Experiments in producing playful explanations for given names (anthroponyms) in hebrew and english

Yaakov Hacohen-Kerner, Daniel Nisim Cohen, Ephraim Nissan

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

2 Scopus citations

Abstract

In this project, we investigate the generation of wordplay that can serve as playful explanations for given names. We present a working system (part of work in progress), which segments and/or manipulates input names. The system does so by decomposing them into sequences (or phrases) composed of at least two words and/or transforming them into other words. Experiments reveal that the output stimulates human users into completing explanations creatively, even without sophisticated derivational grammar. This research applies to two languages: Hebrew and English. The applied transformations are: addition of a letter, deletion of a letter and replacement of a similar letter. Experiments performed in these languages show that in Hebrew the input and output are perceived to be reasonably associated; whereas, the English output, if perceived to be acceptable rather than absurd, is accepted as a humorous pun.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationNatural Language Processing and Information Systems - 18th International Conference on Applications of Natural Language to Information Systems, NLDB 2013, Proceedings
Pages321-327
Number of pages7
DOIs
StatePublished - 2013
Externally publishedYes
Event18th International Conference on Application of Natural Language to Information Systems, NLDB 2013 - Salford, United Kingdom
Duration: 19 Jun 201321 Jun 2013

Publication series

NameLecture Notes in Computer Science (including subseries Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence and Lecture Notes in Bioinformatics)
Volume7934 LNCS
ISSN (Print)0302-9743
ISSN (Electronic)1611-3349

Conference

Conference18th International Conference on Application of Natural Language to Information Systems, NLDB 2013
Country/TerritoryUnited Kingdom
CitySalford
Period19/06/1321/06/13

Keywords

  • Computational Humour
  • English
  • Folk-etymology
  • Hebrew
  • Mockaetiology (playful explanations)
  • Onomastics
  • Puns
  • Wordplay

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