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An experimental system that uses LISP to make a conceptual dictionary is described. The dictionary associates with each English word the syntactic information, definitional material, and references to the contexts in which it has been used to define other words. Such relations as class inclusion, possession, and active or passive actions are used as definitional material. The resulting structure serves as a powerful vehicle for research on the logic of question answering. Examples of methods of inputting information and answering simple English questions are given. An important conclusion is that, although LISP and other list processing languages ore ideally suited for producing complex associative structures, they are inadequate vehicles for language processing on any large scale—at least until they can use auxiliary memory as continuous extension of core memory. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article focuses on the experimental English language question-answering computer systems. Most languages have a small set of rules which can be used for transforming any statement into a question. In English the question mark, intonation, and the rearrangement of subject and verb accomplish this function. In addition to transformal rules, a vocabulary of special question words--who, why, where etc. exists which provides clues as to the nature of the answer that is desired. Machines and programs which attempt to answer English questions have existed for only about five years. But the desire to translate language statements into symbols which can be used in calculus has existed as long as formal logic. Attempts to build machines to test logical consistency date back at least to the thirteenth century. Several logic machines for testing the validity of propositions were constructed in the nineteenth century. However these machines, although they answer questions, do not deal directly with natural languages.