Ontology Mapping with Cyc

doug foxvog
14 July 2004

http://www.cyc.com/doc/white_papers/mapping-ontologies-into-cyc_v31.pdf
 Ontology Mapping
Completed Mapping Projects
Mapping Vocabulary
CycL Syntax and Terminology
Importation
Importation Suggests Additional
Knowledge
Mapping to Less Expressive Ontology
Summary

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 Ontology Mapping at Cycorp
Several projects have linked external
ontologies, taxonomies, and term code sets
to Cyc.
Non-proprietary imported ontology projects
included the mapping and/or importation of:
NAICS and UNSPSC over 10,000 classes (industries, products)
FIPS 10-4 - 3,400 individuals (geopolitical entities)
MeSH - over 250 classes (anatomical parts)
SNOMED - over 500 classes (anatomical parts)
SENSUS - over 200 terms (mathematical & logical terms)
OpenDirectory - over 10,000 terms (website types by topic)
WordNet 1.6 - 12,000+ terms (general)
1997 CIA World Factbook - over 5900 facts (geopolitical)
No non-proprietary ontology exports
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 Mapping Vocabulary
#$synonymousExternalConcept
#$overlappingExternalConcept
#$extConceptOverlapsColAndReln

These specify mapping of terms by

relating Cyc term to term in other ontology
(#$synonymousExternalConcept
?THING ?ONTOLOGY ?STRING)
(#$extConceptOverlapsColAndReln
?CLASS ?PRED ?ONTOLOGY ?STRING)
4 .
 Mapping Vocabulary
#$MeaningInSystemFn
Used to express the meaning of a term in
an external ontology which has not (yet)
been defined in Cyc.

(#$MeaningInSystemFn
#$GalwayCityOntology
quayStreetGalway)

5 .
 Contexts in Cyc
A context (#$Microtheory) is a logical
world in which formulae are true/false/
unknown.
Assertions true in a context need not be
true outside the context.
Each context is defined as a subcontext
(using #$genlMt) of one or more
contexts.
Cyc defines partial ordering of contexts via
#$genlMt (a transitive predicate).
There is a universal common #$genlMt.
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 Context of Imported Assertions
Imported assertions are often made in a
context specific to the external ontology.
This context is placed as a subcontext
(using #$genlMts) to the context(s) for
the type of concept which the external
ontology is about.
Mapping assertions are made in separate
context, if linkage to be maintained.
Imported assertions raised to more
general context if appropriate.
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 Importation of an Ontology
Create or Match terms in Cyc to terms in
ontology
Initial mapping
Translate definitional assertions to CycL
Translate non-definitional assertions to
CycL
Search for matching Cyc concepts
Merge with matching Cyc concepts
Refine mapping
Assisted refinement of information
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 Importation of an Ontology
Specialized tools built for importation of massive
databases and taxonomies (e.g., NAIC -- North
American Industry Classification System)
Slurping tools used for standard databases
Shell/editor scripts used for tabular data
These tools provide a first pass -- generating
classes, relations, individuals, & mappings, and
expressing relationships specified in the source.
Phrase parsing for (proposed) names
#$isas and #$genls connect to Cyc ontology
Second pass: generality level, suggested KE.
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 Importation of an Ontology
If an ontology being imported has a notion that is not in
Cyc, a term for that notion is normally added to the Cyc
ontology.
Functional terms, using #$MeaningInSystemFn, may be
created if there are no obvious direct mappings so that
assertions in the external ontology can be represented.
Functional term definition may be used
All x such that y
#$SubcollectionWithRelation[From|To][Type]Fn
As Cyc terms are created (or discovered) with the correct
meanings
The functional term is normally replaced.
A #$synonymousExternalConcept assertion is made to
express the mapping.
10 .
 Special Cases
#$MeaningInSystemFn term is maintained or
replaced with #$overlappingExternalConcept
Predicate with different argument order
#$genlInverse (2x) for binary predicate
Use rule for higher-order predicate
New meta-predicate if becomes common
Attribute/Relation/Class/ mismatch
Use rule or meta-predicate
Term not interesting for Cyc
Poorly defined or motivated term

Special vocabulary for mapping DB schema

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 Importation Second Pass
Redundancy Removal
Assertion subsumed by existing more general
assertion
Generality Level Checking
Should assertion be more general/specific
Options given of term replacements
Intermediate Class Suggestion
Multiple sibling classes with similar assertions
Suggested Knowledge Entering
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 Importation Suggests
Additional Knowledge
During suggestion phase, the imported
concept is more firmly linked to Cyc ontology.
#$requiredArg1Pred and
#$requiredArg2Pred assertions suggest
roles that should be asserted for instances of
given types.
A number of other predicates are also used to
more or less firmly suggest other assertions that
should be made for instances of certain classes:
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 KE Suggestion Predicates
keStrongSuggestion keGenlsStrongConsiderationPreds
keGenlsStrongSuggestionPreds keWeakSuggestionPreds
keGenlsStrongSuggestionInverse keRequirementPreds
keStrongConsideration keRequirementTernaryPreds
keStrongSuggestionPreds keGenlsWeakSuggestionPreds
keStrongSuggestionInverse keWeakSuggestionInverse
keWeakSuggestion keGenlsWeakSuggestionInverse
keInducedStrongSuggestionPreds keSuggestionApplies
keInteractionRequirement keStrongConsiderationPreds
keInteractionStrongSuggestion keRequirement
keNeighborSuggestion kePlausibleConsideration
kePredArgStrongSuggestionInverse
kePredArgWeakSuggestionPreds
kePredArgWeakSuggestionInverse
kePredArgStrongSuggestionPreds relationExistsAll
keStrongConsiderationInverse relationAllExists

