ISO TC 37 Standards

Basic Principles of Terminology

Networked Knowledge Organization

Systems/Services
NKOS
Sue Ellen Wright
Institute for Applied Linguistics,
Kent State University
 Standards for the Language Industry

 Translation & localization, multilingual text

representation, Internet content, multilingual
content management
 See:
http://appling.kent.edu/ResourcePages/LTStandards/Chart/Lang
uageTechnologyStandards.htm

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 ISO TC 37 Terminology and
other Language Resources

 Standards for the basic principles of

terminology management
 Standards for layout and lexicography
 Standards for computerized terminology
management
 Standards for natural language processing
applications
 Metadata registry for all of the above

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 Language Codes

 ISO 639:1988 Code for the representation of names of

languages
 ISO 639-2:1998 Code for the representation of names of
languages - Part 2: Alpha-3 code
 ISO CD 639-3:2003 Code for the representation of names of
languages - Part 3: Alpha-3 code for comprehensive coverage
of languages
 ISO NWI 639-4:2003 Code for the representation of names of
languages - Part 4: Implementation guidelines and general
principles for language coding
 ISO NWI 639-5:2003 Code for the representation of names of
languages - Part 5: Alpha-3 code for language families and
groups
 ISO NWI 639-6:2003 Code for the representation of names of
languages - Part 6: Alpha-4 code [for dialects]

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 Core TC 37 Standards

 ISO 704:2000 Terminology work - Principles

and methods
 ISO 860:1996 Terminology work -
Harmonization of concepts and terms
 ISO 1087-1:2000 Terminology work -
Vocabulary - Part 1: Theory and application
 ISO 1087-2:2000 Terminology work -
Vocabulary - Part 2: Computer applications

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 Terminological View

 Objects
 perceived or conceived, concrete or abstract
 abstracted or conceptualized into concepts
 Concepts
 depict or correspond to a set of objects based on a
defined set of characteristics
 represented or expressed in language by designations or
by definitions
 organized into concept systems
 Designations
 represented as terms, names (appellations) or symbols
 designate or represent a concept
 attributed to a concept by consensus within a special
language community
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 Fundamental Activities

 Identifying concepts and concept relations;

 Analyzing and modeling concept systems on the
basis of identified concepts and concept relations;
 Establishing representations of concept systems
through concept diagrams;
 Crafting concept-oriented definitions;
 Attributing designations (predominantly terms) to
each concept in one or more languages; and,
 Recording and presenting terminological data,
principally in terminological entries stored in
print and electronic media (terminography).

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 Frege, Peirce, Ogden & Richards

Unit of Thinking (Concept)

(Unit of Thought,
Unit of Knowledge)

Designation Referent
(Concrete Object,
(Symbol, Sign,
Real Thing,
Term, Formula
Conceived Object)
etc.)

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 A Concept
 A mental image used for thinking &
communication
 Question of psychological primes and
prototypes
 Conditioned by:
 Language & culture
 Individual point of view & experience
 Time, space
 The blind man and the elephant

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 Properties and characteristics

 Property: any quality, attribute, or

feature of an object
 Characteristic: essential features that
determine the identify of the concept
associated with the object
 The significance of properties varies
with:
 The object in question, its function
 Point of view

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 Characteristics

 Characteristics used for:

 Analyzing concepts
 Modelling concept systems
 Formulating definitions
 Forming designations.
 Essential characteristics
 Comprise the intension of the concept
 Delimiting characteristics
 Characteristic that distinguishes the concept
from related concepts

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 Properties vs. Characteristics
object/visual representation concept: designation
abstraction (term):
based on: lead pencil
one of the set of all lead pencils
(extension)

category property characteristic

level of concreteness concreteness

abstraction made of a long, thin piece of graphite core
graphite
composition wood casing surrounds graphite graphite core is encased in wood
colour casing is yellow casing may be any colour
composition at one end there is an eraser one end may have an eraser
shape other end sharpened to a point one end may be sharpened to a point
usage graphite&casing sharpened for use graphite & casing sharpened for use
medium graphite is writing medium graphite is writing medium
function used for writing or making marks used for making marks

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 Concept Relations

 hierarchical relations
 superordinate concept + subordinate
concepts
 generic relations
 generic concept + specific concepts
 partitive relations
 comprehensive concept + partitive
concepts

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 Concept Relations

 associative relations
raw material – product action - equipment/tool
material - property material - state
concrete item - shape matter/substance

concrete item - material target, action

quantity - unit action. typical agent

place/location action - actor

Compare: related term

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 Modeling Concept Systems

 Select the concept field, the preliminary

designations and concepts to be treated by taking
into account the subject field, the user group and its
needs.
 Analyze the intension and extension of each concept.
 Determine the relation and position of these concepts
within the concept system.
 Formulate and evaluate definitions for the concepts
based on the concept relations.
 Attribute designations [terms or other forms of
representation] to each concept.

