A method and apparatus that allows computer programs to define ideas andconcepts symbolically is provided. The method and apparatus include a grammarthat may be used to represent any concept. Sentences are parsed, using thisgrammar, into their component parts. As part of the parsing process, each wordis compared to the contents of a dictionary database. The dictionary databaseand a set of tense-mood tables are used to identify individual words asconcepts, entities, actions or qualifiers. The parsing process creates a datastructure (200) for each sentence. The data structure organizes the sentenceinto its component parts, such as an ID field (202) and POC fields (204). Thedata structures for different sentences can be compared to determine matchingor similarity. The data structures can also be processed to accomplish moreadvanced ends, such as reasoning systems or expert systems.
展开▼
