An Application of Relation Algebra to Lexical Databases

摘要

This paper presents an application of relation algebra to lexical databases. The semantics of knowledge representation formalisms and query languages can be provided either via a set-theoretic semantics or via an algebraic structure. With respect to formalisms based on n-ary relations (such as relational databases or power context families), a variety of algebras is applicable. In standard relational databases and in formal concept analysis (FCA) research, the algebra of choice is usually some form of Cylindric Set Algebra (CSA) or Peircean Algebraic Logic (PAL). A completely different choice of algebra is a binary Relation Algebra (RA). In this paper, it is shown how RA can be used for modelling FCA applications with respect to lexical databases.