Earth Ontology

Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman UniversityArabic Language Department

Nawal Bint Ibrahim Al-Hulwa, PhD

Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University (PNU)

We represent the Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman University in Riyadh, KSA. Princess Nora is the sister of King Abdul Aziz, founder of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. This is an emerging public university that was established in CE 2008, based on older renowned faculties specializing in women education. It is considered the first all women university in the world and it is fully managed by a Saudi women work force. It has a capacity of forty-thousand students.

The University is built on the biggest area possible for a fully integrated university campus entirely for women. It has an area of 8 million square meters, encompassing more that fifteen scientific specializations, ranging from theoretical and humanitarian sciences to applied sciences; such as medicine, designs, fine arts, computer sciences, business administration, languages and translation, and arts. All these specializations are specific to women students only. The university campus includes all accommodation, schooling, and hospital utilities. Its residents commute between utilities via a network of internal trains. PNU’s updated vision is directed towards supporting modern applied studies and its specializing knowledge. The PNU environment supports renovation and creativity and sponsors creative people.

Faculty of Arts

The Faculty of Arts is a renowned faculty. Most of its departments have been inaugurated for more than thirty-five years. It includes seven humanitarian specializations; such as Arabic language, history, English language, and Librarianship.

Arabic Language Department

The Arabic Language Department is one of the oldest in the Faculty. It comprises the specializations of language, grammar, conjugation, arts, critique, and both old and new rhetoric. The Department includes around 118 women members, sixty of whom are PhD holders and above. The remaining members are lecturers and teaching assistants.

Nawal Bint Ibrahim Al-Hulwa, PhD

Associate Professor of Linguistics in the Department, owner of the following research products:

1. MA and PhD research in Quranic Readings and their phonetics, letters, grammar and semantics.

2. Post doctorate research in Applied Linguistics, on the application of field, relations, and semantic analysis theories.

3. Research in modern dialects and contemporary languages (the language of Media).

4. Participating member in the establishment of the lexicon for students of the preparatory stage, under the supervision of the King Abdul Aziz City for Science and Technology.

5. For the past five years, I have been looking into language programming, participating with Hind Al-Khalifa, PhD, in building a computerized model for semantic concordance relations and developing the path for post graduate studies in language programming, achieving so far three researches with MA and PhD students.

6. Working for the past three years on text linguistics and pragmatism applications in the Arabic language.

7. Interested in the science of compound semantics as coherence and terminological expressions.

8. During 2009-2012, I became Al-Jazirah Newspaper Research Chair for Modern Linguistic Studies, thus becoming the first Saudi woman to manage a Chair. Through the management process, the following was concluded:

● The establishment of a research group of 110 academics from Saudi Arabia and elsewhere, who have worked on text linguistics, expressions, coherence, language programming, translation from English into Arabic, and training on proficiency in functional and creative linguistic skills.

● Established the Chair for nine research groups according to projects, formed of 40 academics.

● Developed and Organized the Forum for Computer Linguistics and the Forum for Text Linguistics. The forums included a number of lectures and workshops, and they were the first of their kind in the Arab World.

● During three years, the Chair produced five applied linguistic studies, all now under publication, in the fields of language programming, text linguistics, applied linguistics and translation. The translation project team has translated the Theories of Lexical Semantics book, by Dirk Geeraerts, an Oxford publication.

● The Chair research and activities have participated in updating the paths of linguistic research within and outside the University, by attracting researchers in the field of modern linguistic studies; the most important of which being language programming, pragmatism, and compound semantics. We have succeeded in forming a research group in these fields.

● Six months ago, I submitted a proposal for the establishment of an advanced center for Arabic language programming at the Princess Nora Bint Abdul Rahman, under the supervision of Nabil Aly, PhD, Professor of Programming Languages (an Egyptian national). The proposal is currently under study, with the target of becoming the first Arabic Programming Center in the Arab World. Perhaps through this center, we will be able to initiate a number of scientific partnerships and research groups with the Computer Department at Leeds University that can participate in the supporting the Arabic content and develop Arabic language teaching and learning in the future.

● I am currently preparing the Earth Ontology research (submitted herewith); a programming language study based on the Basic (Assassi) Lexicon and the Waseet Lexicon.

Earth OntologyNetwork of Meaning Clusters

This research studies the possibility of establishing a nucleus for the Arabic lexicon vocabulary ontology. Location names have been used as a model that has been built following the WordNet Project; relying on the super-subordinate relation (the hypernymy tree) and synonymy in building the ontology of the Arabic lexicon vocabulary. The research also highlights the Earth ontology that describes Earth components using a number of relations, mainly using the ontology of the Basic Arabic Lexicon (al-Assassi) and al-Waseet Lexicon vocabulary, thus establishing a beginning for proper semantic research.

