Hypernym
Encyclopedia
In linguistics
, a hyponym is a word
or phrase
whose semantic field
is included within that of another word, its hypernym (sometimes spelled hyperonym outside of the natural language processing
community). In simpler terms, a hyponym shares a type-of relationship with its hypernym. For example, scarlet, vermilion, carmine, and crimson are all hyponyms of red (their hypernym), which is, in turn, a hyponym of colour.
Computer science
often terms this relationship an "is-a
" relationship. For example, the phrase Red is-a colour can be used to describe the hyponymic relationship between red and colour.
Hypernymy is the semantic relation
in which one word is the hypernym of another. Hypernymy, the relation in which words stand when their extensions stand in the relation of class to subclass, should not be confused with holonymy
, which is the relation in which words stand when the things that they denote stand in the relation of whole to part. A similar warning applies to hyponymy and meronymy
.
by looking for certain syntactic patterns. One of the first suggestions on how to find hypernym/hyponym pairs in a text came from Marti Hearst, who suggested looking at the output of a parser
and taking all of the terms linked by constructions such as X and other Y; X could be considered a possible hyponym of Y. This method was extended by Snow et al., who developed an automated method of finding possible constructions that could signal such a pair.
Their process works by taking hypernym/hyponym pairs from WordNet
and finding many noun-noun pairs from a parsed corpus
. They train a classifier
to select those pairs of words that have a high probability of being hypernym pairs given the constructions which link the terms in the corpus.
Wikipedia
has been used as a corpus for hyponymy relation acquisition.
Linguistics
Linguistics is the scientific study of human language. Linguistics can be broadly broken into three categories or subfields of study: language form, language meaning, and language in context....
, a hyponym is a word
Word
In language, a word is the smallest free form that may be uttered in isolation with semantic or pragmatic content . This contrasts with a morpheme, which is the smallest unit of meaning but will not necessarily stand on its own...
or phrase
Phrase
In everyday speech, a phrase may refer to any group of words. In linguistics, a phrase is a group of words which form a constituent and so function as a single unit in the syntax of a sentence. A phrase is lower on the grammatical hierarchy than a clause....
whose semantic field
Semantic field
A semantic field is a technical term in the discipline of linguistics to describe a set of words grouped by meaning in a certain way. The term is also used in other academic disciplines, such as anthropology and computational semiotics.-Definition and usage:...
is included within that of another word, its hypernym (sometimes spelled hyperonym outside of the natural language processing
Natural language processing
Natural language processing is a field of computer science and linguistics concerned with the interactions between computers and human languages; it began as a branch of artificial intelligence....
community). In simpler terms, a hyponym shares a type-of relationship with its hypernym. For example, scarlet, vermilion, carmine, and crimson are all hyponyms of red (their hypernym), which is, in turn, a hyponym of colour.
Computer science
Computer science
Computer science or computing science is the study of the theoretical foundations of information and computation and of practical techniques for their implementation and application in computer systems...
often terms this relationship an "is-a
Is-a
In knowledge representation, object-oriented programming and design, is-a or is_a or is a is a relationship where one class D is a subclass of another class B ....
" relationship. For example, the phrase Red is-a colour can be used to describe the hyponymic relationship between red and colour.
Hypernymy is the semantic relation
Semantics
Semantics is the study of meaning. It focuses on the relation between signifiers, such as words, phrases, signs and symbols, and what they stand for, their denotata....
in which one word is the hypernym of another. Hypernymy, the relation in which words stand when their extensions stand in the relation of class to subclass, should not be confused with holonymy
Holonymy
Holonymy is a semantic relation. Holonymy defines the relationship between a term denoting the whole and a term denoting a part of, or a member of, the whole. That is,...
, which is the relation in which words stand when the things that they denote stand in the relation of whole to part. A similar warning applies to hyponymy and meronymy
Meronymy
Meronymy is a semantic relation used in linguistics. A meronym denotes a constituent part of, or a member of something. That is,...
.
Automatically finding hypernyms
Hypernym/hyponym pairs can be found in text corporaText corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
by looking for certain syntactic patterns. One of the first suggestions on how to find hypernym/hyponym pairs in a text came from Marti Hearst, who suggested looking at the output of a parser
Parsing
In computer science and linguistics, parsing, or, more formally, syntactic analysis, is the process of analyzing a text, made of a sequence of tokens , to determine its grammatical structure with respect to a given formal grammar...
and taking all of the terms linked by constructions such as X and other Y; X could be considered a possible hyponym of Y. This method was extended by Snow et al., who developed an automated method of finding possible constructions that could signal such a pair.
Their process works by taking hypernym/hyponym pairs from WordNet
WordNet
WordNet is a lexical database for the English language. It groups English words into sets of synonyms called synsets, provides short, general definitions, and records the various semantic relations between these synonym sets...
and finding many noun-noun pairs from a parsed corpus
Text corpus
In linguistics, a corpus or text corpus is a large and structured set of texts...
. They train a classifier
Naive Bayes classifier
A naive Bayes classifier is a simple probabilistic classifier based on applying Bayes' theorem with strong independence assumptions...
to select those pairs of words that have a high probability of being hypernym pairs given the constructions which link the terms in the corpus.
Wikipedia
Wikipedia
Wikipedia is a free, web-based, collaborative, multilingual encyclopedia project supported by the non-profit Wikimedia Foundation. Its 20 million articles have been written collaboratively by volunteers around the world. Almost all of its articles can be edited by anyone with access to the site,...
has been used as a corpus for hyponymy relation acquisition.
See also
- Contrast setContrast setA contrast set is a bounded collection of items, each of which could fill the same slot in a given schema, syntactic structure, or other linguistic environment...
- Is-aIs-aIn knowledge representation, object-oriented programming and design, is-a or is_a or is a is a relationship where one class D is a subclass of another class B ....
- MeronymyMeronymyMeronymy is a semantic relation used in linguistics. A meronym denotes a constituent part of, or a member of something. That is,...
- -onym-onymThe suffix onym, in English and other languages, means "word, name," and words ending in onym refer to a specified kind of name or word, most of which are classical compounds. For example, an acronym is a word formed from the initial letter or letters of each of the successive parts or major parts...
- SubcategorySubcategoryIn mathematics, a subcategory of a category C is a category S whose objects are objects in C and whose morphisms are morphisms in C with the same identities and composition of morphisms. Intuitively, a subcategory of C is a category obtained from C by "removing" some of its objects and...
- SynonymSynonymSynonyms are different words with almost identical or similar meanings. Words that are synonyms are said to be synonymous, and the state of being a synonym is called synonymy. The word comes from Ancient Greek syn and onoma . The words car and automobile are synonyms...
- TaxonomyTaxonomyTaxonomy is the science of identifying and naming species, and arranging them into a classification. The field of taxonomy, sometimes referred to as "biological taxonomy", revolves around the description and use of taxonomic units, known as taxa...
- WordNetWordNetWordNet is a lexical database for the English language. It groups English words into sets of synonyms called synsets, provides short, general definitions, and records the various semantic relations between these synonym sets...
(a semantic lexicon for the English language, which puts words in semantic relations to each other, mainly by using the concepts hypernym and hyponym.) - Umbrella termUmbrella termAn umbrella term is a word that provides a superset or grouping of concepts that all fall under a single common category. Umbrella term is also called a hypernym. For example, cryptology is an umbrella term that encompasses cryptography and cryptanalysis, among other fields...