IP Library Granted Patent US 11,003,849
Granted Patent B2
US 11,003,849 · App. 16/124,829 · Granted May 11, 2021

Technologies for valid dependency parsing in casual text

Inventors: Zach W. Childers (Austin, TX); Kyle Robertson (Austin, TX); Taylor Turpen (Pflugerville, TX)
Assignee: Press Ganey Associates, LLC
G06F40/205G06F16/322G06F40/211G06F40/253G06F40/289G10L15/183
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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 11,003,849
App. No.
16/124,829
Granted
May 11, 2021
Kind
B2
Abstract

Technologies for natural language processing include a computing device that loads natural language text data that includes multiple words, such as a naturally elicited response or comment data. The computing device applies a constituency parser to the natural language text data to generate a constituency parse tree. The constituency parse tree may include multiple nodes that each correspond to a hierarchical constituent of the natural language text. The computing device applies a constituency rule to identify clauses in the natural language text data. The constituency rule may identify a left-most daughter of each subordinate clause node of the constituency parse tree. Each subordinate clause is distinct, preventing dependencies from crossing clause boundaries. The computing device applies a dependency parser to each clause to generate a corresponding dependency parse. Each dependency parse may include a graph with nodes corresponding to words of the clause and edges corresponding to dependency relationships.

Claims (32)

1. A computing device for natural language parsing, the computing device comprising:

input logic to load natural language text data, wherein the natural language text data comprises a plurality of words;

constituency parser logic to apply a constituency parser to the natural language text data to generate a constituency parse tree;

clause boundary logic to apply a constituency rule to the constituency parse tree to identify a plurality of clauses in the natural language text data by determining one or more clause bounds, wherein each of the plurality of clauses comprises a disjoint subset of the plurality of words of the natural language text data; and

dependency parser logic to apply a dependency parser to each of the plurality of clauses to generate a dependency parse of each of the plurality of clauses.

2. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the constituency parse tree comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a hierarchical constituent of the natural language text data.

3. The computing device of claim 2 , wherein to apply the constituency rule comprises to identify a left-most daughter of a subordinate clause node of the constituency parse tree.

4. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein each dependency parse comprises a graph that includes a plurality of nodes and one or more edges, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a word of a corresponding clause, and wherein each of the one or more edges corresponds to a dependency relationship within the corresponding clause.

5. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the natural language text data comprises a naturally elicited response.

6. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein the natural language text data comprises comment data submitted by a user to a website.

7. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein to apply the constituency parser comprises to apply a constituency parser that does not rely on noun chunking as an initial parsing step.

8. The computing device of claim 1 , wherein to apply the constituency rule comprises to determine a plurality of clause boundaries, wherein each of the plurality of clause boundaries is associated with a corresponding clause of the plurality of clauses.

9. The computing device of claim 8 , wherein the plurality of clause boundaries comprises a plurality of non-overlapping character offsets in the natural language text data, wherein each of the plurality of non-overlapping character offsets identifies a corresponding word of the natural language text data.

10. One or more non-transitory, computer readable media comprising a plurality of instructions stored thereon that in response to being executed cause a computing device to:

load natural language text data, wherein the natural language text data comprises a plurality of words;

apply a constituency parser to the natural language text data to generate a constituency parse tree;

apply a constituency rule to the constituency parse tree to identify a plurality of clauses in the natural language text data by determining one or more clause bounds, wherein each of the plurality of clauses comprises a disjoint subset of the plurality of words of the natural language text data; and

apply a dependency parser to each of the plurality of clauses to generate a dependency parse of each of the plurality of clauses.

11. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 10 , wherein the constituency parse tree comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a hierarchical constituent of the natural language text data.

12. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 11 , wherein to apply the constituency rule comprises to identify a left-most daughter of a subordinate clause node of the constituency parse tree.

13. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 10 , wherein each dependency parse comprises a graph that includes a plurality of nodes and one or more edges, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a word of a corresponding clause and wherein each of the one or more edges corresponds to a dependency relationship within the corresponding clause.

14. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 10 , wherein to apply the constituency rule comprises to determine a plurality of clause boundaries, wherein each of the plurality of clause boundaries is associated with a corresponding clause of the plurality of clauses.

15. The one or more non-transitory, computer readable media of claim 14 , wherein the plurality of clause boundaries comprises a plurality of non-overlapping character offsets in the natural language text data, wherein each of the plurality of non-overlapping character offsets identifies a corresponding word of the natural language text data.

16. A method for natural language parsing, the method comprising:

loading, by a computing device, natural language text data, wherein the natural language text data comprises a plurality of words;

applying, by the computing device, a constituency parser to the natural language text data to generate a constituency parse tree;

applying, by the computing device, a constituency rule to the constituency parse tree to identify a plurality of clauses in the natural language text data by determining one or more clause bounds, wherein each of the plurality of clauses comprises a disjoint subset of the plurality of words of the natural language text data; and

applying, by the computing device, a dependency parser to each of the plurality of clauses to generate a dependency parse of each of the plurality of clauses.

17. The method of claim 16 , wherein the constituency parse tree comprises a plurality of nodes, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a hierarchical constituent of the natural language text data.

18. The method of claim 17 , wherein applying the constituency rule comprises identifying a left-most daughter of a subordinate clause node of the constituency parse tree.

19. The method of claim 16 , wherein each dependency parse comprises a graph that includes a plurality of nodes and one or more edges, wherein each of the plurality of nodes corresponds to a word of a corresponding clause, and wherein each of the one or more edges corresponds to a dependency relationship within the corresponding clause.

20. The method of claim 16 , wherein applying the constituency rule comprises determining a plurality of clause boundaries, wherein each of the plurality of clause boundaries is associated with a corresponding clause of the plurality of clauses.

Assignments (6)
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT REEL 67275, FRAME 0559 Recorded May 18, 2026
From: BARCLAYS BANK PLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
To: PRESS GANEY ASSOCIATES LLC; RIOSOFT HOLDINGS, INC.
Reel/Frame 075583/0412 →
SECURITY INTEREST Recorded May 18, 2026
From: QUALTRICS, LLC; PRESS GANEY ASSOCIATES LLC; CLARABRIDGE, INC.; DELIGHTED, LLC; RIOSOFT HOLDINGS, INC.; INMOMENT, INC.; LEXALYTICS, INC.; INMOMENT RESEARCH, LLC; ALLEGIANCE SOFTWARE, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 075583/0001 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Apr 30, 2024
From: PRESS GANEY ASSOCIATES LLC; RIOSOFT HOLDINGS, INC.
To: BARCLAYS BANK PLC, AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 067275/0559 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Jan 12, 2021
From: NARRATIVEDX, INC.
To: PRESS GANEY ASSOCIATES, LLC
Reel/Frame 054895/0892 →
MERGER Recorded Mar 18, 2020
From: PG PADRES, INC.
To: NARRATIVEDX, INC.
Reel/Frame 052157/0106 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Oct 31, 2018
From: CHILDERS, ZACH W.; ROBERTSON, KYLE; TURPEN, TAYLOR
To: NARRATIVEDX INC.
Reel/Frame 047373/0888 →