CHAPTER 11


			  A BRIEF VISIT WITH AMBIGUITY


	  For us, ambiguity refers to a ~multiplicity of interpretations.	 Within
	  that multiplicity, differing interpretations can coexist ~and even be
	  incompatible with one another.  The interpretations are independent
	  of one another.	 As the needs of the future become
	  known, only one or a few interpretations may actually be used.

	  The ability for the future to pick among the multiple interpretations
	  eases an otherwise difficult if not impossible task of predicting the
	  future.  By preserving multiple, possible interpretations, the future
	  can be accomodated optimally.  Ambiguity is thus a natural way to deal
	  with the uncertain future.

	  This contrasts another meaning sometimes associated with ambiguity.
	  Ambiguity might be thought of as a ~loss of information, where details
	  might be murky.	 In contrast, what we mean by ambiguity is a ~gain
	  of information, beyond and above one single interpretation.

	  Most humor is based on exposing ambiguity, triggering multiple, often
	  incompatible interpretations.  Ambiguity is ~fun.  It relieves us for
	  a moment from a belief that we live in a serious, unambiguous
	  universe.	 It exposes the real nature of human information.


11.1
Ambiguity In Parsing

	  A parser takes in an input sequence of characters and tries
	  to understand it.  All it has in hand is a set of rules of grammar.

	  Our parser proceeds by rewriting portions of the input text.  We
	  discovered in Chapters 1 and 2 that false rewrites can occur, which
	  impose dead ends on the parsing process.  Our solution, to avoid ever
	  getting stuck, is to never commit wholeheartedly to any rewrite.

	  Each rewrite doesn't actually erase a found (~want) phrase.  It only
	~contributes the replacement (~give) phrase as an ~additional
	~phrase.  Both phrases exist, and such multiplicity of
	interpretations is ~ambiguity.

	A rewrite operation is a modification.  We apply consistently the
	subjective form of modification (Chapter 10), copy-on-write, so that no
	existing data are changed.  Phrases that exist at some time continue
	to exist unchanged, until all the parsing is done (footnote).  Thus,
	old and new phrases ~coexist.


		BOX:	Is ambiguity a ~gain or a ~loss of information?
		BOX:

	(footnote:
		We always employ subjective modification for syntax data.
		However, we will use objective modification in one place, but
		it will be applied only to semantic data).


11.2
Ambiguity In Languages

	A simple example of ambiguity in language occurs the word "flies".  It
	is both a noun and a verb, but ~uncertain as to which.  The noun
	intepretation appears in the sentence:

		FLIES populate the world.

	The verb form is necessary in:

		The airplane FLIES to Paris.

	Both forms are necessary in the sentence:

		Each of the FLIES FLIES to the apple.

	Since we insist that a word can exist all by itself, that self must
	have both a noun and a verb interpretation.  This is not one combined
	interpretation, but two distinct unrelated interpretations.  Any ~one
	interpretation will be used for an occurence of the word "flies",
	never both at once.  (To have both interpretations in a sentence, the
	word must appear twice).

	To illustrate the evolution of ambiguity, consider that the phrase
	"male flies" is also ambiguous:

		The MALE FLIES are sterilized.
		The MALE FLIES towards the female.

	  pic

	Figure 11.1(a) shows an ambiguous interpretation for "flies", and
	11.1(b) shows one for "male".  Figure 11.1(c) shows them put together.
	Figure 11.1(d) shows the meaningful interpretation used by the first
	sentence above.  Figure 11.1(e) shows the second sentence.  If we
	disregard the literal words "male" and "flies", figures 11.1(a) and
	11.1(b) show two interpretations for each.  Figure 11.1(c) shows the
	four possible total interpretations, which we can write as a set of
	unambiguous meanings:

		----- noun -------- noun ----
		--- adjective ----- noun ----
		----- noun -------- verb ----
		--- adjective ----- verb ----		.

