Method and apparatus for generating word skeletons utilizing alpha set replacement and omission
AssigneeHoughton Mifflin Company
InventorHenry Kucera
Life of this patent
Estimating the term…
Abstract
Automated spelling correction converts, by prescribed linguistic procedures, each word to be corrected to a skeleton, and compares that skeleton with a data base of skeletons derived by identical linguistic procedures from a dictionary of correctly spelled words. In the event of a match between the two skeletal terms, the correctly spelled word (or words) associated with the matched skeleton is presented for replacement of the misspelled word. In the event the comparison does not yield a correct match, the skeletal form of the misspelled word is repeatedly modified and each modified form is compared with the data base of skeletons.
Claims18
A process for generating a digital signal representative of a word skeleton, said process comprising the steps of
- A. accepting a digital signal representative of a designated word in conventional graphic representation,
- B. generating from said designated word a linguistically salient word skeleton, said generating step comprising the steps of
- (i) omitting from the linguistically salient word skeleton produced thereby a selected alpha set, if any, of the designated word which lacks isomorphy with a phonetic representation of that selected set, and
- (ii) replacing with a different linguistic symbol another selected alpha set, if any, of the designated word which lacks isomorphy with a phonetic representation of that other selected set,
- C. producing an output digital signal representative of said linguistically salient word skeleton.
An apparatus for generating a digital signal representative of a word skelton, said apparatus comprising
- A. input means for accepting a digital signal representative of a designated word in conventional graphic representation,
- B. skeleton means for generating from said designated word a linguistically salient word skelton, said skeleton means comprising
- (i) means for omitting from the linguistically salient word skeleton produced thereby a selected alpha set, if any, of the designated word which lacks isomorphy with a phonetic representation of that selected set, and
- (ii) means for replacing with a different linguistic symbol another selected alpha set, if any, of the designated word which lacks isomorphy with a phonetic representation of that other selected set,
- C. output means for producing an output digital signal representative of said linguistically salient word skeleton.
Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.