[tcs-lc] difference between IsParentOf/IsChildOf; and Includes/IsIncludedIn RelationshipTypes?

[Robert Liu]

There is big difference between IsParentOf and Includes. First of all, they define the inter-concept relationship in different senses. “IsParentOf” defines the relationship in the  nomenclatural hierarchy, while “Includes” in terms of inclusiveness. Secondly, they are not interchangeable. “A IsParentOf B” can imply “A Includes B”, but “A Includes B” does not necessarily  mean “A IsParentOf B”.

 

Let’s go one step further. Given 2 TaxonConcepts, different people may see different TYPE of relationships with different semantics. Before we go to define any actual relationship, it could be helpful to categorize possible relationships into some groups according to their semantics, such as, 

   Nomenclatural relationship: the relationship of a concept to another in the nomenclatural hierarchy, including parent, synonym and homonym. 
   Operational Relationship: the operation that generates one concept from others, e.g. splitting an existing concept into two or moving a concept from its current parent to another. 
   Phylogenetic relationship: the relative position of a concept to another in the evolutionary chain. 
   Logic relationship: the relationship between concepts in term of their inclusiveness, such as greater than, less than, equal or overlap.

 

Above is just a show-my-bricks-to-get-your-jade type of example. I do not think it is good to cook all possible relationships in one pot. There might be some better recipe.

 

 

Xianhua



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