Understanding Natural Language Processing : Breaking Down Structure and Unveiling Meaning
Introduction
In the realm of natural language processing (NLP), computers strive to comprehend the intricacies of human language. This involves a multi-step process, whereby sentences are deconstructed into structural data formats that identify linguistic components such as nouns and verbs. Moreover, NLP enables the exploration of various meanings within a given sentence. In this article, we will delve into the step-by-step process of how computers analyze and interpret natural language sentences, drawing context from Paragraph/Article 10 of Sri Lanka's Constitution, which enshrines the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion, including the freedom to have or adopt a religion or belief of one's choice. We will explore tokenization, part-of-speech tagging, dependency parsing, and semantic analysis, while also considering techniques for uncovering alternative interpretations or meanings.
Step 1: Tokenization
["Every", "person", "is", "entitled", "to", "freedom", "of", "thought", ",", "conscience", "and", "religion", ",",
"including", "the", "freedom", "to", "have", "or", "to", "adopt", "a", "religion", "or", "belief", "of", "his", "choice", "."]
Step 2: Part-of-speech (POS) Tagging
["Every/Determiner", "person/Noun", "is/Verb", "entitled/Verb", "to/Preposition", "freedom/Noun", "of/Preposition", "thought/Noun", ",/Punctuation",
"conscience/Noun", "and/Coordinating conjunction", "religion/Noun", ",/Punctuation", "including/Preposition", "the/Determiner", "freedom/Noun",
"to/Preposition", "have/Verb", "or/Coordinating conjunction", "to/Preposition", "adopt/Verb", "a/Determiner", "religion/Noun", "or/Coordinating conjunction",
"belief/Noun", "of/Preposition", "his/Pronoun", "choice/Noun", "./Punctuation"]
Step 3: Dependency Parsing
Let's analyze the above sentence "The door opened because the man pushed it" and explain the dependency parsing:
"The" is dependent on "door". It indicates a specific door. We can represent this relationship as: door -> The.
"door" is the subject of the verb "opened". It is the entity that performs the action of opening. We can represent this relationship as: opened -> door.
"opened" is the main verb of the sentence, indicating the action of the door becoming open. There are no dependencies for the verb "opened" in this case.
"because" is dependent on "opened". It introduces the reason or cause for the door opening. We can represent this relationship as: opened -> because.
"the" is dependent on "man". It indicates a specific man. We can represent this relationship as: man -> the.
"man" is dependent on "pushed". It is the entity that performs the action of pushing. We can represent this relationship as: pushed -> man.
"pushed" is the verb that describes the action of the man exerting force on the door. We can represent this relationship as: opened -> pushed.
"it" is dependent on "pushed". It refers to the object being pushed, which is the door. We can represent this relationship as: pushed -> it.
By analyzing the dependencies, we can see that "door" is the subject of the verb "opened," and "man" is the subject of the verb "pushed." Additionally, "pushed" is the reason or cause for the door opening, as indicated by the conjunction "because."
Dependency parsing helps identify the grammatical structure and relationships between words in a sentence, providing a structured representation that captures the syntactic connections and the flow of information.
entitled
_________|__________
Every | person to
| | |
thought conscience freedom
| | |
of and religion
| | |
, including have
| | |
choice the or adopt
| |
religion
| |
or belief
| |
his a
Step 4: Named Entity Recognition (NER)
Given the provided sentence, no specific named entities are mentioned that require recognition.
Step 5: Semantic Analysis
Semantic analysis entails comprehending the meaning beyond the sentence's grammatical structure. Techniques such as semantic role labeling, sentiment analysis, and co-reference resolution assist in capturing intended meanings. However, accurately determining alternative interpretations depends on additional context and linguistic nuances.
Hence by refering to the sentence,
"Every person is entitled to freedom of thought, conscience and religion, including the freedom to have or to adopt a religion or belief of his choice,"it implies that any action that seeks to control a person's speech, such as restricting their ability to write an article or publish a video expressing their thoughts, goes against the principles outlined in this paragraph. This sentence emphasizes the importance of granting individuals the liberty to freely express their thoughts, beliefs, and religious affiliations without undue interference or censorship.
However if the sentence includes an additional clause stating
"shall be subject only to such restrictions as may be prescribed by law in the interests of national security,"it introduces a limitation to the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion mentioned in the previous clause. This clause suggests that while individuals are entitled to these freedoms, they can be restricted by law in cases concerning national security.
In such a scenario, the interpretation would be that the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion can be curtailed or restricted within the bounds set by law, specifically in matters related to national security. The exact nature and extent of these restrictions would depend on the specific laws and regulations enacted in that particular jurisdiction.
It's important to note that the balance between individual rights and national security is often a subject of debate and can vary across different legal systems and countries. The interpretation and application of these restrictions would require a careful analysis of the relevant legal framework and the specific context in which they are implemented.
- Every
- person
- is
- entitled
- to
- freedom
- of
- thought
- ,
- conscience
- and
- religion
- ,
- including
- the
- freedom
- to
- have
- or
- to
- adopt
- a
- religion
- or
- belief
- of
- his
- choice
- person
- However, certain
- (acceptable)
- restrictions
- are
- imposed
- on
- Article
- 14(l)(a)
- by
- Article
- 15(2)
- No restrictions are set out in the Constitution in respect of Article 10.
or it can look like look like this 👇 in Text format:
entitled
_______________________|______________________
Every | person to subject
| | | |
thought conscience freedom |
| | ________|_________ |
of and religion | | |
| | | | restrictions |
, including have | | |
| | | | | |
choice the or adopt as prescribed
| | | |
religion may by
| | | |
or belief be law
| | | |
his a in interests
| |
security of
In this dependency parsing tree, the additional clause "shall be subject only to such restrictions as may be prescribed by law in the interests of national security" is connected to the verb "subject." It provides the conditions and criteria for the restrictions that can be imposed on the freedom of thought, conscience, and religion. The specific relationships between the words in the clause can be seen in the tree structure.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the process of natural language processing enables computers to comprehend and analyze natural language sentences. By deconstructing sentences into structured formats through tokenization, part-of-speech tagging, dependency parsing, and semantic analysis, computers can identify and analyze linguistic components. Although NLP techniques allow for uncovering alternative meanings, the full range of interpretations can be highly context-dependent and nuanced. Further advancements in NLP algorithms and models continue to refine our ability to comprehend and explore the complexities of natural language.
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