The field of concepts (or: onomasiology) is versatile. The following three domains are predetermined/specified/predefined:
- Traditional everyday life,
- Natural environment,
- Modern everyday life,
although they have a very broad meaning for the organisation of data. On the database-level, principles of classification that help establish relationships between the respective concepts are more relevant. To begin with, categories of everyday life can be collected under different concepts with varying levels of abstraction and specification, so that taxonomical hierarchies emerge. There are strict
(1) inclusion relations
for concepts on different hierarchy levels. For each definition of a subordinate term, the definition and specification of the respective general term is included. Here is an example from a conceptual category:
- general term: BUILDING
- 1st level subordinate term: ALPINE HUT, STABLE, CHEESE CELLAR etc.
- 2nd level subordinate term: STONE ALPINE HUT, WOODEN ALPINE HUT, WOODEN ALPINE HUT WITH A STONE BASE etc.
While every Alpine hut is a building, the reverse is, of course, not true. The included concept is more abstract and thus placed in a higher position when visualised in a tree-graph.
Conversely,
(2) exclusion relations
have been established for equal concepts on the same hierarchy level:
An Alpine hut is neither a stable, not a cheese cellar.
In contrast, an entirely different hierarchy emerges when complementary concepts form a complex functional interconnection, which itself must be understood as a concept.
This is referred to as
(3) part-whole relations.
For example, the broad concept of MOUNTAIN PASTURE (whole) includes various sections: the TERRAIN, the LIVESTOCK, the STAFF, and the TASKS, especially MILK PROCESSING (part). While part-whole relations are hierarchical (like inclusion relations), they are not based on definitional inclusion, but exclusion. Tree-graphs are not suitable for their visualisation. This is visible when comparing the display of the terminological sectioning of the field ALPINE LIFE.
Within the sections, 'wholes' and their constituent 'parts' can, in turn, be detected. For instance, various TASKS, PROCESSES, DEVICES, CONTAINERS, PERSONS and BUILDINGS (parts) belong to PRODUCTION OF CHEESE as a whole.
