Tuan Amith, Xubing Hao, and Licong Cui Natural Conversation Ontology (NCO) is based on knowledge derived from the Natural Conversation Framework (Moore and Arar), as well as, the amalgamation of theories of conversation analysis. Natural Conversation Ontology prototype example utterance been spoken has focus utterance string Conversational patterns involving methods to connect or discconect with participants conversation level management A pattern involving "methodically and collaboratively close down the encounter...using the activities of opening and closing to mark the boundaries between this conversation and the next one." (Moore and Arar, 2019) closing A pattern involving "disengagements [that] may be temporary or terminal. Besides the user or agent simply failing to continue, users may ask to be transferred to a human, or users may start talking to someone else in the room, agents may refuse to continue talking, and more." (Moore and Arar, 2019) disengaging "secur[ing] the attention of the intended recipient and establish that we are talking to each other." (Moore and Arar, 2019). This is pattern is initiated by the agent opening by agent "secur[ing] the attention of the intended recipient and establish that we are talking to each other." (Moore and Arar, 2019). This is pattern is initiated by the user opening by user A pattern involving "talk[ing] to the agent about what it can do. For a virtual agent to be intelligent and conversational, it must be able to talk about what it can and cannot do." (Moore and Arar, 2019) capabilities closing offer disaffirmed closing offer affirmed closing success check reopened closing success check disaffirmed closing success check affirmed closing name request by agent closing appreciation by organizational closing farewell by user pre-closing by user last topic check by user last topic check by agent offense complaint by user offense complaint by agent recipient correction transfer aborted transfer successful opening greeting by agent opening self-identification by agent opening name request by agent opening direct address by agent opening welfare check by agent opening organization offer of help by agent opening authentication by agent organizational problem request by agent greeting by user summons by user welfare check by user displaced welfare check by user general capability check capability expansion specific capability check utterance suggestion "Sequence-level management involves repairing a previous utterance in order to complete a sequence, closing a sequence, or aborting a sequence." (Moore and Arar, 2019) sequence level management This pattern is "enable users to indicate that they are done with a sequence or activity and ready to move on. Sequence closers include several intents, including acknowledgments (e.g., okay, ok, all right, got it), appreciations (e.g., thank you, thanks, ok thanks), laughter tokens (e.g., haha, ha ha, lol), positive assessments (e.g., great!, excellent, awesome!), or negative assessments (e.g., too bad, oh well, that sucks)." (Moore and Arar, 2019) sequence closer This pattern is repair that involves multiple turns beyond the SPP. extended repair This pattern "referr[s] specifically to the repeating and paraphrasing of prior utterances or parts of them." (Moore and Arar, 2019) This pattern can be initiated by the user repair by user This pattern "referr[s] specifically to the repeating and paraphrasing of prior utterances or parts of them." (Moore and Arar, 2019) This pattern can be initiated by the agent repair by agent This pattern involving "abandon[ing] a failing sequence without completing or closing it, with phrases like 'nevermind', 'nvm', 'forget it', 'I give up', etc. This might be done when the agent fails to understand the user or to return the desired information and the user wishes to stop trying" (Moore and Arar, 2019) sequence abort sequence closer - repaired sequence closer appreciation - not helped sequence closer appreciation - helped sequence closer - not helped sequence closer - helped sequence-closing thirds self correction misunderstanding report other hearing check and mishearing report other correction A type of conversation navigation that "elicit repeats of all or part of the agent's utterances" (Moore and Arar, 2019) repeat request repeat request default partial repeat request hearing check confirmed hearing check correction paraphrase request paraphrase request default definition request repair definition request default definition request standalone example request example request default understanding check confirmed understanding check disconfirmed understanding check (agent) paraphrase request (agent) subsequent paraphrase requests agent continuor no answer account repeat acknowledgement sequence abort capability offer accept sequence abort capability offer declined "handle the main business of the conversation: what services the agent provides and what the user is trying to accomplish." (Moore and Arar, 2019) conversational activities The "pattern may involve closed or open inquiries and different third-position checks by the agent to determine if the agent heard the user correctly or if the user has more to say. The agent