Method and system for bootstrapping statistical processing into a rule-based natural language parser

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to bootstrap statistical processing into a rule-based natural language parser to efficiently parse a principal input string using a plurality of sample input strings representative of strings to be parsed by the natural language parser, the natural language parser for producing one or more parse results from an input string comprised of words by applying rules from a set of conditioned rules that each combined words or already combined groups of words, certain subsets of the set of rules being applicable when parsing particular input strings, by performing:

• for each rule, initializing a plurality of indications of the number of times that the rule has succeeded, each of the plurality of indications corresponding to a characteristic of at least one of the words or already combined groups of words that may be combined by the rule;
• for each sample input string:
• exhaustively parsing the sample input string by applying each applicable rule of the set of rules to produce one or more parse results, and
• if a single parse result was produced by exhaustively parsing the sample input string, updating for each rule that combined words or already combined groups of words in the parse result an indication of the number of times that the rule succeeded that corresponds to a characteristic of at least one of the words or already combined groups of words of the sample input string combined in the parse results by the rule;
• and
• efficiently parsing the principal input string by applying applicable rules to the principal input string from the set of rules in the decreasing order of their likelihood of success as indicated by updated indications of the number of times that each rule succeeded that corresponds to a characteristic of at least one of the words or already combined groups of words of the sample input string combined in the parse results by the rule.

A method in a computer system for bootstrapping statistical processing into a rule-based natural language parser to efficiently parse a principal input string using a plurality of sample input strings representative of strings to be parsed by the natural language parser, the natural language parser for producing one or more parse results from an input string comprised of words by applying rules from a set of conditioned rules that each combine words or already combined groups of words, certain subsets of the set of rules being applicable when parsing particular input strings, comprising the steps of:

• for each rule, initializing a plurality of indications of the number of times that the rule has succeeded, each of the plurality of indications corresponding to the identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words;
• for each sample input string:
• exhaustively parsing the sample input string by applying each applicable rule of the set of rules to produce one or more parse results, and
• if fewer than a maximum number of parse results were produced by exhaustively parsing the sample input string, updating for each rule that combined words or already combined groups of words in the parse result an indication of the number of times that the rule succeeded that corresponds to the identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words;
• and
• efficiently parsing the principal input string by applying applicable rules to the principal input string from the set of rules in the decreasing order of their likelihood of success as indicated by updated indications of the number of times that each rule succeeded that corresponds to the identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to bootstrap statistical processing into a rule-based natural language parser to efficiently parse the principal input string using a plurality of sample input strings representative of strings to be parsed by the natural language parser, the natural language parser for producing one or more parse results from an input string comprised of words by applying rules from a set of conditioned rules that each combined words or already combined groups of words, certain subsets of the set of rules being applicable when parsing particular input strings, by performing:

• for each rule, initializing a plurality of indications of the number of times that the rule has succeeded, each of the plurality of indications corresponding to identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words;
• for each sample input string:
• exhaustively parsing the sample input string by applying each applicable rule of the set of rules to produce one or more parse results, and
• if a single parse result was formed by exhaustively parsing the sample input string, updating for each rule that combined words or already combined groups of words in the parse result an indication of the number of times that the rule succeeded that corresponds to the identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words;
• and
• efficiently parsing the principal input string by applying applicable rules to the principal input string from the set of rules in the decreasing order of their likelihood of success as indicated by updated indications of the number of times that each rule succeeded that corresponds to the identities of any subordinate rules that combined a group of words that the rule further combines with other words or groups of words.

A computer-implemented method system for continuously enhancing a set of statistics used by a rule-based parser for parsing input strings of natural language text using a set of conditioned rules, the set of statistics indicating a likelihood of success of each rule of the parser, the method comprising the steps of:

• (a) operating the parser such that the parser applies at least one of the rules of the parser in descending order of the likelihood of success indicated by the set of statistics;
• (b) augmenting the set of statistics indicating the likelihood of success of each rule of the parser, based on the success of each rule when applied in step (a);
• and
• (c) operating the parser such that the parser applies at least one of the rules of the parser in descending order of the likelihood of success indicated by the augmented set of statistics.

A computer-readable medium whose contents cause a computer system to continuously enhance a set of statistics used by a rule-based parser for parsing input strings of natural language text using a set of conditioned rules, the set of statistics indicating likelihood of success of each rule of the parser, by performing:

• (a) operating the parser such that the parser applies at least one of the rules of the parser in descending order of the likelihood of success indicated by the set of statistics;
• (b) augmenting the set of statistics indicating the likelihood of success of each rule of the parser, based on the success of each rule when applied in step (a);
• and
• (c) operating the parser such that the parser applies at least one of the rules of the parser in descending order of the likelihood of success indicated by the augmented set of statistics.