Andriela Rääbis

Questions in estonian information dialogues: form and functions

Questions have been analyzed in Estonian information dialogues with the purpose of finding out the linguistic features that can be used in automatic recognition of various types of questions. Information questions (i.e. the questions that are used for requesting information) and questions that initiate solving communication problems are considered. The study shows which types of questions (wh-question, open and closed yes/no question, question that offers answer, alternative question) are preferred in both cases. The results can be implemented in a dialogue system which performs the role of information provider and interacts with a user in Estonian.

Processing of requests in estonian institutional dialogues: corpus analysis

The paper analyses, how an information operator processes a customers requests The study is based on the Estonian dialogue corpus Our further aim is to develop a dialogue system (DS) which interacts with a user in Estonian and recognises, interprets and grants a users requests automatically There are two main classes of computational models of the interpretation of dialogue acts – cue-based and inferential-based In this paper, we try to combine these two approaches The corpus analysis demonstrates that a number of linguistic cues can be found which can be used by a DS for recognising requests in Estonian The DS will use linguistic cues in order to recognise a dialogue act type After that, a frame of the act will be activated and filled in in order to interpret (understand) the act and to generate a responding act A simple regular grammar is used for the dialogue management.

Directives in Estonian Information Dialogues

The paper gives an overview of a typology of dialogue acts we use for annotating Estonian spoken dialogues. Our dialogue corpus includes calls for information and to travel agencies (114 annotated dialogues). Directives (request, proposal, offer) and possible reactions are considered in the paper. Our further aim is to develop a dialogue system that will interact with the user in natural language following the norms and rules of human-human communication.

The structure of a discontinuous dialogue formed by internet comments

We are studying how a dialogue structure is established by an Internet opinion article and its anonymous comments. We are using the methodology of conversation analysis with the focus on membership categorization analysis. The study shows that the core structure of the dialogue is formed by many parallel micro-dialogues. Besides the linear micro-dialogue structure there is a structure layer which is formed by the complex category sets built by participants using membership categorization of the agents of the article as well as the commentators themselves. We investigate the strategies and the linguistic means used by the participants for creating interrelations in the complex multilayered structure.

From analysis of human-human phone calls to intelligent user interfaces

Estonian institutional phone calls are analysed with the further aim to develop intelligent user interfaces. The analysis is based on the Estonian dialogue corpus. A clientpsilas initial request sets up a goal which will be achieved in collaboration with an official. Information-sharing sub-dialogues are initiated by both participants if either a request or a grant needs to be adjusted. User interfaces which enable to access two different data bases have being implemented. Users can make their requests in Estonian and get answers in synthesized speech.

Cue-Based interpretation of customer’s requests: analysis of estonian dialogue corpus

Estonian spoken human-human information dialogues (calls) have been analyzed with the aim of finding lexical and syntactic cues which can be used for automatic recognition of dialogue acts. We considered a customer’s requests where the goal of the speaker is to get some information or trigger an action by the hearer who is an official person. The corpus analysis demonstrates that a limited number of verbs in a limited number of forms are used to form requests, and there is a difference between general requests which only introduce a topic and exact requests where the speaker has to get certain information or trigger an action by the hearer.

Polar questions, social actions and epistemic stance

Abstract This article describes the relationships between epistemic stance, social actions and form variants of polar questions in Estonian institutional information-seeking dialogues and compares the results with ordinary conversation in English, Dutch, and Danish. Estonian and English use a polarized system where the unknowing stance is formulated by particles and/or inversion, and knowing stance by declaratives and sentence-final markers. Dutch and Danish use an asymmetrical system where unknowing stance uses an inversion and knowing stance uses frequently all question formats. Information-seeking dialogues contain a large number of questions used to establish resources necessary to implement the second-pair-part of the adjacency pair in the interaction.

Eesti suulise keele korpus keeleõppedialoogide lähtematerjalina: telefonivestluste koostamine

Voorkeeleopetuses on olulisel kohal oppematerjalide ning nendega seotud oppetegevuste autentsus. Artikli keskmes on Tartu Ulikooli eesti suulise keele korpuse kasutamine autentsete keeleoppedialoogide koostamisel. Kitsamalt keskendutakse telefonivestlustele, tuues valja ka opiku- ja korpusedialoogide erinevusi. Eesti keele kui voorkeele opikutes sisalduvad telefonidialoogid ei ole oma struktuuri poolest (tapsemalt vaadeldakse artiklis telefonivestluste sissejuhatusi ja lopetusi) sageli autentsed, erinedes korpusedialoogidest jargneval moel: 1) opikudialoogides puudub enamasti iseseisva vooruna kutsung; 2) argivestlustes puudub sageli vastaja esimene voor ning vestlus algab kohe helistaja vooruga; 3) opikudialoogide voorud on sageli liiga pikad, sisaldades tegevusi, mis autentsetes vestlustes kuuluvad eri voorudesse; 4) argivestlustes puuduvad tihti lopuvormelid; 5) argivestlustes esinevad lopuvormelid on liiga ametlikud. Suulise korpuse baasil on voimalik koostada autentse sekventsistruktuuriga keeleoppedialooge, milles on sailitatud voorude loomulik jargnevus ja pikkus ning mille abil saab oppijaile tutvustada ka suulise eesti keele erijooni. Artiklis tutvustatakse korpuse baasil loodud argivestluste ja institutsionaalsete dialoogide naiteid ja nende juurde koostatud keeleulesandeid ning arutletakse korpustel pohineva oppematerjali voimaluste ule. http://dx.doi.org/10.5128/LV21.09

Towards an Intelligent User Interface: Strategies of Giving and Receiving Phone Numbers

Strategies of giving and receiving phone numbers in Estonian institutional calls are considered with the further aim to develop a telephone-based user interface to data bases which enables interaction in natural Estonian language. The analysis is based on the Estonian dialogue corpus. Human operators give long phone numbers in several parts, making pauses after parts. Pitch contour works as a signal of continuation or finishing the process. Clients give feedback during the process (repetition, particles, and pauses). Special strategies are used by clients to finish receiving the number as well as to initiate repairs in the case of communication problems.