Constrained Atomic Term: Widening the Reach of Rule Templates in Transformation Based Learning

Within the framework of Transformation Based Learning (TBL), the rule template is one of the most important elements in the learning process. This paper presents a new model for TBL templates, in which the basic unit, denominated here as an atomic term (AT), encodes a variable sized window and a test that precedes the capture of a feature’s value. A case study of Portuguese NP identification is described and the experimental results obtained are presented.