Toward an Ontology of theSumerian Language

F. D’Agostino – S. Alivernini – C.M. Scalzo

Sumer at the End of the IIIrd Mill. BC

Core and Periphery of Sumer

Uruk IV (3200 BC ca)

Uruk III (3100 BC ca)

Early Dynastic I-II (2900-2650 BC ca)

Early Dynastic I-II (2900-2650 BC ca)

Early Dynastic III (2650-2350 BC ca)

Ur III (2112-2004 BC)

Ur III (2112-2004 BC)

Old Babylonian Period (2000-1500 BC ca)

Agglutination

Latin: filiis; *fili-is

*-is = 1) plur.; 2) dat.; 3) masc.

*dumu-(3)nita2-(1)ene-(2)ra

Ergativity

lugal-e e2-Ø in(= i+n)-du3-Ø The king built a temple

lugal-Ø i3-gin-Ø The king went

rex templum exstruxit The king built a temple

rex ivit The king went

Verbal Incorporation

The king drank beer in the garden with the general

lugal-e1 kaš-Ø2 šagina-da3 giškiri6-a4

*i-n+da3-b+a4-n1-nag-Ø2

(FINITE VERB)-him+with-it+in-he(past, cl. A)-drink-(it)

Ontology

T-Box

• Concepts

• Hierarchy among the concepts

• Properties of concepts

A-Box

• Facts

Ontology of Sumerian Grammar

T-Box

Grammatical Rules

A-Box

All the Sumerian texts

Our Ontology of Sumerian Grammar

T-Box

The grammar of one text

A-Box

The brick foundation of

Ur-Namma king of Ur

Our Ontology of Sumerian Grammar

T-Box

Nominal_Chain

Possessive

Case_Marker

Verbal_Chain

Prefix

Dimensional_Infix

Pronominal_Infix

A-Box

a-ni : Possessive

mu : Prefix

Brick foundation of Ur-Namma (2112-2095 BC)

dNannalugal-a-ni

Ur-dNamma

lugal-Urim5ki-ma-ke4

e2-a-ni

mu-na-du3

bad3-Urim5ki-ma

mu-na-du3

Transliteration and Translation

dNanna To the God Nanna,

lugal-a-ni his king,

Ur-dNamma Ur-Namma,

lugal-Urim5ki-ma-ke4 the king of Ur,

e2-a-ni his temple

mu-na-du3 built,

bad3-Urim5ki-ma the walls of Ur

mu-na-du3 built.

Grammar of the Text

dNanna noun (= god) + (dative case)

lugal-a-ni noun (= substantive) + possessive adjective (a-ni)

Ur-dNamma noun (= personal name)

lugal-Urim5ki-ma-ke4 noun (= substantive) + genitive (noun = city+ ak) +

ergative

e2-a-ni noun (substantive) + possessive adjective (a-ni)

mu-na-du3 verbal chain: prefix (mu) + dimensional infix (na) +

verb (du3)

bad3-Urim5ki-ma noun (substantive) + genitive (city + a<k>)

mu-na-du3 verbal chain: prefix (mu) + dimensional infix (na) +

verb (du3)

Ontology of Sumerian Grammar

• Final report (in pdf format): “Progetto ME. L’ontologia di una grammatica sumerica” (http://dx.doi.org/10.1683/ab0002)

• Ontology in OWL format: Ur_Namma.owl (http://dx.doi.org/10.1683/me0004)

Dhi Qar project

Project purposes

The Dhi Qar project aims at proposing a new way to manage archaeological and epigraphic finds by developing a knowledge-based cataloguing system

Knowledge base

• Knowledge about archaeological and epigraphic finds is represented in a knowledge base.

• The knowledge base describes finds in a logical way by representing their characteristics.

• Knowledge is represented as a set of concepts and their relationships (i.e., an ontology)

Knowledge base

FindFind

TabletTablet

EnvelopEnvelop

StampStamp

Knowledge base

MaterialMaterial

FindFind

is made of

ShapeShape

has

SizeSize

has

HeightHeight WidthWidth AltitudeAltitude

Knowledge base

• More information about finds:– Epigraphic characteristics– Visual characteristics– Dating and origin– …

Knowledge base

– The use of a knowledge base provides the opportunity to systematically integrate the points of view from different disciplines.

– Both categories specification and observational criteria are defined by scientists of all contemplated disciplines (archeology, epigraphy, ...)

– This knowledge is represented by using a formal system (Description Logics), which provides reasoning capabilities to follow the relations across the information structures, thus deriving more knowledge

Accessing the knowledge base

• The presence of a knowledge base makes possible to ask queries in order to facilitate the access to the catalogue

• As an example, it will be possible to ask for all the scholastic tablets from a given period having circular shape.

• In the same way, it will be possible to ask for all the stamps having cylindrical shape and representing human figures

Input forms change dynamically with respect to the features of the find

For each find in the catalogue, the user can also see a (logic-based) graphical representation of its features

Contact:

c.m.scalzo@epistematica.com