Re: [ontolog-forum] UML and Semantics

[Adrian Walker <adriandwalker@xxxxxxxxx>]

Hi John & All,

On Wed, Dec 5, 2012 at 10:29 AM, John F Sowa <sowa@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:

TQA was called "natural language", but I would call it a CNL, since
it was completely specified by a formal grammar and a mapping to
first-order logic.  The users loved it, but it required a PhD linguist
at IBM Yorktown to update and extend the ontology.

Yes, and every natural language query system since has suffered more or less from the same problem -- unmaintainable, particularly given the rate of change of English usage.

The only exception I know about is [1], which makes some trade offs to allow end-authors and users freedom to use their own words and phrases when specifying knowledge.  There's no dictionary, and no grammar of English, yet the practical semantics "just work". 

Sceptics are cordially invited to run the examples provided, and to write and run their own examples, by pointing a browser to the site.

For the onto-philosophically inclined, there's a challenge to Chomsky tucked away in this.

                                -- Adrian

[1]  Internet Business Logic
A Wiki and SOA Endpoint for Executable Open Vocabulary English Q/A over SQL and RDF
Online at www.reengineeringllc.com  
Shared use is free, and there are no advertisements

Adrian Walker
Reengineering

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