inquiry pattern is especially useful for interviewing users or eliciting their opinions, where you wish to elicit and preserve the exact words of the user." (Moore and Arar, 2019) inquiry by agent agent inquiry "patterns can also be combined in a variety of ways to support pedagogical activities, such as tutoring. For example, the extended telling pattern can be combined with the quiz pattern to teach the user new material and test his or her retention" (Moore and Arar, 2019) teaching tutoring A pattern that "handles requests for information initiated by the user, for example in question-and-answer (Q&A) scenarios. Like all conversational UX patterns, the pattern itself is separate from the content. In other words, agents may answer inquiries about health insurance, travel policies, movie trivia, small talk, and much more. For example, the agent may answer inquiries about computer history" (Moore and Arar, 2019). This is pattern is initiated by the user. inquiry by user user inquiry A pattern where "the user makes a request, for example in customer service conversations. It handles sets of related requests, or topics, that require entity extraction and agent elicitations (a.k.a. "slot filling"). Multiple entities are captured, even when no request type is recognized, and preserved as context across the set of unique requests (i.e., intents).... [may] require a little more context design than standalone requests or 'slotted intents'. They require a context variable for the topic that is relevant across multiple requests or intents." (Moore and Arar, 2019) open request A pattern where "activities that typically require more than one turn to complete. Such extended tellings may be initiated by the user with requests like, "tell me about Key West," "tell me all the things you can do," "tell me a story," "how do I meditate?," "how do I do that?," etc. The telling is then produced interactionally in the following way: the teller gives the first part of the telling and then waits for an indication from the recipient to continue the telling" (Moore and Arar, 2019) extended telling "the quiz pattern involves the agent asking the user questions and evaluating the answers. The user can get the answer right, wrong, initiate a repair, or give up. The quiz is a basic conversation pattern that is used in pedagogical interactions, as well as for fun. The ordinary question-answer joke uses the quiz pattern, as do trivia games. In its simplest form, the quiz pattern is initiated by the user, who then answers the question correctly" (Moore and Arar, 2019) quiz "the customer or service seeker presents a problem to the representative or agent of the organization and requests a solution. The agent may need to probe the user�s situation with a series of diagnostic questions in order to determine the likely cause of the problem and the appropriate solution. The agent may then talk the user through a set of instructions for solving the problem. Troubleshooting can therefore be supported by combining the open request and extended telling patterns." (Moore and Arar, 2019). Initiated by the user troubleshooting user-initiated inquiry by agent extended answer inquiry by agent completion check inquiry by agent hearing disconfirmed inquiry by agent hearing confirmed inquiry by agent open inquiry by user confirmation inquiry by user disconfirmation inquiry by user repairs open request nonverbal open request continuer open request screening open request agent detail request open request user detail request open request summary warrant request and refusal open request summary with artifacts open request incremental open request series open request repairs extended telling abort extended telling with repair quiz incorrect quiz repairs quiz user-initiated quiz agent-initiated A theortical framework for natural conversational design; Core application ontology concept framing natural language framework natural conversation model "conversational actions for getting around the conversation space that are easy for users to remember" (Moore and Arar, 2019) conversation navigation expandable sequences, like an accordion [Moore et al. 2016, Moore 2018]. Compact sequences are common, but each sequence can be expanded by either party as needed. interaction model Style and presentation of the content of an utterance content format "formal structures or patterns of human talk-in-interaction" (Moore and Arar, 2019) pattern language repeat request A type of conversation navigation that "to close their interaction with the system. This is similar to closing an application or logging out of a system" (Moore and Arar, 2019) conversation closing sequence abort A type of conversation navigation that to assess by way of conversation to find out the capabilities of the agent. capability check sequence closer An utterance expressed in one sentence or smaller unit short content format An autterance presented in a multiple sentence utterance or document-like format long content format story telling A sequence involving an FPP and SPP. "An adjacency pair is composed of two utterances by two speakers, one after the other. The speaking of the first utterance (the first-pair part, or the first