Automatic Acquisition of Expressions Representing Preparation and Utilization of an Object

This paper proposes an automatic acquisition method for preparation roles (PRs) and utilization roles (URs), which are analogues of agentive and telic roles in Generative Lexicon Theory. URs roughly express the purpose and function of a given object, and are defined as paraphrases of expressions such as “using an object” or “enjoying an object.” A PR of an object is defined as an expression referring to a part of the preparation process to achieve the URs of an object. We regard “reading a book” as a UR of the book, and regard “buying a book” or “opening a book” as PRs. We expect that the acquired roles are useful in various inferences, such as plan recognition, by intelligent agents.