Manpage of WNGLOSS
WNGLOSS
Section: WordNet\(tm (7WN)
Updated: July 2003
Index
Return to Main Contents
NAME
wngloss - glossary of terms used in WordNet system
DESCRIPTION
The WordNet Reference Manual consists of Unix-style manual pages
divided into sections as follows:
| Section | Description
|
|
| 1 | WordNet User Commands
|
| 3 | WordNet Library Functions
|
| 5 | WordNet File Formats
|
| 7 | Miscellaneous Information about WordNet
|
|
System Description
The WordNet system consists of lexicographer files, code to convert
these files into a database, and search routines and interfaces that
display information from the database. The lexicographer files
organize nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs into groups of synonyms,
and describe relations between synonym groups.
grind(1WN)
converts the lexicographer files into a database that encodes the
relations between the synonym groups. The different interfaces to the
WordNet database utilize a common library of search routines to
display these relations. Note that the lexicographer files and
grind(1WN)
program are not generally distributed.
Database Organization
Information in WordNet is organized around logical groupings called
synsets. Each synset consists of a list of synonymous words or
collocations (eg. "fountain pen", "take in"), and pointers
that describe the relations between this synset and other synsets. A
word or collocation may appear in more than one synset, and in more
than one part of speech. The words in a synset are logically grouped
such that they are interchangeable in some context.
Two kinds of relations are represented by pointers: lexical and
semantic. Lexical relations hold between word forms; semantic
relations hold between word meanings. These relations include (but
are not limited to) hypernymy/hyponymy, antonymy, entailment, and
meronymy/holonymy.
Nouns and verbs are organized into hierarchies based on the
hypernymy/hyponymy relation between synsets. Additional pointers are
be used to indicate other relations.
Adjectives are arranged in clusters containing head synsets and
satellite synsets. Each cluster is organized around antonymous pairs
(and occasionally antonymous triplets). The antonymous pairs (or
triplets) are indicated in the head synsets of a cluster. Most head
synsets have one or more satellite synsets, each of which represents a
concept that is similar in meaning to the concept represented by the
head synset. One way to think of the adjective cluster organization
is to visualize a wheel, with a head synset as the hub and satellite
synsets as the spokes. Two or more wheels are logically connected via
antonymy, which can be thought of as an axle between the wheels.
Pertainyms are relational adjectives and do not follow the structure
just described. Pertainyms do not have antonyms; the synset for a
pertainym most often contains only one word or collocation and a
lexical pointer to the noun that the adjective is "of or pertaining
to". Participial adjectives have lexical pointers to the verbs that
they are derived from.
Adverbs are often derived from adjectives, and sometimes have
antonyms; therefore the synset for an adverb usually contains a
lexical pointer to the adjective from which it is derived.
See
wndb(5WN)
for a detailed description of the database files and how the data are
represented.
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Many terms used in the WordNet Reference Manual are unique to
the WordNet system. Other general terms have specific meanings when
used in the WordNet documentation. Definitions for many of these
terms are given to help with the interpretation and understanding of
the reference manual, and in the use of the WordNet system.
In following definitions word is used in place of word or
collocation.
- adjective cluster
-
A group of adjective synsets that are organized around antonymous
pairs or triplets. An adjective cluster contains two or more head
synsets which represent antonymous concepts.
Each head synset has one or more satellite synsets.
- attribute
-
A noun for which adjectives express values.
The noun weight is an attribute, for which the adjectives
light and heavy express values.
- base form
-
The base form of a word or collocation is the form to which
inflections are added.
- basic synset
-
Syntactically, same as synset. Term is used in
wninput(5WN)
to help explain differences in entering synsets in lexicographer
files.
- collocation
-
A collocation in WordNet is a string of two or more words, connected
by spaces or hyphens. Examples are: man-eating~shark,
blue-collar, depend~on, line~of~products. In the
database files spaces are represented as underscore (_)
characters.
- coordinate
-
Coordinate terms are nouns or verbs that have the same hypernym.
- cross-cluster pointer
-
A semantic pointer from one adjective cluster to another.
- derivationally related forms
-
A search that displays lexical links between terms in different
syntactic categories that have the same root form.