PROJECT OBJECTIVES

1. Establishing the nucleus of a modern Arabic lexicon, where:● Meanings are grouped in a way more conforming to modern use.● The role of compound words and terminology is amplified.● Meanings are built on the hypernymy tree (Ontology of Arabic

Lexicon vocabulary).2. Establishing the nucleus of a synonyms dictionary at meaning level and

grade of synonymy level.3. Pave the way for semantic research that is based on knowledge

ontology (the Earth Ontology as a model).

Semantic Relations

Relation ExampleSynonymy Marketplace, Store, Bazaar, ShopHyponymy The mountain is a type of heightsHypernymy Animals include horses; horses include poniesHolonymy The hand is a body part

APPLICATIONS USED (Developed by specialized computer specialists)

● Ontology Editor● Arabic Conjugation Analyst● Lexical database (al-Wasset and al-Assassi)

PROJECT PRODUCTS

A. There are several direct products, the most important being:● A nucleus for a modern Arabic lexicon.● A nucleus for a synonyms lexicon.● A nucleus for a contemporary language terminology lexicon.● A nucleus for a collocations lexicon.

B. It is part of the infrastructure of a number of projects, the most important being:

● Categorization of texts.● Semantic analysis for texts.● Automated translation.● Semantic search.

PROJECT OUTPUTS

1. A computer program, showing:● The hepernymy tree for location vocabulary.● The Earth ontology.

2. Reports, including:● Location vocabulary meanings that include the ontology of the

hypernymy tree. ● Synonym vocabulary meanings for the first level. ● Full analysis of the semantic traits of all Earth vocabulary.

THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THIS PROGRAM AND THE WORDNET PROJECT

We are presenting a prototype model, and therefore, it should not be compared with the WordNet project, since the latter is a final product. But it is worth mentioning that WordNet is in English, and that there were several attempts to arabize it, but they all failed.

Hyponymy in Computer Sciences

A. Definition of Hyponymy

Hyponymy is the relation between two words, where the meaning of one word is included in the meaning of the other.

Illustrative Examples:

Word SubclassColor Red – Green - BlueRuler King – Sultan - Prince

Mounts Horse - CamelsCamels Male Camels – Female Camels

B. Conditions for Hyponymy ● The presence of a class with a subclass falling beneath it.● The class must include the meaning of the subclass.● The subclass must be more semantically specific than the class.● Upon semantic analysis, the subclass must have more traits that

make it a subclass to the class.

Important Note:

To choose a word as a subclass to another word, the following question must be first answered: Is the ‘Subclass’ the ‘Class’? If yes, then it is a subclass.

Word Tested as a Subclass

Class Test Answer Result

King RulerIs the king a

ruler?Yes

King is a subclass of

ruler

Yellow Color Is yellow YesYellow is a subclass of

color

Night DayIs night a

day?

No, night is a part of day; the relation of whole to part

(Holonymy)

Night is not a subclass of

day

C. Computer Illustration of Semantic Hyponymy

Image from the Ontology Editor Program

- SC Class: Living Organism

+ SC Class: Humans

- SC Class: Animals

- SC Class: Vertebrates

- SC Class: Mammals

- SC Class: Wild Animals

- SC Class: Cattle

+ SC Class: Livestock

- SC Class: Mounts

- SC Class: Horses

SC Class: Ponies

+ SC Class: Camels

+ SC Class: Donkeys

● Represented in a tree as in the example.● Each tree branch is a category; a Class.● The last branch includes objects or Individuals.● The semantic traits characterized for each category (class) is inherited by

the subclasses under it.● There are many types of relations, the most important being the relation

of whole to part; Holonymy.

Image from the Ontology Editor Program

Essam El-Hadary

- SC Class: Athletes Ahmed Shobeir

- SC Class: Players Ekramy

- SC Class: Ball Players Thabet El-Batal

- SC Class: Soccer Players Individuals Adel El-Maamour

SC Class: Goalkeepers Hussein El-Sayed

+ SC Class: Defenders Nader El-Sayed

+ SC Class: Midfielders Mohamed Abdel Monsef

+ SC Class: Strikers Emad El-Sayed

Zaki Abdel Fattah

D. Ontology

The characterization of certain knowledge in a specific field as a group of concepts, in addition to the relations connecting them.

