CLIMB grammars: three projects using metagrammar engineering

This paper introduces the CLIMB (Comparative Libraries of Implementations with Matrix Basis) methodology and grammars. The basic idea behind CLIMB is to use code generation as a general methodology for grammar development in order to create a more systematic approach to grammar development. The particular method used in this paper is closely related to the LinGO Grammar Matrix. Like the Grammar Matrix, resulting grammars are HPSG grammars that can map bidirectionally between strings and MRS representations. The main purpose of this paper is to provide insight into the process of using CLIMB for grammar development. In addition, we describe three projects that make use of this methodology or have concrete plans to adapt CLIMB in the future: CLIMB for Germanic languages, CLIMB for Slavic languages and CLIMB to combine two grammars of Mandarin Chinese. We present the first results that indicate feasibility and development time improvements for creating a medium to large coverage precision grammar.

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