Abstract: A window of letters is identified within a text sample input. If the window contains matches to reference letter sequences (RLS) contained in multiple sets of n-gram language profiles (profiles), then the longest match is kept and scored for each language. Scoring each language is based on frequency parameters of the matched RLS in profiles for each language. The window is incrementally shifted through the sample and the matching and scoring is done on the letters within the window. At the end of the sample input, the language having the highest cumulative score is identified as the sample's language.

Abstract: The present invention is directed to recognizing a discourse structure of a body of text. In a preferred embodiment, a discourse structure recognition facility utilizes syntactic information associated with the body of text to generate a discourse structure tree that characterizes the discourse structure of the body of text. The facility first identifies in the body of text a number of clauses. The facility then determines, for each distinct pair of clauses, which of a number of possible discourse relations should be hypothesized between the pair of clauses, based on the syntactic structure and semantic of the body of text relative to the pair of clauses. The facility then applies the hypothesized relations to the clauses in order to produce a discourse structure tree characterizing the discourse structure of the body of text. In certain embodiments, the facility further generates from the produced discourse structure tree a synopsis of the body of text reflecting the primary goals pursued by its author.