An Ontology of Chinese Radicals: Concept Derivation and Knowledge Representation based on the Semantic Symbols of the Four Hoofed-Mammals

Semantic symbols are essential components of Chinese characters. ShuoWenJieZi (Xyu Shen 121), the oldest dictionary of Chinese, is organized according to the radical forms as semantic symbols. Characters are classified according radicals, and their meanings cluster around the basic concept of the semantic symbol. We believe that ShuoWenJieZi radicals systemreflect conventional conceptualization when Chinese character orthography was invented. In this research, we use the semantic symbols representing four hoofed-mammals in ShuoWenJieZi ,“bovid,” “deer,” “cattle,” and “horse,” as our research objects. In principle we assume that semantic symbols represent basic concepts, and further more we distinguish the relations between derived characters and each basic concept to construct a conventionalized ontology headed by basic concepts expressed by the semantic symbols. Our analysis and comparative studies of the semantic symbol ontologies for the four hoofed-mammals show that they share similar conceptual structures strongly motivated by their functions in human society. In particular, we show that the conceptual dependencies between the basic concept of a radical and the meanings of the derived characters can be explained by an enriched version of the Generative Lexicon.