=Paper=
{{Paper
|id=Vol-2870/paper1
|storemode=property
|title="Accuracy" vs "Unambiguity" in Linguistics
|pdfUrl=https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2870/paper1.pdf
|volume=Vol-2870
|authors=Volodymyr Shyrokov
|dblpUrl=https://dblp.org/rec/conf/colins/Shyrokov21
}}
=="Accuracy" vs "Unambiguity" in Linguistics
==
https://ceur-ws.org/Vol-2870/paper1.pdf
“Accuracy” vs “Unambiguity” in Linguistics
Volodymyr Shyrokov
Ukrainian Lingua-Information Fund NAS of Ukraine, Holosiivskyi av. 3, Kyiv, 03039, Ukraine
Abstract
The phenomenology and the concept of unambiguity in linguistics in comparison of the same
aspects of accuracy are under investigation. The effect of the difference between accuracy, on
the one hand, and ambiguity, on the other, is demonstrated by the example of the analysis of
the texts of the legislative framework of Ukraine, namely, by analyzing of Article 4 of the
Constitution of Ukraine. The use of the theory of semantic states and the apparatus of
hyperchains in lexicographic structures made it possible to formally accurately fix the
semantics of linguistic constructions in the studied contexts. Therefore, the concepts of
accuracy and unambiguity should be distinguished when conducting semantic analysis.
Accuracy here means the most accurate definition of all lexical meanings, semantic states and
their superpositions in which the analyzed token can function. The necessity of creating the
State Linguistic Corpus of Legislative Acts and the State Thesaurus of Ukraine was
emphasized.
Keywords 1
Natural language processing, computer lexicography, unambiguity, accuracy, semantic states,
hyperchains, superpositions of semantic states
1. Introduction
Once upon a time, our outstanding linguist Vitaliy Makarovych Rusanivsky said in a conversation
with me: "Linguistics is a science, though humanitarian, but accurate". That was a long time ago –
about 30 years ago. At that moment, I liked these words as just an aphoristic expression. However, at
that time I did not think at all that I would ever have to study the accuracy of linguistic constructions,
and even in connection with aspects of their unambiguity.
And really: what is accuracy in linguistics? And what are relationships between accuracy and
unambiguity? And in general, in what context these questions arise? In this regard, I would like to
mention the work of D. Likhachev “More on accuracy in literary criticism”, which expresses
interesting views on accuracy: “In literary criticism there is some kind of inferiority complex, caused
by the fact that it does not belong to the cycle of exact sciences. High degree of accuracy is supposed
to be a sign of ‘scientificity’ in any case. Hence we can see various attempts to subordinate literary
criticism to the exact method of research that result in inevitable reduction of the literary criticism
range to more or less determined limits. As is commonly known, any scientific theory is considered
accurate when the generalizations, conclusions, and data rely on some homogeneous elements with
which it would be possible to perform various operations (including combinatorial, mathematical).
For this purpose the research material needs to be formalized. Since accuracy requires that the scope
of the study and the study itself is to be formalized, all attempts to create an accurate method of
research in literary criticism are somehow related to the desire to formalize the literary material. And
in this endeavor, I want to emphasize this from the beginning, there is nothing odious. Any
knowledge is subjected to formalization, and any knowledge itself formalizes the material.
Formalization becomes inadmissible only when it forcibly attributes to the material the degree of
COLINS-2021: 5th International Conference on Computational Linguistics and Intelligent Systems, April 22–23, 2021, Kharkiv, Ukraine
EMAIL: vshirokov48@mail.com (V. Shyrokov)
ORCID: 0000-0001-5563-8907 (V. Shyrokov)
2021 Copyright for this paper by its authors.
Use permitted under Creative Commons License Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
CEUR Workshop Proceedings (CEUR-WS.org)
accuracy which it does not possess at all and, essentially, cannot possess. Therefore, the main
objections of various kinds to excessive attempts to formalize the literary material come from the
indications that the material cannot be formalized in general or, in particular, the proposed type of
formalization. Among the most common mistakes is the attempt to extend formalization on the whole
material, while it is suitable only some part of the material”.
The present paper concerns literary studies, but its main provisions are valid for any humanitarian
subject. The task of this work is to show that phenomenology and the concept of unambiguity in
linguistics do not coincide with the same aspects of accuracy. We will demonstrate this effect with an
example from the legal framework of Ukraine. It has accumulated a lot various text deviations, the
number of which is growing rapidly and which negatively affect law enforcement practice and the
legal regime of the state. Let us consider a real example in this area, where you can see and
understand the effects of the interaction between accuracy and unambiguity of language structures.
The legal sphere of Ukraine was chosen as an object of research not by chance, but for certain
reasons. The fact is that a feature of the legal regime of Ukraine, as well as other post-Soviet states is
the extremely high intensity of legislative and other rule-making processes. For example, during the
first months of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine of the 9th convocation, 1,490 draft laws and
resolutions were registered. Of these, only 94 (6.31%) bills and 267 resolutions (17.92%) were
adopted. Deputies’ bills are most often taken, and the peak of the “turbo regime” came in October
2019. In 2019, the Verkhovna Rada of the new convocation adopted the most bills, the subjects of
which were people’s deputies, in second place – the initiatives of the President, the last - the bills of
the Cabinet of Ministers. It should be added that this turbo activity has not decreased much in 2020,
despite the pandemic.
As a result of such activity, the legislative (and regulatory framework in general) has already
accumulated a large number of different textual deviations, the number of which is growing rapidly
and which negatively affect law enforcement practice and the legal regime of the state. It is becoming
increasingly clear that actions need to be taken to combat the linguistic deviations of legal documents.
2. Theoretical framework and tools
In this connection, the question inevitably arises: what is the source or sources of textual
deviations and how are they related to the language system? The answer to this question, in our
opinion, can be obtained approximately in such a mode as following. The system-forming relations of
language, we believe, are as follows: and