In this paper, we propose a generalization of Centering Theory (CT) (Grosz, Joshi, Weinstein (1995)) called Veins Theory (VT), which extends the applicability of centering rules from local to global discourse. A key facet of the theory involves the identification of <> over discourse structure trees such as those defined in RST, which delimit domains of referential accessibility for each...

We introduce two probabilistic models that can be used to identify elementary discourse units and build sentence-level discourse parse trees. The models use syntactic and lexical features. A discourse parsing algorithm that implements these models derives discourse parse trees with an error reduction of 18.8% over a state-ofthe-art decision-based discourse parser. A set of empirical evaluations...

I this article we argue that discourse structure constrains the set of possible constituents in a discourse that can provide the relevant context for structuring information in a target sentence, while information structure critically constrains discourse structure ambiguity. For the speaker, the discourse structure provides a set of possible contexts for continuation while information structur...

This work shows how to construct discourse-level opinion graphs to perform a joint interpretation of opinions and discourse relations. Specifically, our opinion graphs enable us to factor in discourse information for polarity classification, and polarity information for discourse-link classification. This inter-dependent framework can be used to augment and improve the performance of local pola...

Aiming at highlighting the important role of print media discourse in the implicit  transfer of  the dominant ideology of discourse context, the present data-driven paper demonstrates  how the lexical features of repetition and synonymy as well as the structural and thematic features of passivization, nominalization and predicated theme were utilized by the discourse producers to mediate betwee...

This paper summarizes work over the past ve years on the automated planning and generation of multisentence texts using discourse structure relations, placing it in context of ongoing eeorts by Computational Linguists and Linguists to understand the structure of discourse. Based on a series of studies by the author and others, the paper describes how the orientation of generation toward communi...

There is a number of English or French verbs which take as semantic arguments eventualities or facts1. An example is the verb precede illustrated in (1a)2: its semantic arguments are the CL rise and the rise of blood leucocytes. The content conveyed by (1a) can be alternatively expressed in (1b); in other words, (1a) and (1b) are periphrastic. In (1b), the temporal relation between the CL and l...

Relations that hold between discourse segments can, but need not, be made explicit by means of discourse connectives. Even though the explicit signaling of discourse relations is optional, not all relations can be easily conveyed implicitly. It has been proposed that readers and listeners have certain expectations about discourse and that discourse relations that are in line with these expectat...

In this paper we explore a new theory of discourse structure that stresses the role of purpose and processing in discourse. In this theory, discourse structure is composed of three separate but interrelated components: the structure of the sequence of utterances (called the linguistic structure), a structure of purposes (called the intentional structure), and the state of focus of attention (ca...