- direct antonyms
-
A pair of words between which there is an associative bond built up by
co-occurrences. In adjective clusters, direct antonyms appears
only in head synsets.
- domain
-
A topical classification to which a synset has been linked with a
CATEGORY, REGION or USAGE pointer.
- domain term
-
A synset belonging to a topical class. A domain term is further
identified as being a CATEGORY_TERM, REGION_TERM or USAGE_TERM.
- entailment
-
A verb X entails Y if X cannot be done unless Y is,
or has been, done.
- exception list
-
Morphological transformations for words that are not regular and
therefore cannot be processed in an algorithmic manner.
- group
-
Verb senses that similar in meaning and thus manually grouped
together.
- gloss
-
Definition and/or example sentences for a synset.
- head synset
-
Synset in an adjective cluster containing at least one word
that has a direct antonym.
- holonym
-
The name of the whole of which the meronym names a part. Y
is a holonym of X if X is a part of Y.
- hypernym
-
The generic term used to designate a whole class of specific instances.
Y is a hypernym of X if X is a (kind of) Y.
- hyponym
-
The specific
term used to designate a member of a class. X is a hyponym of
Y if X is a (kind of) Y.
- indirect antonym
-
An adjective in a satellite synset that does not have a
direct antonym
has an indirect antonyms via the direct antonym of the head synset.
- lemma
-
Lower case ASCII text of word as found in the WordNet database index
files. Usually the base form for a word or collocation.
- lexical pointer
-
A lexical pointer indicates a relation between words in synsets (word
forms).
- lexicographer file
-
Files containing the raw data for WordNet synsets, edited by lexicographers,
that are input to the grind program to generate a WordNet database.
- lexicographer id (lex id)
-
A decimal integer that, when appended onto lemma, uniquely
identifies a sense within a lexicographer file.
- monosemous
-
Having only one sense in a syntactic category.
- meronym
-
The name of a constituent part of, the substance of, or a member of
something. X is a meronym of Y if X is a part of Y.
- part of speech
-
WordNet defines "part of speech" as either noun, verb, adjective, or
adverb. Same as syntactic category.
- participial adjective
-
An adjective that is derived from a verb.
- pertainym
-
A relational adjective. Adjectives that are pertainyms are usually
defined by such phrases as "of or pertaining to" and do not have
antonyms. A pertainym can point to a noun or another pertainym.
- polysemous
-
Having more than one sense in a syntactic category.
- polysemy count
-
Number of senses of a word in a syntactic category, in WordNet.
- postnominal
-
A postnominal adjective occurs only immediately following the noun
that it modifies.
- predicative
-
An adjective that can be used only in predicate positions. If X
is a predicate adjective, it can be used in such phrases as "it is
X".
- prenominal
-
An adjective that can occur only before the noun that it modifies.
- satellite synset
-
Synset in an adjective cluster representing a concept that is
similar in meaning to the concept represented by its head
synset.
- semantic concordance
-
A textual corpus (Brown Corpus) and a lexicon (WordNet) so combined
that every substantive word in the text is linked to its appropriate
sense in the lexicon via a semantic tag.
- semantic tag
-
A pointer from a text file to a specific sense of a word in the
WordNet database. A semantic tag in a semantic concordance is
represented by a sense key.
- semantic pointer
-
A semantic pointer indicates a relation between synsets (word
meanings).
- sense
-
A meaning of a word in WordNet. Each sense of a word is in a
different synset.
- sense key
-
Information necessary to find a sense in the WordNet database. A
sense key combines a lemma field and codes for the synset type,
lexicographer id, lexicographer file number, and information about a
satellite's head synset, if required. See
senseidx(5WN)
for a description of the format of a sense key.
- subordinate
-
Same as hyponym.
- superordinate
-
Same as hypernym.
- synset
-
A synonym set; a set of words that are interchangeable in some
context.
- troponym
-
A verb expressing a specific manner elaboration of another verb.
X is a troponym of Y if to X is to Y in some manner.
- unique beginner
-
A noun synset with no superordinate.
Index
- NAME
-
- DESCRIPTION
-
- System Description
-
- Database Organization
-
- GLOSSARY OF TERMS
-
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Time: 21:32:08 GMT, May 16, 2005
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