Home // International Journal On Advances in Software, volume 13, numbers 1 and 2, 2020 // View article
Authors:
Carlos Seror
Keywords: data representation; categories; natural language; syntax; semantic structures; data referencing; databases; deafblind people
Abstract:
Language can be described as a set of encoding/decoding rules whereby a receiver is prompted to locally reconstruct a relevant part of a sender’s representation, intended as an update of the receiver’s representation. In this paper, a representational framework is proposed for such description, based on (a) the cognitive feature of spontaneous categorization, which leads to a formal description of data referencing as a disambiguation process, (b) the identification of a number of irreducible structures underlying perceptual categories, consistent with the notion of semantic primitives. The general algebra describing data referencing could be seen as a universal syntax from which conventional languages can be derived and, conversely, into which conventional languages can be parsed. On the other hand, the semantic structures identified will be formalized into a denotational algebra reminiscent of, but not identical to, the topology of open sets. Both formalisms will be shown to converge into a representational framework having the two-way capability to generate language and encode meaning. The framework thus proposed reflects a qualitative approach to language, and therefore radically differs from Shannon’s quantitative approach to communication. As a demonstration of its potential, the last sections will sketch two practical applications, i.e., (i) a representational interpretation of databases, and (ii) a tool to enhance deafblind people’s cognitive world.
Pages: 50 to 68
Copyright: Copyright (c) to authors, 2020. Used with permission.
Publication date: June 30, 2020
Published in: journal
ISSN: 1942-2628