## Notes on finding good denotations

E-Mail Comments to: doc@cyc.com
Copyright© 1996, 1997, 1998 Cycorp. All rights reserved.

| Adding to the CYC® Lexicon using WALES
| Notes on creating new word constants

What makes a good denotation? A good denotation is one that best approximates the "meaning" of the particular word sense you are trying to capture. It may resemble the word unit in appearance, but often the best denotation will differ in morphology. (Consider word unit "Talk-TheWord" with denotation-WS0 "Speaking".) A good denotation will strike the right balance between too general and too specific. (For example, #$Automobile is not a good denotation for "vehicle", since bikes and trucks are also vehicles.) If you are in doubt about the different possible denotations of a word unit, Webster's is again a recommended resource. If you are unable to hook up the word unit with a constant in the KB, you should write an appropriate SemTrans rule. If this is not possible, send a note to someone on the CYC® NL team, who will either find an appropriate denotation, or fill a potential gap in the KB.

One final note on denotations: many verbs can be used with prepostions (e.g. "board up", "take off"). These will be taken care of by the CYC® NL team. Do not write a separate denotation for each instance of a given verb with a different preposition.

Last Update: 10/26/1998 11:40:42