A Semantic Annotation Scheme for Quantification

This paper describes in brief the proposal called {`}QuantML{'} which was accepted by the International Organisation for Standards (ISO) last February as a starting point for developing a standard for the interoperable annotation of quantification phenomena in natural language, as part of the ISO 24617 Semantic Annotation Framework. The proposal, firmly rooted in the theory of generalised quantifiers, neo-Davidsonian semantics, and DRT, covers a wide range of quantification phenomena. The QuantML scheme consists of (1) an abstract syntax which defines {`}annotation structures{'} as triples and other set-theoretic constructs; (b) a compositional semantics of annotation structures; (3) an XML representation of annotation structures.