	Of the four interpretations, only two of them "resonate" (make sense).
	That is, only the middle two trigger two rules of the 
	English language:

		adjective  noun		->	noun_phrase
		noun  verb		->	sentence

	There might be no rules corresponding to the other two interpretations:

		noun  noun		->	??
		adjective  verb		->	??

	This illustrates disambiguation, the discarding of some ambiguity as
	more context is seen.  Four interpretations have reduced to two
	full-spanning interpretations (figure 11.1(f)).


		BOX:	Can the word "it" have multiple meanings?  Consider
		BOX:	the sentences:
		BOX:
		BOX:		The apple and the car are red.  It...



11.3
Programming Languages

	Although we wish a programming language to be unambiguous, we will do
	well to tolerate ambiguity ~during the translation task.  For example,
	the phrase

		1 + 2

	is a valid arithmetic expression.  It is easiest to let that thought
	occur, even if we later discover that the 1+2 appears in

		1 + 2 * 3			.

	The overall expression (where multiplies occur before additions) is
	incompatable with the old 1+2 thought.  That's okay because no thought
	  ever destroys another thought in this system.	 The thought of the
	  whole expression simply doesn't reference the 1+2 thought.
	If we didn't tolerate ambiguity, we would have to carefully supress the
	  1+2 thought.

	  When we preserve the 1+2 thought along with other thoughts (e.g.,
	  2*3), we are tolerating ambiguity, the existence of
	  ~multiple (although incompatible) interpretations.

	  Non-syntactical, or semantic, ambiguities can arise too.	The
	  number 1 is ambiguous semantically:  Is it an integer or a real number?
	  Further context, such as an enclosing assignment statement, may
	  disambiguate this situation.

	  For another example, the function ABS (absolute value)
	  may be ambiguous because it can apply to integers, reals, or points.
	  The particular ABS can be decided only when more context appears.



11.4
Constraints Imposed By Restrictive Methods

	  Most other methods for language processing, e.g., LR(k)[] and its
	  variations, don't tolerate ambiguity.  Because of this, the kind of
	language that can be processed by LR(k) is restricted.  It is so
	restricted that the following is true:  Given two languages X and Y,
	the union of X and Y, the language that accepts sentences from either,
	may be impossible to implement using LR(k), even if each of X and Y
	were LR(k) languages.

	That is to say, even if you could process each
	of English and Spanish independently, you couldn't process their union,
	  the language that accepts sentences in either English or Spanish.
	  Ambiguity is essential, as the word "no" has a meaning in both English
	  and Spanish.

	  In contrast to those unambiguous methods, where the language processing
	  task must be careful to supress all but a single train of thought, we
	  instead encourage free thinking, where all possible thoughts are
	  allowed.	It is easier to allow multiple thoughts than it is to supress
	  all but one thought.	Even though most of the thoughts won't be
	compatible with the overall understanding of the sentence, it is still
	more practical to allow thoughts than to disallow all but one thought.


11.5
Lots Of Ambiguity

	  pic

	One might become alarmed at the allowance of all thoughts, because
	there are so many of them.  Given an input phrase consisting of N
	characters (or words), there can be easily 2^N, an exponential amount,
	of possible thoughts.  For example, figure 11.2 shows a four word
	phrase, where each word (e.g., A1) has two possible interpretations
	(A1 and A2).  (Figure 9.9 shows more explicitly the
	representation).

	We can generalize that to N words.  By picking one
	or the other interpretaion for each of the N words, we have 2^N
	unambiguous thoughts.

	We will nonetheless represent and process all those thoughts within
	only polynomial cost, and in practice, at a nearly linear cost.  We do
	this by ~sharing the common parts of thoughts (phrases), and
	representing only the essential differences among thoughts.

	For example, the representation of those 2^N unambiguous thoughts takes
	only 2*N memory.  Also, notice how the same A1 is shared among all
	2^(N-1) thoughts that begin with A1.  The ambiguity A1/A2 is also
	represented once and shared throughout the 2^N unambiguous
	interpretations.