turn) provokes a responding utterance (the second-pair part, or the second turn)" (Wikipedia) adjacency pair base sequence; action pair A type of TCU that initaties an adjacency pair first pair part fpp A type of TCU that closes an adjacency pair second pair part spp Smallest unit of speech utterance action type design type preferred response dispreferred response "fundamental segment of speech in a conversation...pieces of conversation which may comprise an entire speaking turn by a speaker. A turn is created through certain forms or units that listeners can recognize and count on, called turn construction units (TCUs), and speakers and listeners will know that such forms can be a word or a clause, and use that knowledge to predict when a speaker is finished so that others can speak, to avoid or minimize both overlap and silence." (Wikipedia) turn conversational unit something expressed by an individual that not only presents information but performs an action as well (Wikipedia) speech acts basic element of language that carries meaning, can be used on its own, and is uninterruptible (Wikipedia) words "group of words or singular word acting as a grammatical unit." (Wikipedia) phrases constituent or phrase that comprises a semantic predicand (expressed or not) and a semantic predicate. A typical clause consists of a subject and a syntactic predicate, the latter typically a verb phrase composed of a verb with or without any objects and other modifiers. (Wikipedia) clauses string of words that expresses a complete thought, or as a unit consisting of a subject and predicate (Wikipedia) sentence "Sequences are general patterns that, like tools or devices, can be used and reused in all kinds of different situations and settings, for all kinds of different purposes. " (Moore and Arar, 2019) sequence sequence of utterances that elaborates on the base interaction for additional information. Helps in mutual understanding between parties. sequence expansion a type of sequence expansion that occurs after the base sequence interaction post expansion Conversational sequence with the the goal of rectifying misunderstanding or miscommunication during a conversation. "Repairs consist of a redoing of all or part of a previous utterance, either by the speaker or a recipient, where that utterance poses difficulty in speaking, hearing, or understanding and thereby prevents the conversation from moving forward" (Moore and Arar, 2019) repair elicit an insertion sequence emerged out of the base adjacency pair (between the FPP and SPP). insert expansion repeat a type of sequence expansion that occurs before the base sequence interaction, specifically before the FPP. They consist of their own sequence pairs pre-expansion pre sequences screen Occurs after the SPP of the base pair, and an extension of SPP where the SPP is the FPP of another SPP, essentially stretching the base pair. non-minimal post expansion An additional turn sequence after the base sequence pair. Designed not to emphasize the base sequence, and typically a closing sequence. minimal post expansion an insertion sequence emerging after the FPP post first pair part insert expansion an insertion sequence emerging before the SPP pre second pair part insert expansion "Pre-requests... checks on the availability of the time to be asked for" (Sidell, 2015) pre request Pre-invitation often check on the availability of the intended invitee (Sidnell, 2015) pre-invitation Sometimes prefaces announcements or stories. "[T]ypicall check on a condition for the successful accomplishment of the base first pair part... often takes the form of question about what the recipient knows" (Sidnell, 2015) pre-announcement "A next turn repair initiator is an utterance, used in the turn after a repairable item, that prompts for a third turn repair in the next turn." https://glossary.sil.org/term/next-turn-repair-initiator next turn repair initiator ntri "constative is the expression of a belief, together with the expression of an intention that the hearer form (or continue to hold) a like belief." (Bach and Harnish, 1979) constatives "They express, perfunctorily if not genuinely, certain feelings toward the hearer. These feelings and their expression are appropriate to particular sorts of occasions...Because acknowledgments are expected on particular occasions, they are often issued not so much to express a genuine feeling as to satisfy the social expectation that such a feeling be expressed." (Bach and Harnish, 1979) acknowledgements Commissives are acts of obligating oneself or of proposing to obligate oneself to do something specified in the propositional content, which may also specify conditions under which the deed is to be done or does not have to be done. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) commissives "Directives express the speaker's attitude toward some prospective action by the hearer." (Bach and Harnish, 1979) directives in uttering e, S asserts that P if S expresses: i. the belief that P, and ii. the intention that H believe that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) affirming assert; allege; aver; avow; claim; declare; deny; incate; maintain; propound; say; state; submit alleging announcing In uttering e, S responds that P if S expresses: i. the belief that P, which H has inquired about, and ii. the intention that H believe that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) answering answer; reply; respond; retort In uttering e, S ascribes F to 0 if S expresses: i. the belief that F applies to 0, and ii. the intention that H believe that F applies to o. