Semiotics of Terminology : A semiotic Knowledge Profile (original) (raw)

Nodes and arcs: concept map, semiotics, and knowledge organization

Journal of Documentation, 2013

Purpose – The purpose of the research reported here is to improve comprehension of the socially-negotiated identity of concepts in the domain of knowledge organization. Because knowledge organization as a domain has as its focus the order of concepts, both from a theoretical perspective and from an applied perspective, it is important to understand how the domain itself understands the meaning of a concept. Design/methodology/approach – The paper provides an empirical demonstration of how the domain itself understands the meaning of a concept. The paper employs content analysis to demonstrate the ways in which concepts are portrayed in KO concept maps as signs, and they are subjected to evaluative semiotic analysis as a way to understand their meaning. The frame was the entire population of formal proceedings in knowledge organization – all proceedings of the International Society for Knowledge Organization’s international conferences (1990-2010) and those of the annual classification workshops of the Special Interest Group for Classification Research of the American Society for Information Science and Technology (SIG/CR). Findings – A total of 344 concept maps were analyzed. There was no discernible chronological pattern. Most concept maps were created by authors who were professors from the USA, Germany, France, or Canada. Roughly half were judged to contain semiotic content. Peirceian semiotics predominated, and tended to convey greater granularity and complexity in conceptual terminology. Nodes could be identified as anchors of conceptual clusters in the domain; the arcs were identifiable as verbal relationship indicators. Saussurian concept maps were more applied than theoretical; Peirceian concept maps had more theoretical content

Semiotic Triangle Revisited for the Purposes of Ontology-based Terminology Management

2010

In this paper, we examine the limitations of the traditional semiotic triangle from the point of view of ontology-based, multipurpose terminology management and suggest an alternative model based on the concept of terminological lexeme. The new model is being tested in the TermFactory project aimed at creating a platform and a workflow for distributed collaborative ontology-based terminology work.

Concept Theory and Conceit Theory Ontology and Logology Between Conceptuality and Non-Conceptuality in Knowledge Organization

Knowledge Organization at the Interface, 2020

Knowledge Organization (KO) has a historically established construction based on a concept theory according to the Aristotelian model. It is from the Organon that the primary theoretical basis of documentary-language thinking is established. One can identify the construction of conceptual thinking in classical approaches such as Ranganathan's classification theory. More directly, Dahlberg's theory of concept proves the demarcating point of view of the Aristotelian foundation in KO. However, even in such approaches as Ranganathan's, one can also identify another theoretical tradition in classification theory concerned with constructing a nonconceptual approach. It is from Emanuele Tesauro that we can conceive a non-conceptual theory, establishing a given conceit theory. This research aims to point out the dichotomies and correlations between a concept theory and a non-conceptual one in KO. The research method is theoretical, structured from the perspective of a historical epistemology with a pragmatic background. At first, the historical-theoretical place of concept theory in the KO is determined. Later, the foundation of a non-conceptual theory (or conceit theory) is identified. Furthermore, the relationship between theories in historical and contemporary development in the classification theory is discussed. From the Aristotelian categories, one can understand a method for the relationship between signifier, meaning, and referent, and establish the associations of meaning between terms. The non-conceptuality theory can be historically identified in Emanuele Tesauro. From his Categorical Index, published in the Cannocchiale aristotelico, the condition of concept (and no-concept) is the apex of a variety of chain of rhetorical being, and it points to the creation and progressive unfolding of language figures (conceit elements). According to the French philosopher, Barbara Cassin, the theory of non-conceptuality lays the foundation or logology perspective for a semiotic-semiological-pragmatic focus and encounters the later Wittgenstein, Michel Foucault, and symbolic and poststructuralist approaches. Coincidentally, sources such as Bernd Frohmann, Søren Brier, and Hope Olson will devote themselves to the study of these philosophers to re-discuss the KO. The results lead us to the discussion of different ontological distinctions of language in the tradition of research in KO, as well as the possibilities of critical-social construction of a non-conceptual perspective. The conclusions point to the common origin of the Aristotelian nature of conceptual thinking and non-conceptual thinking.

