We present a platform for developing compositional semantic annotations for formal syntactic representations that allows users to interact with and explore annotations and to track their progress and quality. For this, we provide several forms of visualizations and take inspiration from research in linguistic treebanking. Thus, we contribute to the development of formal semantic parsers and corresponding meaning banks. The system is designed with a regression testing paradigm in mind and provides support for NLI so that the created semantic resources can be developed and validated in a task-driven environment. We defend this paradigm in comparison to modern approaches to semantic parsing that are mainly evaluated on the basis of gold standard annotations.

This paper presents a computational resource for exploring semantic parsing and reasoning through a strictly formal lense. Inspired by the framework of Lexical Functional Grammar, our system allows for modular exploration of different aspects of semantic parsing. It consists of a hand-coded formal grammar combining syntactic and semantic annotations, producing basic semantic representations. The system provides the option to extend these basic semantics via rewrite rules in a principled fashion to explore more complex reasoning. The result is a layered system enabling an incremental approach to semantic parsing. We illustrate this approach with examples from the Fracas testsuite demonstrating its overall functionality and viability.