Ontology-revision operators based on reinterpretation

Communication between natural or artificial agents relies on the use of a common vocabulary. Since sharing terms does not necessarily imply that the terms have exactly the same meanings for all agents, integrating (trigger) statements into a formal ontology requires mechanisms for resolving conflicts that are caused by the ambiguity of terms specified in different but similar ontologies. We define and analyze a family of ontology-revision operators that resolve conflicts by disambiguating concept symbols occurring in both the ontology and the trigger statements. The operators yield bridging axioms relating the different readings of the terms and, by including representations for both readings, preserve the initial ontology as well as the trigger statements. The operators differ regarding which reading of the ambiguous term is assigned to further uses of the common term and regarding the semantic relation assumed between the two readings. The ontology-revision operators are ana...

• Type: Journal
• Year: 2010
• Where: IGPL
• Authors: Carola Eschenbach, Özgür L. Özçep
• Keywords: IGPL 2010, Ontology-revision Operators, Operators, Trigger Statements