Browsing and Supporting Pluricentric Global Wordnet, or just your Wordnet of Interest

Browsing and Supporting Pluricentric Global Wordnet, or just your Wordnet of Interest Ant´onio Branco, Ruben Branco, Chakaveh Saedi and Jo˜ao Silva University of Lisbon NLX-Natural Language and Speech Group, Department of Informatics Faculdade de Ciˆencias Campo Grande, 1749-016 Lisboa, Portugal {antonio.branco, ruben.branco, chakaveh.saedi, jsilva}@di.fc.ul.pt Abstract In this paper we proceed with a systematic gathering of design requirements for wordnet browsers that permit to consult the content of wordnets. This is undertaken together with a review of the functionalities of existing browsers. On the basis of this analysis, we present a new wordnet browser we developed that meets these requirements and thus complies with the most ample range of design features. This is an open source browser that is freely distributed and can be reused by anyone interested in doing research on or just using wordnets. We also introduce the notion of a pluricentric global wordnet, for whose undertaking this new advanced browser appears as an important instrument and motivation. This is a promising operative conception for a bootstrapped yet effective process towards the ultimate global wordnet, where all individual wordnets from all languages are meant to eventually converge together, in spite of the plurality of their formats, licenses, depth, etc. that is intrinsic to an inherently plural endeavor undertaken by multiple actors under multiple constraints across the world. Keywords: wordnet, wordnet browser, pluricentric global wordnet 1. Introduction This paper reports on the results of the work initially mo- tivated by the aim of making available an online service that would permit to consult and browse a wordnet we have been developing. Our work started by looking for and trying to reuse some pre-existing browser that could be adopted with as little adaptation effort as possible. As we proceeded, we found ourselves pondering on the needs and design requirements that such an application should satisfy and the work even- tually took the unanticipated route that would lead to the building of a new browser from scratch. This had yet further unanticipated consequences, beyond the instrumental goal that triggered this implementation of a new wordnet browser. The analysis of the requirements on how wordnets should better be presented set us on the path to ponder on how this could serve a wider purpose of an as much inclusive support as possible for wordnets and for their flexible integration with each other. That is what we are trying to capture with the notion of a pluricentric global wordnet. In the next Section 2., we present the list of design require- ments that guided the development of the browser eventu- ally implemented, which we collected after the analysis of existing browsers, briefly described in Section 3.. In Sections 4. and 5., the first version of the browser is pre- sented in its functional and technical aspects, respectively. A second version is described in Section 6., which moti- vates the notion of a pluricentric global wordnet, whose browsing it can support. Sections 7. and 8. close the paper, respectively, with in- dication of the resources …

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