[Mova](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) · [this page in HTML](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/popescu-2007-speech-acts-logic-based-rhetorical/) [home](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/) / [docs](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/) / [papers](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/) / [English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/en/) / Using Speech Acts in Logic-Based Rhetorical Structuring for Natural Language Generation in Human-Computer Dialogue # Using Speech Acts in Logic-Based Rhetorical Structuring for Natural Language Generation in Human-Computer Dialogue **Authors:** Vladimir Popescu, Jean Caelen and Corneliu Burileanu · **Year:** 2007 · **Venue:** Proceedings of the 8th SIGdial Workshop on Discourse and Dialogue **Link:** [aclanthology.org/2007.sigdial-1.44](https://aclanthology.org/2007.sigdial-1.44/) · **Licence:** [CC BY-NC-SA 3.0](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) (ACL Anthology, before 2016) — summary only [**5** citations](https://openalex.org/works?filter=cites:W199086061) openalex · 2026-10-18[**1** citations in our library](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/cited-by/popescu-2007-speech-acts-logic-based-rhetorical/) of the 140673 papers whose bibliographies we read[Proceedings of the 8th SIGdial Workshop on Discourse and Dialogue](https://aclanthology.org/volumes/2007.sigdial-1/)[licence](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/3.0/) - [Publisher's page](https://aclanthology.org/2007.sigdial-1.44/) - [PDF](https://aclanthology.org/2007.sigdial-1.44.pdf) - [DOI 10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44](https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44) - [OpenAlex](https://openalex.org/W199086061) **Authors (3)** 1. [Vladimir Popescu](https://openalex.org/A5104253957) h 8 · 273 citations · 58 works 2. [Jean Caelen](https://openalex.org/A5040771736) h 12 · 459 citations · 177 works 3. [Corneliu Burileanu](https://openalex.org/A5005992975) [ORCID](https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1710-8010) · h 14 · 797 citations · 154 works Citations and author metrics from openalex (2026-10-18); authors with the same name are not always told apart. ## What it is about A task-oriented spoken dialogue system builds the discourse structure of its turns with a first-order logic version of Segmented Discourse Representation Theory (SDRT). Each new utterance is checked against each earlier one for all 17 rhetorical relations, which costs N × R proofs, where N is the number of utterances and R = 17. The authors attach a speech-act type to each utterance (for example an inform or a request for information) and use corpus-derived tables that allow only about M = 3 relations per pair of speech acts. Checking only those relations cuts the cost by about R/M, roughly six times on their averages. The speech-act constraint also removes relations that the logic accepts but that do not fit the dialogue, such as a background relation between an answer and an earlier question. The paper is a short system description and reports no large evaluation. ## Ideas - I1. A table from pairs of speech-act types to allowed discourse relations, stored in a BTreeMap in `prag`, and consulted before any relation check. Count the proofs with and without the table on the dialogue examples. - I2. Keep the cost measure: proofs per new utterance, N × M against N × R, reported for each dialogue in a test set. - I3. Negative control: replace the table with a random subset of relations of the same size. The accepted relations should then disagree with the intended ones more often. - I4. Use the same table for the discourse relations of school texts, with speech-act tags from the frame reader in `prag/src/frames.rs`. ## For Mova Chapters: [31. Speech acts](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/31-speech-acts/), [36. Discourse relations and coherence](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/36-discourse-relations/), [38. Dialogue, discourse markers and reported speech](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/languages/en/38-dialogue-and-discourse-markers/). Code: speech-act tagging and frames in `prag`, relation checks in the same crate. Measure: proofs per utterance and the agreement of accepted relations with a gold label, against the random-subset control; two runs must match. Topics: [Discourse analysis](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/discourse-analysis/) · [Speech act theory](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/topics/speech-act-theory/) ## Cite The paper itself, not this card. BibTeX from the library's record of the work. [DOI 10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44](https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44) ``` @inproceedings{popescu2007using, title = {{Using Speech Acts in Logic-Based Rhetorical Structuring for Natural Language Generation in Human-Computer Dialogue}}, author = {Popescu, Vladimir and Caelen, Jean and Burileanu, Corneliu}, booktitle = {Proceedings of the 8th SIGdial Workshop on Discourse and Dialogue}, year = {2007}, doi = {10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44}, url = {https://doi.org/10.18653/v1/2007.sigdial-1.44} } ``` - [← previous Automatic transcription of 17th century English text in Contemporary English with NooJ: Method and Evaluation](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/piton-2011-automatic-transcription-17th-century-english/) - [next → Challenges to Evaluating the Generalization of Coreference Resolution Models: A Measurement Modeling Perspective](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/porada-2024-challenges-evaluating-generalization-coreference-resolution/) - [↑ back to English](https://md.mova.elamur.ai/free/en/docs/papers/en/) ## References 8 references, 0 of them with a card of ours. ↗ leads to the work, «find» searches for one we have no id for yet. 1. N. Asher and A. Lascarides. 2003. Logics of Conversation. Cambridge University Press. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=N%2E+Asher+and+A%2E+Lascarides%2E+2003%2E+Logics+of+Conversation%2E+Cambridge+University+Press%2E) 2. J. Caelen and A. Xuereb. 2007. Interaction et Pragmatique - jeux de dialogue et de langage. Editions Hermès-Lavoisier, Paris. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=J%2E+Caelen+and+A%2E+Xuereb%2E+2007%2E+Interaction+et+Pragmatique+%2D+jeux+de+dialogue+et+de+langage%2E+Editions+Herme%CC%80s%2DLavoisier%2C+Paris%2E) 3. L. Danlos, B. Gaiffe and L. Roussarie. 2003. Document Structuring à la SDRT. International Workshop on Generation, ACL, Toulouse. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=L%2E+Danlos%2C+B%2E+Gaiffe+and+L%2E+Roussarie%2E+2003%2E+Document+Structuring+a%CC%80+la+SDRT%2E+International+Workshop+on+Generation%2C+ACL%2C+Toulouse%2E) 4. M. F. McTear. 2002. Spoken Language Technology: Enabling the Conversational User Interface. ACM Computer Surveys, 34(1). [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=M%2E+F%2E+McTear%2E+2002%2E+Spoken+Language+Technology%3A+Enabling+the+Conversational+User+Interface%2E+ACM+Computer+Surveys%2C+34%281%29%2E) 5. V. Popescu, J. Caelen and C. Burileanu. 2007. Logic-Based Rhetorical Structuring Component in Natural Language Generation for Human-Computer Dialogue. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=V%2E+Popescu%2C+J%2E+Caelen+and+C%2E+Burileanu%2E+2007%2E+Logic%2DBased+Rhetorical+Structuring+Component+in+Natural+Language+Generation+for+Human%2DComputer+Dialogue%2E) 6. Text, Speech and Dialog 2007, Pilsen, Czech Republic, LNCS, Springer. [find](https://scholar.google.com/scholar?q=Text%2C+Speech+and+Dialog+2007%2C+Pilsen%2C+Czech+Republic%2C+LNCS%2C+Springer%2E) 7. A. Stent. 2002. A Conversation Acts Model for Generating Spoken Dialogue Contributions. Computer Speech and Language, 16. 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