LexicalFeature (SimpleNLG 4.5.0 API)

java.lang.Object
- simplenlg.features.LexicalFeature

public abstract class LexicalFeature
extends Object

This class defines a list of constant values used by SimpleNLG lexicons. Note that there are three feature classes in SimpleNLG.

Feature: features typically set up developers invoking SimpleNLG
LexicalFeature: features typically set up the SimpleNLG lexicon
InternalFeature: features typically used internally by SimpleNLG

Elements in the system can, in theory, take any kind of feature. Some features will only be expected by certain processors, however. Developers can define their own features but should choose names that do not conflict with those presented here.

The details for each feature are supplied in a table. The entries are:

Feature name	This is the name that will appear in the element's feature list as produced by the `toString()` method or by calling `getAllFeatureNames`
Expected type	As features are represented as a `Map` connecting a `String` and an `Object` then, in theory, a feature can take any object as a value. This table entry defines the type that the SimpleNLG system expects.
Created by	Defines where the feature is created. In addition, all features can be added specifically by users
Used by	Defines which processors use the feature.
Applies to	Defines which structural, syntactical or lexical elements this feature is applied to.
Default	Any default values attributed to the feature are given here.

Version:: 4.0
Author:: E. Reiter and D. Westwater, University of Aberdeen.

Field Summary

Fields
Modifier and Type	Field and Description
`static String`	`ACRONYM_OF` This feature is used to map an acronym element to the full forms of the acronym.
`static String`	`ACRONYMS` This feature is used to map a word to its acronyms.
`static String`	`BASE_FORM` This feature is used to define the base form for phrases and words.
`static String`	`CLASSIFYING` This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives.
`static String`	`COLOUR` This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives.
`static String`	`COMPARATIVE` This feature gives the comparative form for adjectives and adverbs.
`static String`	`DEFAULT_INFL` This feature is used to specify, for a given word, what its default inflectional variant is, if more than one is possible.
`static String`	`DEFAULT_SPELL` This feature is used to specify the default spelling variant of a word, if it has more than one.
`static String`	`DITRANSITIVE` This feature determines if a verb is ditransitive, meaning that it can have a subject, direct object and indirect object.
`static String`	`EXPLETIVE_SUBJECT` This feature determines if the pronoun is an expletive or not.
`static String`	`GENDER` This feature determines whether a noun is masculine, feminine or neuter in nature.
`static String`	`INTENSIFIER` This flag determines if an adverb is an intensifier, such as very.
`static String`	`INTRANSITIVE` This flag highlights a verb that can only take a subject and no objects.
`static String`	`PAST` This feature gives the past tense form of a verb.
`static String`	`PAST_PARTICIPLE` This feature gives the past participle tense form of a verb.
`static String`	`PLURAL` This feature gives the plural form of a noun.
`static String`	`PREDICATIVE` This flag is set on adjectives that can also be used as a predicate.
`static String`	`PRESENT_PARTICIPLE` This feature gives the present participle form of a verb.
`static String`	`PRESENT3S` This feature gives the present third person singular form of a verb.
`static String`	`PROPER` This flag is used to determine whether a noun is a proper noun, such as a person's name.
`static String`	`QUALITATIVE` This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives.
`static String`	`REFLEXIVE` This flag is set if a pronoun is written in the reflexive form.
`static String`	`SENTENCE_MODIFIER` This feature is used to define whether an adverb can be used as a clause modifier, which are normally applied at the beginning of clauses.
`static String`	`SPELL_VARS` This feature is used to specify the spelling variants of a word.
`static String`	`SUPERLATIVE` This feature gives the superlative form for adjectives and adverbs.
`static String`	`TRANSITIVE` This flag highlights a verb that can only take a subject and an object.
`static String`	`VERB_MODIFIER` This feature is used to define whether an adverb can be used as a verb modifier, which are normally added in a phrase before the verb itself.

Method Summary

All Methods Static Methods Concrete Methods
Modifier and Type	Method and Description
`static String[]`	`getInflectionalFeatures(ElementCategory cat)` Return those features related to a word's inflection, depending on its category, that is, the constants for `PAST, PAST_PARTICIPLE, PLURAl, PRESENT_PARTICIPLE, PRESENT3S, COMPARATIVE` or `SUPERLATIVE`.

Methods inherited from class java.lang.Object
clone, equals, finalize, getClass, hashCode, notify, notifyAll, toString, wait, wait, wait

Field Detail

ACRONYM_OF

public static final String ACRONYM_OF

This feature is used to map an acronym element to the full forms of the acronym.

Feature name	acronymOf
Expected type	`List`
Created by	Lexicons that support acronyms should set this feature.
Used by	No processors currently use this feature.
Applies to	Any lexical item.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

ACRONYMS

public static final String ACRONYMS

This feature is used to map a word to its acronyms.

Feature name	acronyms
Expected type	`List`
Created by	Lexicons that support acronyms should set this feature.
Used by	No processors currently use this feature.
Applies to	Any lexical item.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

DEFAULT_INFL

public static final String DEFAULT_INFL

This feature is used to specify, for a given word, what its default inflectional variant is, if more than one is possible.

