Using Generalized Constraints and Protoforms to Deal with Adjectives

Natural languages (NLs) are basically systems for describing perceptions, which are intrinsically imprecise. Soft computing approach to NL-Computation considers that new tools such as generalized constraints and prototypical forms (protoforms) should be employed to deal with such semantic imprecision. If a NL proposition could be expressed in terms of a generalized constraint, it could be considered precise, at least, in some degree. In this paper, NL adjectives are considered as constraints. Therefore, generalized constraints are proposed to specify the attribute values associated with nouns by means of adjectives. Then, after recognizing a noun phrase in a sentence, it could be transformed into a generalized constraint. This way, a lot of data could be retrieved from documents in NL, and used to deduce new information. Protoforms allow describing the deep semantic structure of propositions. They could be used to represent noun phrases, involving adjectives and nouns, as symbolic expressions.