Guideline to SAL Noun Coding

Nouns with Multiple Meanings

Many nouns fall into more than one SAL category.  For example, passage can be both a conduit under Concrete, and a path under Place.   It can also be a piece of writing or musical composition under Information.  

Selection among the multiple meanings of a given noun can often be effected by the use of Subject Matter Codes (SMC) when entering the term in TermBuilder. 

In some cases, however, Subject Matter Codes are not helpful.  In such cases, the user must make an arbitrary choice among SAL codes at the time the word is entered.  (Later development plans include giving the system the ability to resolve among the multiple meanings of a common noun on the basis of extra-sentential context.  This capability does not presently exist in the Logos System.)

When making coding decisions, users should observe the coding priorities listed below.

Noun Coding Priorities

There is a critical set of priorities governing coding choices for nouns that should be observed, if translation degradation is to be avoided.  The following represents the coding hierarchy in order of importance:

Verb-biased Nouns (See verbal abstracts set under Abstract Superset).   Nouns coded for verb bias tell the systemn to expect a verb complement. 

Verb-biased codes are critical for parsing.  For example:
          (1) ways of cooking lentils
          (2) types of cooking utensils. 
The verbal abstracts code given to ways in (1) biases the parser to expect a verb and therefore allows the parser to resolve cooking correctly to a verb.  In (2) cooking is an adjective.
Nouns taking prepositional complementation.  (See strong verbals under Abstract Superset.)   For example:

attitude towards
interest in
anxiety about
phone connection to
attention to
Prep governance codes are critical for parsing decisions regarding prepositional attachement.
Mass Nouns.  Unlike count nouns, mass nouns can occur in the singular without an article or quantifier; e.g., Gold is expensive.

Mass codes are critical to parsing.  For example:
          (1) Test gold for . . .
          (2) . . . test tube for. . . .
In (1), gold as a Mass noun helps the parser to see test as a verb.  (Unlike count nouns, singular mass nouns without an article can be the object of a verb.)
In (2), test must be a noun because tube is a singular count noun.

Mass-like codes occur in various places in the SAL noun taxonomy.   These include:
Mass Superset, which is mass by definition
trees/wood subset (e.g. oak) under Concrete Superset 
edibles/color subset (e.g. orange) under Concrete Superset
mammals/food/fur subset (e.g. fox) under Animate Superset
fowl/food subset (e.g. duck) under Animate Superset
remote mass subset
Nouns denoting agents.  Agentive type nouns occur in various places in the SAL noun taxonomy.  These include:
Animate Superset, which is agentive by definition
agentive set under Concrete Superset
functional location (agentive) subset under Place Superset
geographical entities (agentive) subset under Place Superset
remote agentive subset (an optional subset code under any set or superset)

Click here for Summary SAL Noun Code Hierarchy