Verbal deletion means words spoken by the user but which, in the opinion of the transcriber, are superseded by subsequent speech explicitly (e.g. ``show flights I mean fares'') or implicitly (e.g.\ ``show me the fares flights to Boston''). Verbal deletions are not indicated as such in the SPEECHDAT corpora; transcribers should simply indicate all the words they hear. Verbal deletions occur any time there is a repetition or restart. In repetitions, one or more words are repeated, and there may or may not be extra material inserted into the repetition:
Ex.:show me the flights the flights to Boston
Ex.:show me the flights the nonstop flights to Boston
In restarts, words are not repeated, but the speaker changes direction, as in:
Ex.:show me the how many flights go to Boston
OPTIONAL:
As in the ATIS corpus, it is possible to indicate the verbal deletions by means of angle brackets. Each word in a verbal deletion should then be enclosed in angle brackets, for example:
Ex.:show me <the> <flights> the flights to Boston
Ex.:show me <the> <flights> the nonstop flights to Boston
Explicit phrases indicating the verbal deletion may be indicated as follows:
| Ex.: | show me <the> <flights> <<i>> <<mean>> |
| the nonstop flights to Boston |