precisificatieset

A precisificatieset is a collection of precise interpretations or readings that can be attached to an utterance or statement when its meaning is underspecified. The concept is used in linguistics and natural language processing to model the range of possible interpretations before disambiguation or context narrows the options. The term combines precisificatie (making precise) with set, and is commonly found in Dutch-language discussions of semantics, pragmatics, and computational linguistics.

Construction and use: A precisificatieset is generated from an underspecified input by applying linguistic constraints, contextual information, and world knowledge. Each element of the set represents a viable, fully specified interpretation, often formalized as a logical form, event structure, or feature description. The set can be static or dynamic, evolving as new information becomes available or as context changes. In practice, precisificatiesets support reasoning by preserving multiple interpretations rather than prematurely committing to a single reading.

Example: The sentence “I saw a man with a telescope” can yield a precisificatieset containing at least two readings: (1) the man has a telescope, and (2) the observer used a telescope to see the man. Additional readings may emerge with other syntactic or semantic constraints.

Applications and relation to other concepts: Precisificatiesets are used in reference resolution, dialogue systems, machine translation, and semantic interpretation to handle ambiguity and underspecification. They relate to broader ideas such as underspecification, disambiguation, and possible-world semantics, illustrating how interpretation can be modeled as a set of alternatives rather than a single fixed result.

Limitations: The size and complexity of a precisificatieset can grow with sentence complexity, so practical systems often employ pruning or prioritization to focus on the most plausible readings.