinesinthefigureabove)


ReadingtheTYdiagrams

•  Trackingcharacters’destinies(developments)=>inboldinthefigure:Adam’strajectory=>amereselectionoperationinthesetofTTelements=>producefocusedsummaries


NotshowninTYdiagrams

•  Ambiguoustemporalplacements:whentheexactorderofTSscannotbedetermined=>moreTSsbelongtothesameTT=>buttheirorderisundefined


NotshowninTYdiagrams•  Personalinterpretations:

=>differentTSsaretoldbydifferentrelators

=>thesameTSistoldbydifferentrelators

AnXMLnotation–inadditiontothoseofTimeML

•  ElementsmarkingTimeTracks:<TT NAME ACTORS ID LEFT-EP RIGHT-EP/>

– LEFT-EP:“START”|IDofaSPLITend-point– RIGHT-EP:“STOP”|IDaJOINend-point

•  ElementsmarkingTimeSegments<TS ID IN-TT TIME TYPE PER>...</TS>

–  IN-TT:IDofaTT– TIME:IDofTIMEelement– TYPE:NARration,REMembers,SUPposition,GENeralknowledge,FICtions

– PERspective:acharacter(entity)

AnXMLnotation

•  Elementsmarkingtimeconstraints<TIME ID FROM REL TO/>

– FROMandTO:IDsofTS– REL:BEFORE,IMMEDIATELY-BEFORE,AFTER,IMMEDIATELY-AFTER,SIMULTANEOUSLY,INCLUDES

•  Elementsmarkingendpoints<ENDPOINT ID TYPE TT1 TT2/>

– TYPE:“JOIN”or“SPLIT”– TT1andTT2:IDsofthetwoTTsthateitherjoinorsplit


Thecorpus

•  FewpagesfromthesamenovelannotatedbyaclassofmasterstudentsinCL–  interestedtoevidenceinter-annotatoragreement

•  TashAw:Mapoftheinvisibleworld(Romanianversion)–currentlyunderannotation(byAndreeaMacovei)–  tobeusedintrainingaTYparser


Evaluation•  InterestedtoappreciateinterannotatoragreementonperceivingTTsandTSs

•  2smallfragmentsfromMotIWçv

StudentstakingTSsasnewTT

çv

çv

StudentsmissingsomeTTsTTsareobjective,noticeable

Continuation

•  OngoingannotationofthewholeMofIWnovel

•  ATYvisualiserunderconstruction•  ATYannotatorthatwillworkhandinhandwiththevisualiser


Butwe,ourselves,liveontimeyards…

•  Weliveourlivessequentially–  Ilivedwithinmyfamilyuntiltheageof16,thenfortwoyearsIwentinanothercitytofollowahighschool,thenfor5yearsIwasastudentinBucharest,andoneyearbeforefinishingthefacultyIwasmarried,thenIcametoIașiand4yearslatermyfirstdautherwasborn,andwhenshewas5Igotdivorced,oneyearlaterImarriedagaina.s.o.


OurTYs

•  Myfirstdaughter’sstory…•  Ourlivesmeet,thensplit,thenmeetagain…•  Wemeetmanypeopleduringourlives,eachhavingher/hisowntrajectory

=>likerailways...


WhenIsay:Ilivedwithinmyfamilyun.ltheageof16…

•  Actually,eachdayIwenttoschool,intheholidaysIwenttomygrandparentshouseinthecountryside,andIwentmany.mestocinema…

•  …andmyparentswerenotnearmeallthetime.=>lookedatitunderthelens,atimesegmentrevealsmanymore(finer)segments=>italsodependsontheperspec&ve…


Atimetrackperspective

•  Somebodythinks/believesthatsomebodyelsehasacertaintrajectory=>coursesofeventscanbeseendifferentlythroughdifferentperspectives=>sometimesTTsofacommunityofpeoplearegrosslyseenintertwined,justlikemakingasingledestiny:collectivities,peoplelivinginacountry=>althougheachhasher/hisown(developing)TT


Adigression

•  GENLIAS(www.genlias.nl)–digitisationandtrascriptionofoneofthebiggestcollectionofbirth,marriageanddeathcertificatesintheworld:nowapprox.15millioncertificateson50millionpeople=>32millioncert.

•  LINKS–conectsthenamesincertificates=>tracesthetrajectoryofthepopulationandrebuildsfamilies


Justimagine…

•  …thatthereisadevicethatrecordstheTTofeachoneofus=>technologicallyfeasible=>perhapsnotverymuchwanted…(sentimentofBBoppression,leaks,etc.)

•  BUT...=>pagesofhistorycanbeautomaticallywritten,withaproperintelligentsummarisationagent=>onecanleavepartsofher/hislifetotheposterity...


Anapplication:MyDiary(ForgetMeNote)

•  AnAssistedLeavingproject:inthebenefitofoldpersonsindangerofAlzheimerdisease…–  theAgent“follows”theMasterfromawakingtillgoingtobed

–  itperceiveswalkings,drivings,encounters,etc.– attheendofthedaytheagentengagesadialoguewiththeMaster•  toclarifyambiguousmoments•  toexerciseMaster’smemory


Anapplication:“Takingtheforeignlanguageteacherwithme”

•  Anagentabletoteachatouristthelanguageofthecountryshe/hetravelsin,inadynamic,interactivemanner.– awareofthesituationtheuserhappenstobein– assistsher/him– offerslinguisticsupport,adaptabletotheprogresstheuserismakinginlearningthelanguage•  drillingexercisesadaptedtothesituation,•  explanationsoftherealityaroundher/himbyappealingtoculturalidiosyncrasies,•  realtimesupportinconversations,etc.

Acknowledgements•  HumanitasPublishingHousefortheRomanianversionofTashAw’snovel

•  TheWylieAgency,UK,fortheaccepttouseforreseachtheoriginalEnglishversionofTashAw’snovel

•  MyclassofmasterstudentsinCL,fordebateswhileestablishingtheannotationconventionsandparticipationinthefirstannotationexperiment

•  AndreeaMacoveiforannotatingthenovelandco-authoringpartsofthisresearch

•  EmiPeiaforimplementingtheannotatorandtheTYvisualiser


Time Tracks and Time Segments. Rethinking the Way to Look ...dcristea//Talks/Synasc2016_Time_rails.ppt… · Tash Aw: Map of the invisible world SYNASC, Timișoara, 26th September

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