Feature name	default_infl
Expected type	`Inflection`
Created by	Lexicons that support multiple inflectional variants should set this feature.
Used by	`MorphologyProcessor`.
Applies to	Nouns and verbs.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

SPELL_VARS

public static final String SPELL_VARS

This feature is used to specify the spelling variants of a word.

Feature name	spell_vars
Expected type	`List`
Created by	Lexicons that support multiple spelling variants should set this feature.
Used by	No processors currently use this feature.
Applies to	Any lexical item.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

DEFAULT_SPELL

public static final String DEFAULT_SPELL

This feature is used to specify the default spelling variant of a word, if it has more than one.

Feature name	default_spell
Expected type	`String`
Created by	Lexicons that support multiple spelling variants should set this feature.
Used by	`MorphologyProcessor`
Applies to	Any lexical item.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

BASE_FORM

public static final String BASE_FORM

This feature is used to define the base form for phrases and words.

Feature name	baseForm
Expected type	`String`
Created by	The lexicon accessor also creates the feature when looking up words in the lexicon. Sometimes the phrase factory sets this feature as well, as an approximate realisation for debuggin purposes
Used by	The morphology processor uses the base form in its simple rules for determining word inflection. The morphology processor and syntax processor also use the base form for lexicon look ups if the base word has not been set. Base forms on phrases are purely to aid debugging.
Applies to	Phrases and words.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

CLASSIFYING

public static final String CLASSIFYING

This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives. Setting this value to true means that the adjective can occupy the classifying position.

Feature name	classifying
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon that supports adjective positioning.
Used by	The syntax processor to determine the ordering of adjectives.
Applies to	Adjectives within noun phrases.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

COLOUR

public static final String COLOUR

This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives. Setting this value to true means that the adjective can occupy the colour position.

Feature name	colour
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon that supports adjective positioning.
Used by	The syntax processor to determine the ordering of adjectives.
Applies to	Adjectives within noun phrases.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

COMPARATIVE

public static final String COMPARATIVE

This feature gives the comparative form for adjectives and adverbs. For example, dizzier is the comparative form of dizzy, fatter is the comparative form of fat and earlier is the comparative form of early.

Feature name	comparative
Expected type	`String`
Created by	Can be created automatically by the lexicon or added manually by users.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this information to correctly inflect words.
Applies to	Adjectives and adverbs only.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

DITRANSITIVE

public static final String DITRANSITIVE

This feature determines if a verb is ditransitive, meaning that it can have a subject, direct object and indirect object. For example in the phrase he gave Mary ten pounds, the verb give has three components: the subject is the person doing the giving (he), the direct object is the object being passed (ten pounds) and the indirect object is the recipient (Mary).

Feature name	ditransitive
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	The feature is set by the lexicon if it supports the recording of the transitive nature of verbs.
Used by	The ditransitive value is currently not used.
Applies to	Verbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

GENDER

public static final String GENDER

This feature determines whether a noun is masculine, feminine or neuter in nature.

Feature name	gender
Expected type	`Gender`
Created by	The phrase factory creates the gender of pronouns when creating phrases and on all nouns within a noun phrase.
Used by	The syntax processor ensures that the head noun in a noun phrase has a gender matching that applied to the phrase as a whole. The morphology processor uses gender to determine the appropriate form for pronouns and for setting the form of some verbs.
Applies to	Specifically it applies to nouns and pronouns but the feature is also written to noun phrases and verbs.
Default	`Gender.NEUTER`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

INTENSIFIER

public static final String INTENSIFIER

This flag determines if an adverb is an intensifier, such as very.

Feature name	intensifier
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	The information is read from Lexicons that support this feature.
Used by	Currently not used.
Applies to	Adverbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

INTRANSITIVE

public static final String INTRANSITIVE

This flag highlights a verb that can only take a subject and no objects.

Feature name	intransitive
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	The information is read from Lexicons that support this feature.
Used by	Currently not used.
Applies to	Verbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PAST

public static final String PAST

This feature gives the past tense form of a verb. For example, the past tense of eat is ate, the past tense of walk is walked.

Feature name	past
Expected type	`String`
Created by	All supporting lexicons but can be set by the user for irregular cases.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this feature to correctly inflect verbs. This feature will be looked at first before any reference to lexicons or morphology rules.
Applies to	Verbs and verb phrases only.
Default	`null`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PAST_PARTICIPLE

public static final String PAST_PARTICIPLE

This feature gives the past participle tense form of a verb. For many verbs the past participle is exactly the same as the past tense, for example, the verbs talk, walk and say have past tense and past participles of talked, walked and said. Contrast this with the verbs do, eat and sing. The past tense of these verbs is did, ate and sang respectively. while the respective past participles are done, eaten and sung

Feature name	pastParticiple
Expected type	`String`
Created by	All supporting lexicons but can be set by the user for irregular cases.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this feature to correctly inflect verbs. This feature will be looked at first before any reference to lexicons or morphology rules.
Applies to	Verbs and verb phrases only.
Default	`null`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PLURAL

public static final String PLURAL

This feature gives the plural form of a noun. For example, the plural of dog is dogs and the plural of sheep is sheep.

