| Definition | Functional Requirements | Syntax | Semantics |
Definition
The Linguistic–Paralinguistic Evidence (LPE) Data Type:
- Is produced by the Linguistic and Paralinguistic Analysis (LPA) SubAIM of the User State Description (USD) AIM.
- Represents structured, temporally anchored evidence derived from recognised speech and associated audio descriptors.
- Encodes what is said (linguistic content) and how it is said (observable paralinguistic cues), without performing semantic, affective, or intentional inference.
- Serves as an evidential input for downstream cross‑modal interpretation and Entity State construction.
Functional Requirements
LPE conveys the following main information elements:
| Function | Description |
|---|---|
| Linguistic Structuring | Encodes recognised speech into structured linguistic units, preserving explicit grammatical and communicative form. |
| Paralinguistic Observation | Captures observable speech‑related cues (e.g. loudness, speech rate, pauses) derived from audio descriptors. |
| Temporal Grounding | Associates all linguistic and paralinguistic elements with precise temporal anchors. |
| Evidence Separation | Maintains a strict separation between observable evidence and inferred mental or affective states. |
| Modal Correlation | Enables correlation between speech content and audio objects through explicit references. |
| Interpretation Neutrality | Avoids encoding emotion, intention, belief, or motivation. |
| Reasoning Substrate | Provides structured evidence for subsequent cross‑modal interpretation stages within ESD. |
| Auditability | Includes Data Exchange Metadata to support provenance, traceability, and confidence assessment. |
Syntax
Semantics
The table below specifies the semantics of all top‑level and nested keys defined in the Linguistic–Paralinguistic Evidence schema.
| Label | Description |
|---|---|
| Header | LPE header identifying the data type and version, formatted as MMC-LPE-Vx.y. |
| MInstanceID | Identifier of the M‑Instance producing the LPE data. |
| LPEID | Unique identifier of the Linguistic–Paralinguistic Evidence instance. |
| EvidenceTime | Time reference indicating the temporal scope of the evidence set. |
| LinguisticUnits | Collection of structured linguistic units derived from recognised speech. |
| – TextOrTextID | Either the recognised text string or a TextSegmentID referencing a text segment produced by an ASR AIM. |
| – UtteranceType | Grammatical or communicative form of the utterance (e.g. Declarative, Interrogative, Imperative). |
| – TemporalAnchor | Temporal anchor indicating when the linguistic unit was uttered. |
| ParalinguisticCues | Collection of observable speech‑related cues derived from audio descriptors. |
| – AudioRef | Audio Object or AudioObjectID identifying the audio source associated with the cue. |
| – CueType | Type of observed paralinguistic cue (e.g. Loudness, SpeechRate, Pause, Emphasis). |
| – CueValue | Structured representation of the observed cue value, including a numerical value and the scale used for its interpretation. |
| – Value |
Scale of the cue value (e.g. Normalized, Relative, Absolute).
|
| – Scale | Scale of the cue value (e.g. Normalized, Relative, Absolute). |
| – TemporalAnchor | Temporal anchor indicating when the paralinguistic cue was observed. |
| DataXMData | Data Exchange Metadata providing provenance, source AIM identification, confidence, legality, and rights information. |
| DescrMetadata | Human‑readable descriptive metadata associated with the LPE instance. |