Elements of Ontology

1. Classes2. Individuals3. Attributes

● Data Properties● Object Properties

4. Relations

Image from the Earth Ontology

Egypt

- SC Class: Earth Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

- R Relation-Class: Land Qatar

+ SC Class: Geographical Areas Sudan

- SC Class: Administrative Areas Libya

SC Class: Continents Individuals Tunisia

SC Class: Countries Algeria

+ SC Class: Governorates Morocco

+ SC Class: Cities Syria

SC Class: Villages Iraq

+ R Relation-Class: Buildings Palestine

- R Relation-Class: Bodies of Water Yemen

SC Class: Oceans Oman

United Arab Emirates

SC Class: Seas Jordan

Bahrain

SC Class: Rivers Somalia Nile River Tigris River Euphrates River

- SC Class: Earth

- R Relation-Class: Land

- SC Class: Geographical Areas

- SC Class: Heights Al-Safa

SC Class: Mountains Al-Marwa

SC Class: Highlands Arafat

SC Class: Hills Al-Tor

SC Class: Hummocks

SC Class: Islands

Serial

General Semantic Indicator

Serial Vocabulary

Distinction Distinction

Remarks1 2

1- Object + Physical+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Land

1- Mountain High Long = Sierra= Tor2- Plain == Less than

the mountain

3- Hill == Less than the plain

4- Hummock == Less than the hill

Table of Semantic Trait Analysis for Earth Vocabulary2- New Method Model

2- Object

+ Physical+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Water

1- Sea Wide Abundant and Deep

= The Deep Blue

2- River Water Stream from the Sea

Part of it

3- Well Stems from the Underground

Deep

4- Valley A pathway to Water

Between mountains and rocks

3- Object + Physical+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Land + Animal shelters

1- Stable Horses

2- Den Lions 3- Hive Bees 4- Tower Pigeons 5- Coop Chicken 6- Paddock Ostriches 7- Shed Livestock 8- Hole Vermin 9- Barn Cattle 10- Nest Birds

4- Object

+ Physical+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Land + Human Residence

1- House Building Made of mud or rocks

= Home = Shelter = Dwelling

2- Residence - - for guests 3- Mansion House - Big Manor 4- Living Room Part of the House Yard For reception

5- Cottage - Center of the house

6- Room - A place upstairs

7- Sitting Room - Sitting place

8- Basement - For residence or storage

9- Tower - An elevated location above the palace fence

Underground Persian

10- Tent Single Room Made of wool or rods

11- Hotel Furnished Lodging

Residence for Travelers for Money

= Lodging= Motel

12- Apartment An independent part in a building

Family residence

13- Building Big Construction

Multiple levels

14- Villa Small House Independent 15- Chalet Lodging

overlooking the Sea

5- Object

+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Land + Place + Trade

1- Market Place for sales and

trade

2- Mall An aggregation of trading

stores

3- Shop Sales = Bazaar= Store

4- Grocery Store

Sales Foods

5- Bakery Sales Bread 6- Stationery Sales Books 7- Supermarke

tGeneral

sales

8- Pharmacy Sales Medicine 9- Fish Market Selling Fish 10- Bar Selling store Liquor

6- Object

+ Physical+ Non-living+ Terrestrial+ Land + Prayer Place

1- Masjid

For Muslims Place for praying = Prayer room

2- Mosque For Muslims == For holding Friday Prayers

3- The Two Holy Mosques

For Muslims Place for Praying Mecca + Medina

4- Monastery For Christians Place of Residence

Monks

5- Church For Christians Worship Place 6- Synagogue For Jews Worship Place

7- Sanctuary Part of the Masjid

The Imam’s place

8- Minaret Part of the Masjid

Place where prayers are called

9- Kaaba Part of the Holy Mosque

For Tawaf

10- Ar-Rawda Part of the Holy Mosque

Worship Place

11- Maqām Part of the Holy Mosque

For Supplication

12- Al-Safa High Place From Masjid Haram

Trip between Al-Safa and Al-Marwa

13- Al-Marwa = = From Masjid Haram

Trip between Al-Safa and Al-Marwa

Table of Semantic Trait Analysis for Earth Vocabulary

1- Old Method Model

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 Remarks1- Land Object Physical Non-Living Terrestrial Solid

2- Water - - - - Liquid 3- Mountain - - - - == High Long = Sierra4- Sea - - - - Water Wide Deep = Deep

Blue5- Mansion - - - - Land Big house From Stone

6- Tent - - - - - Small House

From Wool

7- Orchard - - - - - Much cultivation

From palms and trees

= Heaven

8- Garden - - - - - - From trees

9- Prison - - - - - Abstinent For incarceration

10- Grave - - - - - Burial Place = Event

11- Well - - - - Water Water source

From the underground

= Shaft