A symbolic description of punning riddles and its computer implementation
arXiv:cmp-lg/9406021
Abstract
Riddles based on simple puns can be classified according to the patterns of word, syllable or phrase similarity they depend upon. We have devised a formal model of the semantic and syntactic regularities underlying some of the simpler types of punning riddle. We have also implemented this preliminary theory in a computer program which can generate riddles from a lexicon containing general data about words and phrases; that is, the lexicon content is not customised to produce jokes. Informal evaluation of the program's results by a set of human judges suggest that the riddles produced by this program are of comparable quality to those in general circulation among school children.
40 pages, also available by email ([email protected]) and www (http://www.dai.ed.ac.uk/students/kimb). Longer version of an AAAI-94 paper. Figs and bib separate