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) attributing ascribe; attribute; predicate claiming In uttering e, S describes 0 as F if S expresses: i. the belief that 0 is F, and ii. the intention that H believe that 0 is F. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) classifying appraise; assess; call; categorize; characterize; classify; date; describe; diagnosie; evaluate; grade; identify; portray; rank In uttering e, S assents to the claim that P if S expresses: i. the belief that P, as claimed by H (or as otherwise under discussion), and ii. the intention (perhaps already fulfilled) that H believe that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) concurring accept; agree; assent; concur In uttering e, S confirms (the claim) that P if S expresses: i. the belief that P, based on some truth-seeking procedure, and ii. the intention that H believe that P because S has support for P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) confirming appraise; assess; bear witness; certify; conclude; confirm; corroborate; diagnose; find; judge; substantiate; testify; validate; verify; vouch for In uttering e, S suggests that P if S expresses: i. the belief that there is reason, but not sufficient reason, to believe that P, and ii. the intention that H believe that there is reason, but not sufficient reason, to believe that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) conject uring conjecture; guess; hypothesize; speculate; suggest denying In uttering e, S dissents from the claim that P if S expresses: i. the disbelief that P, contrary to what was claimed by H (or was otherwise under discussion), and ii. the intention that H disbelieve that P (Bach and Harnish, 1979) diagreeing differ; disagree; dissent; reject disclosing In uttering e, S disputes the claim that P if S expresses: i. the belief that there is reason not to believe that P, contrary to what was claimed by H (or was otherwise under discussion), and ii. the intention that H believe that there is reason not to believe that P (Bach and Harnish, 1979) disputing demur; dispute; object; protest; question identifying In uttering e, S informs H that P if S expresses: i. the belief that P, and ii. the intention that H form the belief that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) informing advise; annouce; appraise; disclose; inform; insist; notify; point out; report; reveal; tell; testify insisting In uttering e, S predicts that P if S expresses: i. the belief that it will be the case that P, and ii. the intention that H believe that it will be the case that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) predicting forecast; prophesy ranking In uttering e, S retrodicts that P if S expresses: i. the belief that it was the case that P, and ii. the intention that H believe that it was the case that P. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) reporting recount; report; retrodictives stating In uttering e, S supposes that P if S expresses: i. the belief that it is worth considering the consequences of P, and ii. the intention that H believe that it is worth considering the consequences of P. (Back and Harnish, 1979) stipulating assume; hypothesize; posturlate; stipulate; suppose; theorize In uttering e, S apologizes to H for D if S expresses: i. regret for having done D to H, and ii. the intention that H believe that S regrets having done D to H, or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express regret for having done something regrettable like D, and ii. the intention that H take S's utterance as satisfying this expectation. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) apologizing In uttering e, S condoles H for (misfortune) D if S expresses: i. sympathy with H's having (or suffering) D, and ii. the intention that H believe that S sympathizes with H's having D, or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express sympathy for misfortunes like D, and ii. the intention that H take S's utterance as satisfying this expectation. (Bach and Harish, 1979) condoling commiserate; condole In uttering e, S congratulates H for D if S expresses: i. gladness for H's having D(-ed), and ii. the intention that H believe that S is glad that H has D(-ed), or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express gladness for good fortunes like D( -ing), and ii. the intention that H take S's utterance as satisfying this expectation (Bach and Harnish, 1979) congratulating compliment; congratulate; felicitate In uttering e, S greets H if S expresses: i. pleasure at seeing (or meeting) H, and ii. the intention that H believe that S is pleased to see (or meet) H, or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express pleasure at seeing (or meeting) someone, and ii. the intention that H take S's utterance as satisfying this expectation. