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CNLs for the semantic web: a state of the art

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Abstract

One of the core challenges for building the semantic web is the creation of ontologies, a process known as ontology authoring. Controlled natural languages (CNLs) propose different frameworks for interfacing and creating ontologies in semantic web systems using restricted natural language. However, in order to engage non-expert users with no background in knowledge engineering, these language interfacing must be reliable, easy to understand and accepted by users. This paper includes the state-of-the-art for CNLs in terms of ontology authoring and the semantic web. In addition, it includes a detailed analysis of user evaluations with respect to each CNL and offers analytic conclusions with respect to the field.

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Notes

  1. http://www.dtsearch.com/.

  2. http://www.ifi.unizh.ch/atempto/.

  3. http://attempto.ifi.uzh.ch/site/docs/ace/6.5/ace_constructionrules.html.

  4. http://www.eclipse.org/.

  5. http://Protege.stanford.edu/.

  6. http://www.w3.org/RDF/Metalog/. W3C, 1998–2004.

  7. http://www.molto-project.eu/.

  8. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/gene/about-generif.

  9. http://www.clinical-escience.org/, Retrieved 2008-05-22.

  10. http://www.ordnancesurvey.co.uk/osmastermap/, a nationally contiguous vector map containing more than 450 million individual features down to street, address and individual building level, spatial data to approximately 10 cm accuracy.

  11. http://www.asd-ste100.org/.

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Acknowledgments

This publication has emanated from research conducted with the financial support of Science Foundation Ireland (SFI) under Grant Number SFI/12/RC/2289.

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Correspondence to Hazem Safwat.

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This Journal article is an extended version of the paper in Safwat and Davis (2014).

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Safwat, H., Davis, B. CNLs for the semantic web: a state of the art. Lang Resources & Evaluation 51, 191–220 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10579-016-9351-x

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