[Attempto] Object Ops, eq vs exactly?

[David Whitten]

Notes below...

On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 10:57 AM, Kaarel Kaljurand <kaljurand at gmail.com>wrote:

> Hi,
>
> On Mon, Mar 30, 2009 at 4:40 PM, David Whitten
> <david.whitten.cyc at gmail.com> wrote:
> > Has there been any discussion about handling "just" in Attempto:
> > i.e.:
> >
> > Every American has just one President.
> >
> > It seems to be a way to differentiate between
> >
> > Every American has one mother.
> > and
> > Every American has one President.
> >
> > I guess other examples would be
> >
> > The team has just one leader
> > Each organization has just one headquarters.
>
> "just" is currently supported (in APE's built-in lexicon)
> as an adverb, i.e. a content word
> with now particular semantics. I.e. one can say:
>
> John owns a car just.
> John just owns a car.
>


The first sentence doesn't really make since to me, and I do agree
the second use is an adverb (modifying a verb) to limit the range
of the verb to owning a car and nothing more, perhaps in a context
where someone else owns a car, a mansion and a yacht.

I do want to mention that as I was taught "adverbs", the use
of the word "just" to modify an adjective "one" is totally appropriate.
Does your note mean that the parser can't handle adverbs that
modify adjectives ?
(I'm not sure what a "now particular semantics" means)


>
> These sentences are syntactically OK, but probably misleading,
> so maybe we should
> remove "just" from the lexicon and declare these sentences syntax
> errors. (Of course, users can reintroduce "just" in their user lexicon.)
>
> ACE does offer "exactly" and "nothing but" as function words.
> These words seem to cover some (semantic) aspects of "just".
>
> Every American has exactly one President.
> Every koala eats nothing but eucalypt-leaves.
>
> I guess we have considered "just" to be too ambiguous to force it
> into a single meaning...
>
> --
> kaarel
>

I don't consider it ambiguous, however it is a usage that may not be part
of your original design.
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