https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/Head https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasAssertion https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/assertion https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasProvenance https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#hasPublicationInfo https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/pubinfo https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#type http://www.nanopub.org/nschema#Nanopublication https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/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/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/author-list 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://schema.org/affiliation https://ror.org/02crff812 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 http://schema.org/affiliation https://ror.org/05a28rw58 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name Tobias Kuhn https://ror.org/02crff812 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name University of Zurich, Switzerland https://ror.org/05a28rw58 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name ETH Zurich, Switzerland https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/author-list http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#_1 https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/provenance https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/assertion http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#wasAttributedTo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/assertion http://www.w3.org/ns/prov#wasDerivedFrom https://doi.org/10.1162/COLI_a_00168 https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/pubinfo https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1267-0234 http://xmlns.com/foaf/0.1/name Tobias Kuhn https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/dc/terms/created 2026-02-10T12:00:00.000+01:00 https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/dc/terms/creator https://w3id.org/np/RAkkUz7qBJ-BIOCHV_4WCTgHCdTyI25_bnRuw166SXjwM/DOI-bot https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/dc/terms/license https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasNanopubType http://purl.org/spar/fabio/ScholarlyWork https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/nanopub/x/introduces https://doi.org/10.1162/COLI_a_00168 https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://purl.org/nanopub/x/supersedes https://w3id.org/np/temp/RArsEyakpD-49TQFisRSXTawKLDD2cpj-NC-Aoh56mGDI https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#label A Survey and Classification of Controlled Natural Languages https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasAlgorithm RSA https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasPublicKey MIIBIjANBgkqhkiG9w0BAQEFAAOCAQ8AMIIBCgKCAQEArRL5MjH1KfuE89dpKsIiscF/THrJ4uSvhl0NgaC8x3TdTDrL00kCnlH+2g7PMYhaUQIGWq27TTXHAGp7ehO8yLjRNeDCc8zjUCQJqLbzay3DB51PCiz50OsMgxiZC1+e0bVdk/CAQV4oVo+VgI+awHI1bTT4Yp7pR2I67imf1PIcwczGVhn8EQwtNdWQOZ63wDgUCY+6IubHBQzjLfbYh0828UETEyIV28T7fvf5+y4A5M590InmgkLGpJbRXoL0pnCm1BtFOoxeAVqfivbxIZWPYN2Yd0cSfqwIIUYyaLFpjDrBwc4iJdOus4UQ9OYqkeZDMpU3opU8jWKDIm77jwIDAQAB https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignature YKFZwin3q/zE1DO28H4EuOb7Fx/lcs4kRkFpqUYTD+cmzdsNjsLrgzqxAt3UvhF1HMdXiCdL5LDGGKrTIPRZz1PI+/5euvzaVWNEAzVZ6mZlEH8rDYQKWmOBwfc9cc6aPjgjys8y08q3JpqjqMIDwwMnud1FLEYq+Ps7Locnnz4+vJ1bGqWRZApguhfc9HBcqV372MH+mmTqizql1WfyxrC1YSrKqhe9ZlEgTd87ls6Zk/9Xr8K/6GbEAuZvW1A/ehXRraiLXvrZevUheXlHuddDL0KTOsdXEW/iV78waEN17vyIQJxhuWeW+4z08EK6Egmayq1TlFZkAt974x1y4Q== https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/hasSignatureTarget https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA https://w3id.org/np/RA-NixI7h9Go2z1rCE7sBoXiv0CRbRArbN8f3Mv__JbnA/sig http://purl.org/nanopub/x/signedBy https://w3id.org/np/RAkkUz7qBJ-BIOCHV_4WCTgHCdTyI25_bnRuw166SXjwM/DOI-bot