We describe an interval logic for reasoning about space. The logic simpli es an earlier theory developed by Randell and Cohn, and that of Clarke upon which the former was based. The theory supports a simpler ontology, has fewer de ned functions and relations, yet does not su er in terms of its useful expressiveness. An axiomatisation of the new theory and a comparison with the two original theories is given.

A Spatial Logic based on Regions and Connection.

The purpose of this paper is to defend the systematic introduction of formal ontological principles in the current practice of knowledge engineering, to explore the various relationships between ontology and knowledge representation, and to present the recent trends in this promising research area. According to the "modelling view" of knowledge acquisition proposed by Clancey, the modelling activity must establish a correspondence between a knowledge base and two separate subsystems: the agent's behaviour (i.e. the problem-solving expertise ) and its own environment (the problem domain ). Current knowledge modelling methodologies tend to focus on the former sub-system only, viewing domain knowledge as strongly dependent on the particular task at hand: in fact, AI researchers seem to have been much more interested in the nature of reasoning rather than in the nature of the real world. Recently, however, the potential value of task-independent knowledge bases (or "ontologies") suitable to large scale integration has been underlined in many ways. In this paper, we compare the dichotomy between reasoning and representation to the philosophical distinction between epistemology and ontology. We introduce the notion of the ontological level, intermediate between the epistemological and the conceptual levels discussed by Brachman, as a way to characterize a knowledge representation formalism taking into account the intended meaning of its primitives. We then discuss some formal ontologic distinctions which may play an important role for such purpose.

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Formal ontology, conceptual analysis and knowledge representation

The paper is a overview of the major qualitative spatial representation and reasoning techniques. We survey the main aspects of the representation of qualitative knowledge including ontological aspects, topology, distance, orientation and shape. We also consider qualitative spatial reasoning including reasoning about spatial change. Finally there is a discussion of theoretical results and a glimpse of future work. The paper is a revised and condensed version of [33,34].

Qualitative Spatial Representation and Reasoning: An Overview

A new approach to representing qualitative spatial knowledge and to spatial reasoning is presented This approach is motivated by cognitive considerations and is based on relative orientation information about spatial environments The approach aims at exploiting properties of physical space which surface when the spatial knowledge is structured according to conceptual neighborhood of spatial relations The paper introduces the notion of conceptual neighborhood and its relevance for qualitative temporal reasoning The extension of the benefits to spatial reasoning is suggested Several approaches to qualitative spatial reasoning are briefly reviewed Differences between the temporal and the spatial domain are outlined A way of transferring a qualitative temporal reasoning method to the spatial domain is proposed The resulting neighborhood-oriented representation and reasoning approach is presented and illustrated An example for an application of the approach is discussed

/pdf/using-orientation-information-for-qualitative-spatial-5dnqwpoiib.pdf

Using Orientation Information for Qualitative Spatial Reasoning

From Discourse to Logic

This paper proposes some formal tools for representing the semantic content of French expressions referring to space. These tools consist of first, a relational –or qualitative– geometry encompassing topology, distance notions and projective geometry, as well as temporal notions, thus constituting a rather complete theory of naive space-time; and second, several formalisms to deal with functional aspects of entities such as intrinsic orientation, internal structure and categorizing; more generally, it is claimed that a representation in three levels (geometric, functional and pragmatic) is required to account for spatial expressions' semantics. To analyze the semantics of some of these expressions, this work systematically looks for valid reasoning schemata involving them; this approach also enables the testing of the proposed formal system as well as the evaluation of the definitions obtained for the studied lexemes.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00462578/document

A three-level approach to the semantics of space

Despite a growing interest for space in language, most research has focused on spatial markers specifying the static or dynamic relationships among entities (verbs, prepositions, postpositions, case markings…). Little attention has been paid to the very properties of spatial entities, their status in linguistic descriptions, and their implications for spatial cognition and its development in children. This topic is at the center of this book, that opens a new field by sketching some major theoretical and methodological directions for future research on spatial entities. It brings together linguistic descriptions of spatial systems, formal accounts of linguistic data, and experimental findings from psycholinguistic studies, all couched within a wide cross-linguistic perspective. Such an interdisciplinary approach provides a rich overview of the many questions that remain unanswered in relation to spatial entities, while also throwing a new light on previous research focusing on related topics concerning space and/or the relation between language and cognition.

The Categorization of Spatial Entities in Language and Cognition

The analysis of Internal Localization Nouns (ILNs) is considered here in the framework of the general studies on part-whole relations or meronomies. Data from Basque and French indicate that these lexical elements have semantic and syntactic properties which clearly differentiate them from other meronomic relations, in particular from component nouns usually used for designating functional parts of spatial entities. Beyond a strict opposition, it seems that ILNs diachronicly derive from component nouns and acquire, during such an evolution, semantic properties which make them real relational markers of spatial localization. More generally, this study on ILNs of Basque and French seems to indicate that there exists a general concept of location which plays a great part in the linguistic and cognitive classification of spatial entities and underlies the functioning of several linguistic markers of space.

https://artxiker.ccsd.cnrs.fr/artxibo-00000031/document

Les noms de localisation interne - Tentative de caractérisation sémantique à partir de données du basque et du français

That language hosts a multiplicity of part-whole relations is largely accepted, but no complete formal account is currently available. We first show how most distinctions between part-whole relations can be explained by considering the ontological categories of the arguments. We then focus on "component-integral whole" (CIW), a most important but formally little-studied relation. The analysis of the functional concepts involved leads us to introduce lexical categories and to characterize a notion of functional dependence. On this basis, four cases of CIW are distinguished and formally defined. The contrastive acceptability of determinative compound nouns shows the linguistic relevance of these distinctions. Lastly, we show how the definitions provide a simple solution to the elusive issue of variable transitivity patterns.

/pdf/part-of-relations-functionality-and-dependence-37ph0wg19o.pdf

Part-of relations, functionality and dependence

This paper aims to bring out the spatial properties of motion eventualities by focusing on French intransitive motion verbs. After examining changes of posture and changes of placement, we introduce the concept of change of basic locative relation (J.-P. Boons 1987) in order to accurately grasp the telic processes usually characterized as changes of location. The complex combinatory possibilities as between changes of relation and changes of placement are then illustrated by pinpointing the factors that condition the use of predicates of change of placement in utterances denoting changes of relation and placement (the notion of tendenciality). Finally, a categorization of French intransitive verbs of change of relation and placement is proposed, which is based on the way these two notions interact in their semantics.

https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/hal-00937871/document

Michel Aurnague

Papers

A three-level approach to the semantics of space

The Categorization of Spatial Entities in Language and Cognition

Les noms de localisation interne - Tentative de caractérisation sémantique à partir de données du basque et du français

Part-of relations, functionality and dependence

How motion verbs are spatial: The spatial foundations of intransitive motion verbs in French