Annotating Arguments in a Parliamentary Corpus: An Experience

Estonian parliamentary corpus includes verbatim records of sessions held in the Parliament of Estonia (Riigikogu) in 1995-2001. An important task of the Riigikogu is the passing of acts and resolutions. A bill initiated in the Riigikogu will pass three readings, during which it is refined and amended. Negotiation is an important part of parliamentary discussions. Arguments for and against of the bill and its amendments are presented by the members of the Parliament in negotiation. In the paper, arguments used in negotiation are considered. Every argument consists of one or more premises, and a claim (or conclusion). The arguments and the relations between them (rebuttal, attack, and support) are determined with the aim to create a corpus where arguments are annotated. Some problems are discussed in relation with annotation. Our further aim is the automatic recognition of arguments and inter-argument relations in Estonian political texts.