Feature name	plural
Expected type	`String`
Created by	All supporting lexicons but can be set by the user for irregular cases.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this feature to correctly inflect plural nouns. This feature will be looked at first before any reference to lexicons or morphology rules.
Applies to	Nouns only.
Default	`null`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PREDICATIVE
```
public static final String PREDICATIVE
```
This flag is set on adjectives that can also be used as a predicate. For example happy.

Feature name predicative

Expected type Boolean

Created by Any supporting lexicon.

Used by Currently not used.

Applies to Adjectives only.

Default Boolean.FALSE.

See Also:

Constant Field Values

PRESENT_PARTICIPLE

public static final String PRESENT_PARTICIPLE

This feature gives the present participle form of a verb. For example, the present participle form of eat is eating and the present participle form of walk is walking.

Feature name	presentParticiple
Expected type	`String`
Created by	All supporting lexicons but can be set by the user for irregular cases.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this feature to correctly inflect verbs. This feature will be looked at first before any reference to lexicons or morphology rules.
Applies to	Verbs only.
Default	`null`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PRESENT3S

public static final String PRESENT3S

This feature gives the present third person singular form of a verb. For example, the present participle form of eat is eats as in the dog eats. Another example is ran being the present third person singular form of run as in John ran home.

Feature name	present3s
Expected type	`String`
Created by	All supporting lexicons but can be set by the user for irregular cases.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this feature to correctly inflect verbs. This feature will be looked at first before any reference to lexicons or morphology rules.
Applies to	Verbs only.
Default	`null`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

PROPER

public static final String PROPER

This flag is used to determine whether a noun is a proper noun, such as a person's name.

Feature name	proper
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Can be set by supporting lexicons or by the user.
Used by	The morphology processor will not pluralise proper nouns.
Applies to	Nouns only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

QUALITATIVE

public static final String QUALITATIVE

This feature is used for determining the position of adjectives. Setting this value to true means that the adjective can occupy the qualitative position.

Feature name	qualitative
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon that supports adjective positioning.
Used by	The syntax processor to determine the ordering of adjectives.
Applies to	Adjectives within noun phrases.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

REFLEXIVE

public static final String REFLEXIVE

This flag is set if a pronoun is written in the reflexive form. For example, myself, yourself, ourselves.

Feature name	isReflexive
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	The phrase factory will recognise personal pronouns in reflexive form.
Used by	The morphology processor will correctly inflect reflexive pronouns.
Applies to	Pronouns only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

SENTENCE_MODIFIER

public static final String SENTENCE_MODIFIER

This feature is used to define whether an adverb can be used as a clause modifier, which are normally applied at the beginning of clauses. For example, unfortunately.

Feature name	sentenceModifier
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon that supports this feature.
Used by	generic addModifier methods, to decide where to put an adverb
Applies to	Adverbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

SUPERLATIVE

public static final String SUPERLATIVE

This feature gives the superlative form for adjectives and adverbs. For example, fattest is the superlative form of fat and earliest is the superlative form of early.

Feature name	superlative
Expected type	`String`
Created by	Can be created automatically by the lexicon or added manually by users.
Used by	The morphology processor uses this information to correctly inflect words.
Applies to	Adjectives and adverbs only.
Default	`null`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

TRANSITIVE

public static final String TRANSITIVE

This flag highlights a verb that can only take a subject and an object.

Feature name	transitive
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon supporting this feature.
Used by	Currently not used.
Applies to	Verbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`.

See Also:: Constant Field Values

VERB_MODIFIER

public static final String VERB_MODIFIER

This feature is used to define whether an adverb can be used as a verb modifier, which are normally added in a phrase before the verb itself. For example, quickly.

Feature name	verbModifier
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any lexicon that supports this feature.
Used by	generic addModifier methods, to decide where to put an adverb.
Applies to	Adverbs only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

EXPLETIVE_SUBJECT

public static final String EXPLETIVE_SUBJECT

This feature determines if the pronoun is an expletive or not. Expletive pronouns are usually it or there in sentences such as:
It is raining now.
There are ten desks in the room.

Feature name	isExpletive
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	The feature needs to be set by the user.
Used by	The syntax processor uses the expletive on verb phrases for determining the correct number agreement.
Applies to	Certain pronouns when used as subjects of verb phrases.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`

See Also:: Constant Field Values

Method Detail
- getInflectionalFeatures
```
public static String[] getInflectionalFeatures(ElementCategory cat)
```
  Return those features related to a word's inflection, depending on its category, that is, the constants for PAST, PAST_PARTICIPLE, PLURAl, PRESENT_PARTICIPLE, PRESENT3S, COMPARATIVE or SUPERLATIVE.
  
  Parameters:
  
  cat - the category
  
  Returns:
  
  the inflectional feature names

Feature name	predicative
Expected type	`Boolean`
Created by	Any supporting lexicon.
Used by	Currently not used.
Applies to	Adjectives only.
Default	`Boolean.FALSE`.

Class LexicalFeature