Dear Deb,

Ah. That makes sense. Then the answer is yes and no. One of the problems with primitives is that if you are developing an ontology, then it is quite likely that entities that start out primitive may acquire a complete definition over time. That’s not going to happen to Prime Numbers. You need to know which are your primitive entities though, because they are the ones you really need a text definition for to point you at the intended interpretation, and for which you particularly need to look out for unintended interpretations. It can be surprising how many explicit entities in an ontology are actually primitive, this is because we often leave out the ones that can be inferred because they are completely defined.

Regards

Matthew West

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From:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf OfDebmacp
Sent:29 February 2012 01:42
To:[ontolog-forum]
Subject:Re: [ontolog-forum] Constructs, primitives, terms

Hi Matthew - mainly the explanation of primatives - maybe they are like prime numbers that don't get divided. Deb

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2012, at 10:42 AM, "Matthew West" <dr.matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Dear Deborah,

Sorry, not sure what you are getting at.

Regards

Matthew West

Information Junction

Tel: +44 1489 880185

Mobile: +44 750 3385279

Skype: dr.matthew.west

matthew.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.informationjunction.co.uk/

http://www.matthew-west.org.uk/

This email originates from Information Junction Ltd. Registered in England and Wales No. 6632177.

Registered office: 2 Brookside, Meadow Way, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3JE.

From:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf OfDebmacp
Sent:28 February 2012 13:26
To:[ontolog-forum]
Cc:[ontolog-forum]
Subject:Re: [ontolog-forum] Constructs, primitives, terms

Hi Matthew - do you think there are parallels in mathematics - ie prime numbers? Deborah MacPherson

Sent from my iPhone

On Feb 28, 2012, at 4:14 AM, "Matthew West" <dr.matthew.west@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Dear Marcelino,

I’ll take a crack at these:

Construct: A syntactic structure that is itself devoid of meaning, but can have many meanings placed on it. E.g. the subject, verb, object structure can take on different meanings with the use of different subjects, objects, and verbs.

Primitive: A term that is not fully defined by logical constructs in terms of other terms in a theory (a text definition does not count). For example, a class that is defined as the intersection of two other classes is fully defined and is not primitive. A class that is defined as a subtype of anther class, but has no other axioms restricting membership is primitive – it is only partially defined.

Term: An identifier in a logical theory. In general a term has an intended interpretation, and is often named in terms of this intended interpretation. However, other models of the theory may exist.

Regards

Matthew West

Information Junction

Tel: +44 1489 880185

Mobile: +44 750 3385279

Skype: dr.matthew.west

matthew.west@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

http://www.informationjunction.co.uk/

http://www.matthew-west.org.uk/

This email originates from Information Junction Ltd. Registered in England and Wales No. 6632177.

Registered office: 2 Brookside, Meadow Way, Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, SG6 3JE.

From:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx[mailto:ontolog-forum-bounces@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]On Behalf OfMarcelino Sente
Sent:28 February 2012 04:59
To:ontolog-forum@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject:[ontolog-forum] Constructs, primitives, terms

Hi...

Along my studies in the subject of ontologies, i perceived that i have some doubts about the meaning of some terms which generally appear in the literature. My doubts are (mainly) regarding to the following terms: Construct, primitive, term. What each of them means in the context of ontology? How they are related?

Thanks.

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