Designing Annotation Schemes: From Theory to Model

Abstract

In this chapter, we describe the method and process of transforming the theoretical formulations of a linguistic phenomenon, based on empirical observations, into a model that can be used for the development of a language annotation specification. We outline this procedure generally, and then examine the steps in detail by specific example. We look at how this methodology has been implemented in the creation of TimeML (and ISO-TimeML), a broad-based standard for annotating temporal information in natural language texts. Because of the scope of this effort and the richness of the theoretical work in the area, the development of TimeML illustrates very clearly the methodology of the early stages of the MATTER annotation cycle, where initial models and schemas cycle through progressively mature versions of the resulting specification. Furthermore, the subsequent effort to convert TimeML into an ISO compliant standard, ISO-TimeML, demonstrates the utility of the CASCADES model in distinguishing between the concrete syntax of the schema and abstract syntax of the model behind it