Knowledge Structures and Ways of Their Description in Cognitive Terminology Research

Terminologija, 2019

Cognitive Terminology appeared as a continuation of previous stages of termi- nological studies and is based on the anthropocentric principle, attention to cognition and communication. This interdisciplinary and comprehensive appro- ach brings forth new objectives, foundations, methodology and procedures. They present a terminological meaning in relation to personal thoughts reflec- ting social, pragmatic and other extra-linguistic factors in knowledge structures according to cognitive mechanisms and categorization in the on-going inte- raction in specialized discourse. In discourse of modern technology, telecommunication, legal court communi- cation and discourse of clinical psychiatry nominative terminological units do- minate. They are shown in the paper on the basis of various cognitive mo- dels – propositions as part of cognitive-onomasiological modelling, image schemas, conceptual metonymy and metaphor, frames representing terminolo- gical systems as dynamic models of human cognition. The variability of con- cepts and the specificity of common and special knowledge conceptualization in terminological units functioning in professional discourse is biased with the answer to intricate questions of the perceptual and conceptual sources of term formation in interaction and terminological systems.

Knowledge Organization in the Philosophical Domain: Dealing with Polysemy in Thesaurus Building

Knowledge Organization, 2009

This paper focuses on polysemy, the phenomenon by which a word has a network of multiple but related senses, as a characterizing feature of the philosophical lexicon. Many philosophical terms, in fact, are typified by a considerable stratification of meaning, which originates from the history of their semantics, where meanings accumulate over time and past knowledge is continually reintroduced and reelaborated into new forms of theorizations. Developing a domain-specific knowledge organization system (KOS), like a thesaurus, would be largely affected by this feature. The demand for semantic disambiguation is, in fact, amplified. Furthermore, together with their frequent polysemy, the level of abstraction of the philosophical terms and the conceptual complexity of this domain make the thesaural semantic arrangement, especially the hierarchical structures, rather difficult to be set up. On the basis of a Wittgensteinian conception of meaning and its implication for information retrieval issues, some preliminary ideas on how to proceed on this topic are presented.

The Use of Thesaural Facets and Definitions for the Representation of Knowledge Structures

2014

Abstmct Terminological definitions establish relations between terms and concepts by specifying the characteristics of each concept and locating it in the knowledge area. Using results from a largely automatic analysis of standardised, (BSI/ISO) definitions, this paper demonstrates that technical definitions are rich in tecm content and that they contain a number of relations which can be used in the construction of a tenninological control device such as a terminological thesaurus. Such a thesaurus will contain the keyconcepts of the domain, and can be used by technical authors to produce texts with greater consistency of terminology.

Theories of knowledge organization — theories of knowledge

Any ontological theory commits us to accept and classify a number of phenomena in a more or less specific way – and vice versa: a classification tends to reveal the theoretical outlook of its creator. Objects and their descriptions and relations are not just “given” but determined by theories. Knowledge is fallible and consensus is rare. By implication, knowledge organization has to consider different theories/views and their foundations. Bibliographical classifications depend on subject knowledge and on the same theories as corresponding scientific and scholarly classifications. Some classifications are based on logical distinctions, others on empirical examinations, and some on mappings of common ancestors or on establishing functional criteria. To evaluate a classification is to involve oneself in the research which has produced the given classification. Because research is always based more or less on specific epistemological ideals (e.g. empiricism, rationalism, historicism or pragmatism), the evaluation of classification includes the evaluation of the epistemological foundations of the research on which given classifications have been based. The field of knowledge organization itself is based on different approaches and traditions such as user-based and cognitive views, facet-analytical views, numeric taxonomic approaches, bibliometrics and domain-analytic approaches. These approaches and traditions are again connected to epistemological views, which have to be considered. Only the domain-analytic view is fully committed to exploring knowledge organization in the light of subject knowledge and substantial scholarly theories.

Semiotics for Ontologies and Knowledge Representation

2005

The Semantic Web implies the comprehensive use of the main semiotic postulates on the Web. One of the most important facts about human understanding comes from the area of linguistics and semiotics. The semiotic techniques, such as syntagm and paradigm are explained through the examples in learning environment, in the context of logical understanding and knowledge representation on the Web.