Introduction: hanzi and conventionalized conceptualization

Two theoretical approaches to the ontolex interface are the direct approach of the discovery of conceptual systems and the indirect approach of the ontologization of lexical knowledge bases (LKB). The indirect approach has been adopted the most, since a structured LKB containing essential building blocks of ontology already allows studies to focus on the formalization, consistency, and completeness of the ontology itself. On the other hand, the direct approach, especially the discovery of the conventionalized human conceptual system(s), can deal with the important cognitive issues of how concept systems are formed by humans. In addition, since any such conventionalized system is already attested by shared human use, it should be robust in both theoretical explanation and applications. However, except for manual and empirical work (e.g. Wierzbicka, 1996), such approaches are rare due to the fact that shared human concept systems are rarely documented when it was conventionalized. In this chapter, we demonstrate the feasibility of the direct conceptual system approach with the construction of an ontology based on the conventionalized semantic-based orthographic system of Chinese.

Hanzi, or Chinese characters, offer a rare case of an orthographically conventionalized human concept system. The hanzi writing system represents and classifies lexical units according to semantic classes. This linguistic ontology is robust enough to have endured over 3,000 years of use by the Chinese people, regardless of its glyphic variations, such as greater and lesser seals, or the modern traditional/simplified contrast.