	We process all thoughts in parallel, instead of persuing one complete
	thought at a time.  With all thoughts grown together, common elements
	among thoughts will arise together.  We will process the commonalities
	only once, and share the benefit of that processing among the different
	thoughts.

	We will proceed by finding all meanings for the first word in a
	sentence before bringing in the second word.  All possible thoughts
	involving the first two words together are generated prior to bringing
	in the third word.  The full ambiguity is thus grown left-to-right.
	By the time we reach the righthand end, we have all meanings for the
	whole sentence.


		BOX:	What advantage is there in processing multiple
		BOX:	interpretations in parallel?
		BOX:
		BOX:	Why can we tolerate an exponential number of
		BOX:	interpretations?
		BOX:
		BOX:	Do you come up with multiple interpretations when
		BOX:	viewing a work of art?
		BOX:
		BOX:	If a spray can were advertised as being both a floorwax
		BOX:	~and a dessert topping, what ambiguity is exposed?


11.5.1
Ambiguous Semantics

	The factoring, or sharing of ambiguity inherent in this
	ambiguous phrase representation relieves one source of exponential
	cost.  However, one further step is needed to kill all exponential
	costs, which can arise with ambiguous grammars.

	  pic

	Figure 11.3 shows an ambiguous phrase where some parses are duplicated,
	e.g., there are two "A"s sharing the same span.  This kind of
	duplication arises very naturally, e.g., if there are two distinct
	means by which an "A" interpretation can be seen.  Once we subvert
	such duplicates, we will relieve all causes of exponential cost.

	To remove such duplication without losing one or the other's meaning,
	  we will need the notion of ambiguous semantics.  One "A" phrase will
	  survive but its associated meaning will be ambiguous, so to represent
	  faithfully the two possible original meanings.

	  Ambiguous semantics allows an exponential (even infinite) number of
	  unambiguous meanings to be represented in only polynomial memory.
	  We will see how to process all exponentially many meanings in only
	  polynomial time, unless of course someone wants us to ~enumerate the
	  exponentially many meanings.  However, in practice, after the
	  meanings are processed, usually one (or a few) survive the constaints
	  imposed on those meanings, and hence we never enumerate all the
	  meanings.	 (Part 7 shows how to use ambiguous semantics).

		    BOX:	What gives rise to ambiguous semantics?
		    BOX:


11.6
Principle Of Ambiguity	(An Uncertainty Principle)

	  There is a principle of ambiguity that feels like the uncertainty
	  principle in quantum mechanics.  The "uncertainty
	  principle" in quantum physics states that you can trade off
	  precision between a particle's position and its momentum.
	You can not get precise measurements on both.  The greater
	the precision in the particle's position, the greater the uncertainty
	  of that particle's momentum, or vice versa.

	The "ambiguity principle" in language processing states that the
	~shorter the phrase under consideration, the ~greater ~its ~ambiguity.

	Longer phrases disambiguate their words more than shorter phrases.
	The longer phrase has more context.  The other words in the phrase
	limit the number of possible meanings for any word in that phrase.
	We've seen disambiguation occur with the word "flies" after more of
	  the sentence is considered.

	  This principle of ambiguity also applies another way.  The smaller a
	  ~slice of a domain you consider, the greater its ambiguity.

	  For example, if you consider only the syntax of a language, one slice
	  in the domain of language, some things remain inherently uncertain
	  until subsequent semantic processing.

	  Ambiguity lets us separate out systems as may be convenient for human
	  thought.	Where one system can't predict which of several possibilities
	will be the right one in the next system, ambiguity, the representation
	of all posibilities between systems, is required.


11.6.1
Perhaps In The Deepest Sense Real Information Is Ambiguous

	The uniform tolerance of ambiguity mimics the essential structure of
	real, complex information.  When a speaker talks, the listener freely
	associates multiple possible meanings.  This is necessary because no
	one association approximates the speaker's thought very well.  Together
	  the multiple possible meanings provide the most complete approximation
	  of the speaker's thought.

