Newspaper cartoons can graphically display the results of ambiguity in human sketch. This result can be unexpected and funny. Captioned cartoons derive their humor from a sudden incongruity which can be made to follow by a human being who can automatically use stored world knowledge to resolve the ambiguous situation. Likewise computer analysis of natural language statements also needs to successfully resolve ambiguous situations. Computerized understanding of dialogue that takes place between humans must not only include syntactical and semantical analysis but also pragmatical analysis. Pragmatics consists of an understanding of the speaker's intentions, the context of the utterance, and social implications of polite human communication.

This work addresses the pragmatic and semantic distinctions between natural and artificial languages by the development of a context-free generative grammar to describe motions in modern dance. The dance is a particularly good vehicle as it conveys meaning, but is undescribed by a generative grammar. Whether or not a grammar describing dance motion can be considered to be for a natural or artificial language is unclear.