The Distinction between Linguistic and Conceptual Semantics in Medical Terminology and its Implication for NLP-Based Knowledge Acquisition

W. Ceusters; F. Buekens; G. De Moor; A. Waagmeester

doi:10.1055/s-0038-1634568

Methods of Information in Medicine, Inhaltsverzeichnis

Methods Inf Med 1998; 37(04/05): 327-333
DOI: 10.1055/s-0038-1634568

Original Article

Schattauer GmbH

The Distinction between Linguistic and Conceptual Semantics in Medical Terminology and its Implication for NLP-Based Knowledge Acquisition

Authors

W. Ceusters

¹Language and Computing NV, Zonnegem, Belgium

²Department of Medical Informatics, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium
F. Buekens

³Department of Philosophy, University of Tilburg, The Netherlands
G. De Moor

²Department of Medical Informatics, University Hospital Ghent, Belgium
A. Waagmeester

¹Language and Computing NV, Zonnegem, Belgium

⁴Department of Medical Informatics, University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Abstract

Natural language understanding systems have to exploit various kinds of knowledge in order to represent the meaning behind texts. Getting this knowledge in place is often such a huge enterprise that it is tempting to look for systems that can discover such knowledge automatically. We describe how the distinction between conceptual and linguistic semantics may assist in reaching this objective, provided that distinguishing between them is not done too rigorously. We present several examples to support this view and argue that in a multilingual environment, linguistic ontologies should be designed as interfaces between domain conceptualizations and linguistic knowledge bases.

Keywords

Ontology - Natural Language - Conceptual Semantics - Linguistic Semantics

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Referenzen

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