	(Some of the meanings may fall to the side as further utterances from
	the speaker are heard).

	  pic

	The existence of ambiguity in information itself can also be seen in
	one of the unintuitive properties of Quantum Mechanics.  It involves
	the nature of questions you can ask of the theory (figure 11.4).  It
	may be possible to know:

		Is the ball under one of cup A or cup B?

	and yet be unable to know either of:

		Is the ball under cup A?
		Is the ball under cup B?

	The unintuitive part is that you would probably attempt to answer the
	original question by asking each of the separate unaskable questions.

	The information delivered by the theory is inherently ambiguous.  You
	can't reduce the ambiguous datum (A or B) into two unambiguous,
	  separable data (A, B).

	  It is in human character to see ~two regions.	 In the imagination,
	  they are separable.  Here, real physical information, in human terms,
	  is ambiguous.


		    BOX:	What is the principle of ambiguity?
		    BOX:
		    BOX:	Given a string of length zero, why is there
		    BOX:	infinite ambiguity?


11.6.2
Concession To Computers

	  One of the most striking aspects of a computer besides its speed,
	  is the fact that each operation can deal with only a very
	  limited amount of data, e.g., on the order of 32-bits.  The computer
	  cannot in one operation see a whole sentence.

	  Due to this nature of computing, we are limited in language processing
	  to see at any one time only a very limited portion of a sentence.
	  We don't have the luxury of seeing the whole sentence at once.  The
	ambiguity principle forces us then to deal with large amounts of
	ambiguity.


11.6.3
Ambiguity Everywhere

	For example, our parser is employed twice in ICL.  First it performs
	syntax analysis, and later it performs datatype analysis.  Both
	applications benefit by allowing ambiguity.

	Ambiguity may first appear during syntax
	processing.  Some of that ambiguity will be reduced as longer and
	longer phrases are seen.  However, some ambiguity may remain even
	after all of syntax is done.  That remaining ambiguity is passed on
	to the next pass, the datatype analysis pass.

	An example of a syntax ambiguity that passes onto the datatype analysis
	pass is:

		A + B # C

	ICL has two different rules that involve "+":

		real + real	->	real
	and
		point + point	->	point

	That is, "+" can add two REALs or can add two two-dimensional POINTs.
	("+" cannot add a REAL and a POINT).  ICL has another rule which
	forms a POINT given its two REAL coordinates:

		real # real	->	point

	Thus,
		1#2		is the point whose x-coordinate is 1 and whose
				y-coordinate is 2,

		1+2#3		is the point 3#3  (using the
				real + real    ->    real	rule)

		1#2+3#4		is the point 4#6  (using the
				point + point   ->   point     rule).

	Reconsider the expression:

		A + B # C

	If A, B, and C are all REALs, then the expression must group as
	follows:

		(A + B) # C

	A+B must be evaluated ~before forming the whole POINT.  "+" operates
	on REALs in this example.  (The other grouping, doing the "#" first,
	would leave "+" in an impossible situation, adding a REAL (A) and a
	POINT (B#C)).

	In contrast, if A were a POINT, then the expression must group as:

		A + (B # C)

	The point B#C must be formed first, so that "+" can operate on POINTs.
	(Again, the other grouping, doing "+" first, is impossible lest "+"
	be forced to add a POINT (A) to a REAL (B) in A+B).

	Thus, the ~types of A, B, and C will dictate how the parentheses should
	go.

	This uncertainty in grouping is a necessary syntax ambiguity.  Both
	groupings must be considered.  The choice will
	ultimately be resolved by a subsequent pass, datatype analysis,
	when the types of A, B, and C first become known.

	(The syntax pass must be ~completed ~in ~its ~entirety first, so that
	we can even ~see the declarations of the variables A, B, and C).

