Structured Knowledge

Type of Knowledge Structure

• Weak Slot - Filler Structure

– Semantic Nets

– Frame

• Strong Slot - Filler Structure

– Scripts

– Conceptual Dependency
 Semantic Nets
• Semantic network or a semantic net is a structure for
representing knowledge as a pattern of interconnected
nodes and arcs.
• It is also representation of knowledge.
• Node in the semantic net represent either
– Entities,
– Attributes,
– State or Events.
• Arcs in the net give the relationship between the nodes.
• Labels on the arc specify what type of relationship actually
exits.
 Example: Semantic networks…
• “A sparrow is a bird”
– Two concepts: “sparrow” and “bird”
– sparrow is a kind of bird, so connect the two concepts
with a IS-A relation
This is an higher-lower relation or abstract-concrete
relation

Sparrow IS-A Bird

 Example: Semantic networks…
• has wings”
“A bird
– This is a different relation: the part-whole relation
– Represented by a HAS-A link or PART-OF link
– The link is from whole to part, so the direction is the
opposite of the IS-A link

Wings
HAS-A
Sparrow IS-A

Bird
Example: Semantic Networks…
• Tweety and Sweety are birds

• Tweety has a red beak

• Sweety is Tweety‟s child

• A crow is a bird

• Birds can fly

• Sparrow is a bird.

• Sparrow has a wing.

 Example: Semantic networks…
HAS-A Wings
IS-A
Sparrow Bird Can
IS-A Fly
IS-A
Crow IS-A
Sweety Tweety
Child-of HAS-A

Beak

Red Color
 Semantic networks can answer
queries
• Query: “Which birds have red beaks?” ?
• Answer: Tweety
• Method: Direct match of subgraph Beak
HAS-A
Red Color
• Query: “Can Tweety fly?”
• Answer: Yes
• Method: Following the IS-A link from “Tweety”
to “bird” and the property link of “bird” to “fly”
 Example: Semantic Networks..

• Scooter is a two wheeler.

• Motor-bike is a two wheeler.

• Motor-bike is a moving-vehicle.

• Moving –vehicle has engine.

• Moving-vehicle has electrical system.

• Moving-vehicle has fuel system.

 Example: Semantic Networks…
Is_a Is_a
Scooter Two-wheeler Motor-bike

has has
Brakes Moving-Vehicle Engine

has has
Electrical-system Fuel-system
 Hierarchical Structure
vehicle
Is_a Is_a Is_a

Land-vehicle Water-vehicle Air-vehicle

Is_a Is_a

Road rail river sea aircraft space

 Represent following information in Semantic
net
• (is_a circus-elephant elephant)
• (has elephant head)
• (has elephant trunk)
• (has head mouth)
• (is_a elephant animal)
• (has animal heart)
• (is_a circus-elephant performer)
• (has performer costumes)
 costumes heart

performer animal

Circus-elephant elephant

head trunk

mouth
 Semantic networks
• Advantages of semantic networks
– Simple representation, easy to read
– Associations possible
– Inheritance possible
• Disadvantages of semantic networks
– A separate inference procedure (interpreter) must be build
– The validity of the inferences is not guaranteed
– For large networks the processing is inefficient
 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• Hendrix developed the so-called partitioned semantic
network to represent the difference between the description of
an individual object or process and the description of a set of
objects. The set description involves quantification.

• Hendrix partitioned a semantic network whereby a semantic

network, loosely speaking, can be divided into one or more
networks for the description of an individual.
 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• The central idea of partitioning is to allow groups, nodes and
arcs to be bundled together into units called spaces –
fundamental entities in partitioned networks, on the same level
as nodes and arcs (Hendrix).

• Every node and every arc of a network belongs to (or lies

in/on) one or more spaces.

• Some spaces are used to encode 'background information' or

generic relations; others are used to deal with specifics called
'scratch' space.
 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• Suppose that we wish to make a specific statement about a
dog, Danny, who has bitten a postman, Peter:
– " Danny the dog bit Peter the postman“
• Hendrix’s Partitioned network would express this statement
as an ordinary semantic network:

S1

dog bite postman

is_a is_a is_a
agent patient
Danny B Peter
 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• Suppose that we now want to look at the statement:
– "Every dog has bitten a postman"
• Hendrix partitioned semantic network now comprises two
partitions SA and S1. Node G is an instance of the special
class of general statements about the world comprising link
statement, form, and one universal quantifier

SA
General
Statement dog bite postman

is_a S1
is_a is_a is_a
form
G  D
agent
B
patient
P
 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• Suppose that we now want to look at the statement:
– "Every dog has bitten every postman"

SA
General
Statement dog bite postman

is_a S1
is_a is_a is_a
form
G agent patient
 D B P


 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• Suppose that we now want to look at the statement:
– "Every dog in town has bitten the postman"
SA
dog

General
Statement town dog bite postman

is_a S1
is_a is_a is_a
form
G agent patient
 D B P

NB: 'ako' = 'A Kind Of'

 Partitioned Semantic Networks
• The partitioning of a semantic network renders them more
– logically adequate, in that one can distinguish between
individuals and sets of individuals,
– and indirectly more heuristically adequate by way of
controlling the search space by delineating semantic
networks.

• Hendrix's partitioned semantic networks-oriented formalism

has been used in building natural language front-ends for data
bases and for programs to deduct information from databases.
 Exercises
• Try to represent the following two sentences into the
appropriate semantic network diagram:

– "John believes that pizza is tasty"

– "Every student loves to party“

– John gave Mary the book

Solution 1: "John believes that pizza is
tasty"
believes

is_a

John agent event

object

space

pizza tasty

is_a is_a

object has property

 Solution 2: "Every student loves to party"
General
Statement

is_a
is_a
GS1 student party love

form

S1 is_a
form S2 is_a is_a

GS2 exists
p1 receiver l1

 s1 agent
Prepared by-
 Solution 3
• John gave Mary the book

Gave Book

Action Instance

John Agent Event 1 Object Book123

Patient

Mary