Semantic Web and Business (Part 3)

In case anyone is confused by all the technical terms used in semantic computing, here is an explicit translation from ontology "language" to English:

• Concept = class = noun = vocabulary word
• Triple = subject-predicate-object (such as "John went to the library" - where "John" is the subject, "went-to" is the predicate, and "library" is the object)
  
• Role = relation = association = the predicate in the triple = verb
  
• Instance = a specific occurrence of a concept or relationship (can be manually defined or inferred)
• Axiom = a statement of fact/truth that is taken for granted (i.e., is not proved)
• Inference = deriving a logical conclusion from definitions and axioms
• T-Box = a set of concepts and relationships (i.e., the definitions)
  
• A-Box = a set of instances of the concepts and relationships
• Hierarchy = arrangement of concepts or instances by some kind of classification/relationship mechanism - typical classification hierarchies are by type ("is-a" relationships - for example, "a tiger is a mammal") or by composition ("has-a" relationships - for example, "a person's name has the strucutre: personal or first name, zero or more middle names, and surname or last name")
• Subsumption = is-a classification (determining the ordering of more general to more specific categories/concepts)
  
• Consistency analysis = check to see that all specific instances make sense given the definitions, rules and axioms of an ontology
  
• Satisfiability analysis = check to see that an instance of a concept can be created (i.e., that creating an instance will not produce an inconsistency/error)
• Key = one or more properties that uniquely identify an individual instance of a concept/class
  
• Monothetic classification = identifying a particular instance with a single key
• Polythetic classification = identifying a particular instance by several possible keys which may not all exist for that instance
  
• Surrogate key = an artificial key
  
• Natural key = a key that has semantic meaning
• CWA = Closed World Assumption (in databases) = anything not explicitly known to be true is assumed to be false (for example, if you know that John is the son of Mary but have a total of 3 children defined - John, Sue and Albert - and you ask who all the children of Mary are ... you get the answer "John" - 1 child)
  
• OWA = Open World Assumption (in semantic computing) = anything not explicitly known is assumed to be true (using the same scenario above, asking the same question ... you get the answer "John, Sue and Albert" - 3 children)
  

These are the terms that come to the top of my mind, when I think about ontologies. But, if there are others, just send me email or leave me a comment.