	The datatype analysis pass will accept initial ambiguities from the
	syntax pass.  It will also generate its own.  For example, the
	syntactically unambiguous phrase:

		3

	becomes ambiguous in the datatype analysis pass, where it is both an
	INTeger and a REAL.  We presumably have the coercion:

		INT	->	REAL

	so that all INTegers also make sense as REALs.  Coercions, like
	this one, and polymorphic functions contribute to type-pass ambiguity.

		(Polymorphic functions are functions that are defined for more
		than one datatype.  The functions ABS and "+" are polymorphic
		functions because each is defined over ~several types.  "+"
		works for INTs, REALs, and POINTs.  ABS is defined for both
		INTs and REALs).

	The type-pass also resolves some ambiguities, both ambiguities from
	syntax and from the type-pass.  For example, the ambiguous phrase:

		1 + 2

	(which is both a REAL and INTeger), is disambiguated within the
	larger context:

		R :=  1 + 2 ;

	Assuming R is a REAL variable, the INT/REAL ambiguity is resolved.

	Notice that the time between the generation of an ambiguity until
	the resolution of that ambiguity can be great.  For example, the
	expression:

		ABS( 1 + 2 )

	is both a REAL and an INTeger, (because ABS is defined both for INTs
	and REALs).  Here, the ambiguity that started with the "1" and with
	the "2" is not resolved until the outer context appears:

		FACTORIAL(   ABS( 1 + 2 )   )

	Presuming that FACTORIAL is defined only for INTegers, the INT/REAL
	ambiguity is resolved.  If FACTORIAL were defined both for INTegers
	and REALs, then this phrase would remain ambiguous.


		BOX:	How can ambiguity be resolved?  Relate this to the
		BOX:	principle of ambiguity.


11.7
Common Sense, Or "Resistance" Cuts Down On Ambiguity

	Unlike the FACTORIAL function, the WRITE function is defined for both
	INTegers and REALs.  Thus, the following remains ambiguous:

		WRITE( ABS( 1 + 2 ) ) ;

	Does it write a REAL number or an INTeger number?

	This ambiguity will be resolved by the use of common sense, or
	"resistances".  We pick the interpretation that involves the least
	number of coercions.  We minimize the number of conversions of data
	from one type to another type.

	Each coercion, e.g., the one from INTeger to REAL, contributes
	a "resistance" into any interpretation that uses the result of
	that coercion.  Notice that the REAL interpretation of:

		ABS( 1+2 )

	requires at least one application of that coercion, and hence has
	an associated resistance of at least one.

		(The INT-to-REAL coercion must be applied either to both of
		"1" and "2", so that the REAL ABS can apply, or we can use the
		INT ABS, and apply the coercion to ABS's INT result so as to
		    render a REAL).

	  The INTeger interpretation uses no coercions, and hence has zero
	  resistance.  The INTeger interpretation will be chosen because it
	  incurs the smaller resistance.

	  A sentence (e.g., program) will ultimately be called ambiguous only if
	  there is more than one interpretation that has the same, minimal
	  resistance.

   NOTE: The reduction of ambiguity by resistances is a post-process.  It
	   executes only after all possible meanings are acquired.	We must
	   still develop all possible meanings.  Thus, resistances do not cut
	   down on any ambiguity until all ambiguity is developed.

   NOTE: It will be easiset to continue reading this text by ignoring
	   entirely the notion of resistance.  Thus, the phrase

		    3

	   is still ambiguous, acting as either an INT or a REAL.

	   The implementation of resistances appears in Chapter 27.


