Compound: A Program that Understands Noun Compounds

Compound is a program that accepts a noun compound of arbitrary length and attempts to construct a meaning for it. A noun compound is a sequence of two or more nouns used to describe a single referent. Compound was designed to function as a part of a natural language understanding system. Some of the knowledge (e.g.. context) necessary to understand some compounds must come from sources that a natural language understanding system could provide Compound produces meanings for compounds such as "water meter cover adjustment screw", "glass wine glass", "golf club", and "computer maintenance". The first example is fairly straightforward and provides no difficulty for the program. In the second example, the word "glass" has two meanings (i.e., one as a container from which people drink liquids, and the other as a clear material made from silicon dioxide). The context provided by the compound itself is sufficient to disambiguate which meaning of "glass" is meant in both cases. In the "golf club" example, the word "club" has two meanings (i.e.. as an organization, and as a stick used in games) The compound "golf club" also has two meanings, one as an organization that provides golfing facilities, and the other as the stick used in the game of golf. The context in which the compound occurs can provide sufficient information to disambiguate it. for example, consider the two sentences: 1. The golf club hit the ball. 2. The golf club fired its manager. The last compound. "computer maintenance", seems straightforward, as most people assume it describes a "maintenance" action in which a computer is maintained. However, the phrase "computer maintenance of a data base" brings out a second possible meaning.