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) greeting In uttering e, S thanks H for D if S expresses: i. gratitude to H for D, and ii. the intention that H believe that S is grateful to H for D, or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express gratitude at being benefited, and ii. the intention that H take S' s utterance as satisfying this expectation. "No thanks": S thanks H for offering D and rejects the offer (Bach and Harnish, 1979) thanking In uttering e, S accepts H's acknowledgment if S expresses: i. appreciation for H's . acknowledgment, and ii. the intention that H believe that S appreciates H's acknowledgment, or i. the intention that his utterance satisfy the social expectation that one express appreciation of an acknowledgment, and ii. the intention that H take S's utterance as satisfying this expectation. "You're welcome": S accepts H's thanks (Bach and Harnish, 1979) accepting (acknowledging an acknowledgement) contract: Sand H make mutually conditional promises; fulfillment of each is conditional on the fulfillment of the other (Bach and Harnish, 1979) agreeing guarantee that: S affirms (constative) the quality of something, x, and promises to make repairs or restitution if x is relevantly defective. guarantee x: S promises to make repairs or restitution if x is defective in some relevant respect. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) guaranteeing S requests (directive) H's presence and promises acceptance of his presence. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) inviting In uttering e, S offers A to H if S expresses: i. the belief that S's utterance obligates him to A on condition that H indicates he wants S to A, ii. the intention to A on condition that H indicates he wants S to A, and iii. the intention that H believe that S's utterance obligates S to A and that S intends to A, on condition that H indicates he wants S to A. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) offering offer; propose In uttering e, S promises H to A if S expresses: i. the belief that his utterance obligates him to A, ii. the intention to A, and iii. the intention that H believe that S's utterance obligates S to A and that S intends to A. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) promising promise; swear; vow swear that: S asserts (constative) that P and promises that he is telling the truth. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) swearing S offers his services. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) volunteering In uttering e, S advises H to A if S expresses: i. the belief that there is (sufficient) reason for H to A, and ii. the intention thatH take S's belief as (sufficient) reason for him to A. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) advising admonish; advise; caution; counsel; propose; recommend; suggest; urge; warn admonishing In uttering e, S questions H as to whether or not P if S expresses: i. the desire that H tell S whether or not P, and ii. the intention that H tell S whether or not P because of S's desire. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) asking ask; inquire; interrogate; query; question; quiz In uttering e, S requests H to A if S expresses: i. the desire that H do A, and ii. the intention that H do A because (at least partly) of S's desire. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) begging ask; beg; beseech; implore; insiste; invite; petition; plead; pray; request; solicit; summon; supplicate; tell; urge dismissing execusing In uttering e, S prohibits H from A-ing if S expresses: i. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, constitutes sufficient reason for H not to A, and ii. the intention that because of S's utterance H not do A. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) forbidding enjoin; forbid; prohibit; proscribe; restrict instructing In uttering e, S requires H to A if S expresses: i. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, constitutes sufficient reason for H to A, and ii. the intention that H do A because of S's utterance. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) ordering bid; charge; command; demand; dictate; direct; enjoin; instruct; order; prescribe; require In uttering e, S permits H to A if S expresses: i. the belief that his utterance, in virtue of his authority over H, entitles H to A, and ii. the intention that H believe that S's utterance entitles him to A. (Bach and Harnish, 1979) permitting agree to; allow; authorize; bless; consent to; dismiss; execuse; exempt; forgive; grant; license; pardon; release; sanction requesting requiring suggesting urging warning An artifical autonomous system agent software agent A human participant in an interaction (e.g.conversation) with a machine user human user Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Uncommunicative. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved December 2, 2025, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/uncommunicative not disposed to talk or impart information uncommunicative An utterance expressed by entity that is a machine machine utterance a type of utterance that is expressed by human human utterance