		    BOX:	How does common sense serve to reduce ambiguity?
		    BOX:


11.8
Representation Of Ambiguous Phrases

	  The expression

		    ABS( 1 + 2 )

	  can be represented by the string:

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----

	  The fact that each of "1" and "2" is also an INTeger can be added
	  to this representation:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-INT-/	     \-INT-/

	  The fact that any INT can be viewed also as a real can be added:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
					    \ \	  / /	  \ \		/ /
					     \ \-INT-/ /	   \ \-INT-/ /
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-REAL/	     \-REAL/

	  Because "+" is defined both upon INTs and REALs, we can get:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ------- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ------- ) -----
					    \ \ \	    / /   \ \	  / / /
					     \ \ \-INT-/ /     \ \-INT-/ / /
						\ \	    /		\	  / /
						 \ \-REAL/		 \-REAL/ /
						  \				  /
						   \-------- INT --------/
						    \				/
						     \------ REAL -----/

	  Finally, the interpretations that involve ABS can be added:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ------- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ------- ) -----
			\		    \ \ \	    / /   \ \	  / / /   /
			 \		     \ \ \-INT-/ /     \ \-INT-/ / /   /
			  \			\ \	    /		\	  / /	  /
			   \			 \ \-REAL/		 \-REAL/ /	 /
			    \			  \				  /	/
			     \		   \-------- INT --------/   /
				\		    \				/   /
				 \		     \------ REAL -----/   /
				  \						  /
				   \-------------- INT --------------/
				    \						/
				     \------------ REAL -----------/

	  How many distinct phrases can you see in this ambiguous phrase?	 There
	  are 13 of them:

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- INT ---- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- REAL --- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ---- INT ---- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- INT ---- + ---- INT ---- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- REAL --- + ---- INT ---- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ---- REAL --- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- INT ---- + ---- REAL --- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ---- REAL --- + ---- REAL --- ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ------------ INT ------------ ) -----

		    ------ ABS ----- ( ------------ REAL ----------- ) -----

		    ----------- INT ----------------------------------------

		    ----------- REAL ---------------------------------------

	  We will refer to each of these phrases as an "unambiguous" phrase,
	  because it offers no alternatives.


11.8.1
Locality Of Ambiguity

	  The ambiguous phrase just shown represents ambiguity efficiently.
	  It preserves the "locality of ambiguity".  Notice how much more
	  efficient it is than the 13 separate phrases just shown.	In our
	  ambiguous phrase, local ambiguities do not reach out across the whole
	  phrase; they remain local.


11.8.2
Another Example Of Exponential Ambiguity At Polynomial Cost

	  Consider the phrase:

		    1 + 2 + 3 + 4 + 5 + 6 + 7 + 8 + 9

	  Each number can be intepreted both as an INTeger and as a REAL.
	  How many distinct unambiguous phrases would it take to represent
	  all those possible meanings?

	  It would take 2-to-the-9th power, because each number can
	  independently be one of two things, an INT or a REAL.  There are 9
	  independent such choices.

	  (If "+" were not addition, all 512 possibilities might in fact give
	  512 different answers (footnote)).

	  The ambiguous phrase, which preserves locality of ambiguity, consumes
	  memory proportional to the length of the phrase.  The separate
	  unambiguous representations consume an exponential amount of memory,
	  and processing time.

	  We will do all our language processing within polynomial cost, as
	  a function of the phrase length.	However, we will be representing,
	  and processing, what amounts to an exponential number of meanings.

	  We will see how to maintain a "fully ambiguated" ambiguous phrase in
	  only polynomial time.	 We will also see how to represent an
	  exponential number of ~meanings in only polynomial memory.  We will
	  even see how to process important aspects of an exponential number
	  of meanings in only polynomial time.


		    BOX:	How does forbidding locality of ambiguity affect the
		    BOX:	cost of representing ambiguity?


  (Footnote:
	  Here is a grammar which gives 512 distinct meanings.  In each
	  of the following rules, let FACTOR be the smallest power of ten
	  greater than "a+b", where "a" and "b" are the two given values
	  (from the lefthand side of each rule):

		    INT  +	INT	  ->	    INT	by	  a+b + 1*FACTOR
		    INT  +	REAL	  ->	    REAL	by	  a+b + 2*FACTOR
		    REAL +	INT	  ->	    REAL	by	  a+b + 3*FACTOR
		    REAL +	REAL	  ->	    REAL	by	  a+b + 4*FACTOR

	  We prove that there are 2^N distinct answers by induction on phrase
	  length, N.  The inductive hypothesis is:

		    A phrase of length N gives rise to 2^N-1 distinct REAL
		    meanings, and one INT meaning.

