Fankestein's insects (abstract)

ABSTRACT

Research aimed at correcting words in text has focussed on three progressively more difficult problems:

• 1) non-word error detection;
• 2) isolated-word error correction; and
• 3) contextdependent word correction.

In response to the first problem, efficient pattern matching and n-gram analysis techniques have been developed for detecting strings that do not appear in a given word list. In response to the second problem, a variety of general and application-specific spelling correction techniques have been developed. Some of them were based on detailed studies of spelling error patterns. In response to the third problem, a few experiments using natural language processing tools or statis tical language models have been carried out. This article surveys documented findings on spelling error correction techniques, reviews the state of the art of context-dependent word correction techniques, and discusses research issues related to all three areas of automatic error correction in text.

(The Article on which the Talk was based appeared in the December 1992 Issue of Computing Surveys) 515

INDEX TERMS

Primary Classification:
  I. Computing Methodologies
  I.2 ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

General Terms:
Design