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 Mapping Assertions to a Less
Expressive Ontology
Assertions that cannot be asserted in that
ontology need not be ignored when
generalized forms of such assertions can
be generated.
Can generalize relations
Can generalize/specialize arguments
Useful meta-predicates for specializing
arguments are #$transitiveViaArg
and #$transitiveViaArgInverse.
14 .
 Inferred Mapping
Ontology 1 sentence to map:
(residesInRegion GeorgeWBush
NorthwestWashington)
Ontology 2 cannot express since does not
have NorthwestWashington, but has DC:
(synonymousExternalConcept
(TerritoryFn CityOfWashingtonDC)
Ontology2 "washingtonDCUSA")
(synonymousExternalConcept residesInRegion
Ontology2 "resides")
(synonymousExternalConcept GeorgeWBush
Ontology2 "georgeWalkerBush")
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.
 Inferred Mapping (cont.)
Cyc knows that #$residesInRegion is transitive via
#$geographicalSubRegions:
(transitiveInArgInverse residesInRegion 2
geographicalSubRegions)
Cyc knows that Northwest DC is part of DC:
(geographicalSubRegions
(TerritoryFn WashingtonDC)
NorthwestWashington)
Cyc concludes something directly mappable:
(residesInRegion GeorgeWBush
(TerritoryFn WashingtonDC))
And translates:
georgeWalkerBush[resides->> washingtonDCUSA] .
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 Summary
New classes, relations, and individuals are
created to merge in a foreign ontology.
Unwanted terms are functionally linked.
Special forms are used for irregular
mappings.
Tools suggest new knowledge to enter.
Imported assertions have own context.
On export, assertions are generalized
(weakened) as necessary.
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(and
(isa ?QUESTION RequestingInformation)
(topicOf ?QUESTION
(SubcollectionOfWithRelationToTypeFn
OntologyMerging
informationTerminal
CycTheCollection))
(startsRelativeToEndOf ?QUESTION
(MinutesDuration 15) Now))

Questions?
18 .
 CycL Syntax
Lisp-format syntax
(relation ?ARG1 ... ?ARGN)
If relation is a predicate the value is true or
false.
If relation is a function, the value is an
instance of the functions result class.
Constant syntax: #$Name (can be displayed
w/out #$)
Names have initial letter and subsequent
letters, numbers, -, and/or _
Variable syntax: ?VARIABLE
A1
 CycL Syntax Conventions
Name is lower-case for predicates,
otherwise starts with capital letter
Function name ends in "Fn" (and start with
capital letter)
No Class/Individual syntactical distinction
Multi-word names have initial caps for all
interior words
Names, incl. variable names, should imply
semantics
A2
 CycL Terminology
#$Collection = Class, something that has instances
#$Individual
non-set/class (incl. relations, strings, numbers)
#$FirstOrderCollection (concept)
Class whose instances are only #$Individuals
#$isa = instance of
#$genls = subclass of (is-a)
#$genlPreds = subrelation (#$genlInverse ...)
#$Microtheory -- context for assertions
logical world in which formula is true
#$genlMt = all assertions lift to first context
Operators are built-in code-supported #$Predicates:
#$and #$or #$not #$implies #$arity #$thereExists
#$assertedSentence #$knownSentence #$arg1Isa
#$interArg[Isa/Genl/Reln/Format]N-M #$resultIsa
A3
 CycL Examples
Sentence:
(#$isa #$Individual #$Collection)
Rule:
(#$implies
(#$and
(#$isa ?INSTANCE ?CLASS)
(#$genls ?CLASS ?SUPERCLASS))
(#$isa ?INSTANCE ?SUPERCLASS))
Function:
(#$comment
(#$BodyPartFn #$DouglasFoxvog (LeftFn
#$Nose) #$Ear))
Doug Foxvogs
Doug Foxvogs left
nose)
ear)
Argument Type Specification:
(#$isa #$BodyPartFn #$UnaryFunction)
(#$arg1Isa #$BodyPartFn #$Animal)
(#$arg2Isa #$BodyPartFn #$UniqueAnatomicalPartType)
(#$resultIsa #$BodyPartFn #$AnimalBodyPart)
(#$resultIsaArg #$BodyPartFn 2)
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