		    Each REAL meaning is N digits long, where the high-order
		    digit is less than five.

	  By induction, each of the last two rules, with a REAL to the left of
	  the "+", delivers 2^(N-1) - 1 interpretations, via that REAL to the
	  left of the "+".  Together they deliver 2^N-2 REALs.  In addition, the
	  first two rules give one more REAL and one INT meaning.


11.9
Rules Of Grammar

	  A grammar rule represents a phrase replacement.  It says "Whenever
	  you see the phrase XXX, feel free to replace it by another phrase,
	  YYY".  For example, the rule

		    INT	->	  REAL

	  says that any occurence of INT can also be viewed as a REAL.

	  The overall function of a language processor is to apply all grammar
	  rules at all places within the given phrase.	For example,
	  the grammar rule

		    Literal_number     ->    INT

	  applies everywhere possible, i.e., at the "1" and the "2" in the
	  given phrase, ABS(1+2):

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-INT-/	     \-INT-/

	  Because all grammar rules apply also to all results of grammar rules,
	  the rule

		    INT	->	  REAL

	  is applied to those newly formed INTs:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
					    \ \	  / /	  \ \		/ /
					     \ \-INT-/ /	   \ \-INT-/ /
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-REAL/	     \-REAL/


11.9.1
Grammar Rules Maintain Locality Of Ambiguity

	  We apply rules by having them add interpretations to an ambiguous
	  phrase.  For example, the rule:

		    INT	->	  REAL

	  could take the phrase

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-INT-/	     \-INT-/

	  and augment it to be:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- 1 ----- + ----- 2 ----- ) -----
					    \ \	  / /	  \ \		/ /
					     \ \-INT-/ /	   \ \-INT-/ /
						\	  /	    \		/
						 \-REAL/	     \-REAL/

	  Each rule naturally wants to make a local rewrite.	It would be
	  cumbersome for this rule to produce instead a set of unambiguous
	  phrases:

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- INT ----- + ----- INT ----- ) -----

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- REAL ---- + ----- INT ----- ) -----

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- INT ----- + ----- REAL ----- ) -----

		    ----- ABS ----- ( ----- REAL ---- + ----- REAL ----- ) -----

	  This local nature of rewrites naturally gives rise to ambiguous
	  phrases that preserve the locality of ambiguity.


		    BOX:	Why do grammar rules naturally maintain locality
		    BOX:	of ambiguity?


11.9.2
Grammar Rules Behave Like A Resonance Chamber

	  A grammar, which is a set of grammmar rules, takes in a phrase
	  and ambiguates it so that all possible applications of all possible
	  rules at all possible locations become represented.	 The original
	  phrase acts as the initial input or "noise" entering a resonance
	  chamber.	The grammar "resonates" in all possible ways, producing
	  resonances of resonances, etc., as does a physical resonance chamber.
	  Only when all resonances are achieved does the grammar terminate its
	  effort.

	  In other words, the computer takes in the initially incomprehensible
	  user input, and understands that input only in terms of well defined
	  resonances.  The structure of the resonances holds the essential,
	  comprehensible meaning of the given user input.

	  The receiver of information transmitted thru language has at hand
	  ~only knowledge of the language itself.	 Understanding must occur in
	  terms of the language, in terms of grammar rules.


		    BOX:	Why does understanding occur in terms of resonances
		    BOX:	(associations sprung by grammar rules)?
		    BOX:
		    BOX:	How is this similar to the vastly simpler AM radio
		    BOX:	communication?
		    BOX:
		    BOX:	What is an art form that thrives on resonances?
		    BOX:
		    BOX:	What are some fields of science where resonances play a
		    BOX:	big role?