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 Tree Diagram (Generic)

plant
1

flowering bush
plant tree 1.1
1.3 1.2

evergreen
deciduous
1.2.1
1.2.2

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 Bracket Diagram (Partitive)

tree (comprehensive concept)

crown branch twig trunk bark core sapwood root

(partitive concepts)

 Limited in its representational scope

 Difficult to include details
 Not widely accepted in the US
 Useful for representing mixed generic /
meronymic systems
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 Concept Systems & Thesauri

Broader term Superordinate concept

Hypernym
Parent
Narrower term Subordinate concept
Hyponym
Child
Sibling Coordinate Concept

Use / Use for Preferred / Deprecated

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 Significant Differences

 Principle of term autonomy: although some terms

may be identified as preferred or deprecated, there is
no assignment of synonyms or related words to a
“use/use for” system as in controlled vocabularies. All
terms are defined with the same degree of detail.
 Terms qualified with respect to term status:
 Preferred terms
 Admitted terms
 Deprecated terms
 Obsolete terms

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 Terminological Entry

Term Concept
Term

Term Term

Term Term

(All terms associated with a single concept; compare to concept of

the synonym ring, + multilingual equivalents.)
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 Terminological Entry

 rattle
 Subject Field: snakes
 Definition: The tail structure of the
poisonous North American genera
Crotalus and Sisturus which has been
modified into a series of horny, loose-
fitting structures that produce a buzzing
sound when vibrated.
 Equivalent terms (other languages) ...

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 Form of Definitions

 Preferably intentional definitions

 The statement of a superordinate or broader
concept followed by a statement of the essential
characteristics making up the intension of the
concept, with emphasis on the delimiting
characteristic(s) that differentiate that concept
from similar concepts
 Always defined with reference to a specific
subject field

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 Intensional Definitions

plant (superordinate concept; generic concept)

A living thing which grows in earth, in water or on
other plants.
Note: It usually has a stem, leaves, roots and flowers and produces seeds and
can make its own food. Trees are plants, but the word is mainly used for those
plants which are smaller than trees.

tree (subordinate concept; specific concept)

A tall plant which has a wooden trunk and branches that grow from
its upper part

bush (subordinate concept; specific concept)

A plant with many small branches growing either directly from the
ground or from a hard woody stem, giving the plant a rounded shape

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 An Implied Sentence

Implied Implied
subject: verb (copula):

[An account is] a user ID and disk area

restricted for the use of a particular
person, which is usually password
protected.
(The definition itself is a predicate.
Note: DIN allows for the repetition of the subject within
the definition.)
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 Components of the Definition

 Subject (the designation)

 The term as an implied subject
 Copula
 In place of the implied verb “is”
 Colon, dash, carriage return
 Predicate
 Statement of genus & listing of essential
and delimiting characteristics

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  TASK 1 Study Chapters 2.4 and 2.5 in The
Pavel Tutorial at
http://www.btb.gc.ca/btb-pavel.php?page=tdm-
toc&lang=eng&contlang=eng

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 Leveraging ontological information
from terminology resources

 Using the concept of well-formed definitions to use

automatic parsing routines for:
 Compilation of intelligent enhanced corpora (marking up
intelligent, intranet-bounded corpora)
 Information extraction
 Terminology mining
 Automatically creating draft concept systems
 Leveraging back and forth across different kinds of
information resources: terminological concept systems,
thesauri, taxonomies, and rule-based ontologies

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 For More Information

Sue Ellen Wright

Institute for Applied Linguistics
Kent State University
109 Satterfield Hall
Kent, Ohio 44242, USA

sewright@neo.rr.com
sellenwright@gmail.com

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