The costs of inheritance in semantic networks
Rob't F. Simmons · 1984
Questioning texts represented in semantic relations1 requires the recognition that synonyms, instances, and hyponyms may all satisfy a questioned term. A basic procedure for accomplishing such loose matching using inheritance from a taxonomic organization of the dictionary is defined in analogy with the unification algorithm used for theorem proving, and the costs of its application are analyzed. It is concluded that inheritance logic can profitably be included in the basic questioning procedure.