---
title: "Alternative Parsers for Conceptual Dependency: Getting There is Half the Fun"
authors:
  - "Marc Eisenstadt"
doi: ""
url: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1979/52"
pdf: "https://ijcai.org/proceedings/1979/0052.pdf"
venue: "Proceedings of the Sixth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence"
year: 1979
pages: ""
track: ""
keywords:
---

# Alternative Parsers for Conceptual Dependency: Getting There is Half the Fun

Marc Eisenstadt

*Proceedings of the Sixth International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence*.

## Abstract

This paper take s a look behind the scenes at two conceptual l y-ba s ed pa rse r s i n or d er t o shed light on the tru e differences between them. The f i rst one i s Ri c sbeck' s parse r for Scha nk ' s conceptual dependency; the second is the 'LNR' parser for Norm a n and Rume l har t' s ac t i ve semantic networks. Both are described in terms of Kaplan' s General Synt a ct ic Pro cess or formalism. This analysis shows that 'conceptual dependency' and 'activ e se ma ntic ne twork s ' have little or nothing to do with the actual functionin g of th e p ar ser .s . Com pu ta tion ally, the two parsers differ only in terms of ( a) e ff e ctive use of int e rrupt s and ( b ) r el i an ce on selectional restrictions to guide parsing. A s ynthesis of the be st f ea tur es of bot h i s suggested.