https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/Head https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasAssertion https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/assertion https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasProvenance https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasPublicationInfo https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/pubinfo https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#Nanopublication https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/assertion http://id.crossref.org/issn/0891-2017 http://purl.org/dc/terms/title Computational Linguistics https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/dc/terms/abstract What is here called controlled natural language (CNL) has traditionally been given many different names. Especially during the last four decades, a wide variety of such languages have been designed. They are applied to improve communication among humans, to improve translation, or to provide natural and intuitive representations for formal notations. Despite the apparent differences, it seems sensible to put all these languages under the same umbrella. To bring order to the variety of languages, a general classification scheme is presented here. A comprehensive survey of existing English-based CNLs is given, listing and describing 100 languages from 1930 until today. Classification of these languages reveals that they form a single scattered cloud filling the conceptual space between natural languages such as English on the one end and formal languages such as propositional logic on the other. The goal of this article is to provide a common terminology and a common model for CNL, to contribute to the understanding of their general nature, to provide a starting point for researchers interested in the area, and to help developers to make design decisions. https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/dc/terms/date 2014-03 https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/dc/terms/isPartOf http://id.crossref.org/issn/0891-2017 https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/dc/terms/title A Survey and Classification of Controlled Natural Languages https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/authorList https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/author-list https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/pageEnd 170 https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://purl.org/ontology/bibo/pageStart 121 https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type http://purl.org/spar/fabio/Article https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name Tobias Kuhn https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/author-list http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#_1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/assertion http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#wasAttributedTo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/assertion http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#wasDerivedFrom https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/pubinfo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name Tobias Kuhn https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://purl.org/dc/terms/created 2026-02-23T12:52:36.000+01:00 https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator https://w3id.org/np/RAkkUz7qBJ-BIOCHV_4WCTgHCdTyI25_bnRuw166SXjwM/DOI-bot https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://purl.org/dc/terms/license https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/ https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasNanopubType http://purl.org/spar/fabio/ScholarlyWork https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://purl.org/nanopub/x/introduces https://doi.org/10.1162/coli_a_00168 https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label A Survey and Classification of Controlled Natural Languages https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasAlgorithm RSA https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasPublicKey MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEArRL5MjH1KfuE89dpKsIiscF/THrJ4uSvhl0NgaC8x3TdTDrL00kCnlH+2g7PMYhaUQIGWq27TTXHAGp7ehO8yLjRNeDCc8zjUCQJqLbzay3DB51PCiz50OsMgxiZC1+e0bVdk/CAQV4oVo+VgI+awHI1bTT4Yp7pR2I67imf1PIcwczGVhn8EQwtNdWQOZ63wDgUCY+6IubHBQzjLfbYh0828UETEyIV28T7fvf5+y4A5M590InmgkLGpJbRXoL0pnCm1BtFOoxeAVqfivbxIZWPYN2Yd0cSfqwIIUYyaLFpjDrBwc4iJdOus4UQ9OYqkeZDMpU3opU8jWKDIm77jwIDAQAB https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignature L3mWRkxk3NYPmKQjrIhv4GeClOUtiO+icShO3f4Q+XMUgGWQ3FQyCc8rT6b+44M8nlZn2yge8DEKEOh6fGZTGriWYBqk0T2hLfZDuBdPYM1UnUv+81qvNtOTZopc4Ti6G37hxPlx1pwoeC1XDHSKzt2RuQrVo9ASSflS7tO4xkhGgL4sebqFxlQgaMkTWSRb8M/VlmpaMTZTRpDqto9dDL1GgtV9uLJWN9jHQXSMZoVKf8/j1+dlUu51Axb6sjFP0mhzZOD4BCBWBKELXv9xHV3sD0O0RIb364edQmP5CrbAxNeqE1TM6ono3q+1XSGizauO9OL68vp/4z2kVzOShw== https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignatureTarget https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU https://w3id.org/np/RATHprjULjJupWIzQGyieCMVzf0gLPOFGGCN6VmAXj8FU/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/signedBy https://w3id.org/np/RAkkUz7qBJ-BIOCHV_4WCTgHCdTyI25_bnRuw166SXjwM/DOI-bot