Semantic Change Event
Class
http://ontextract.org/sco#SemanticChangeEvent
Class Hierarchy
- Thing
- ↳ entity (bfo)
- ↳ occurrent (bfo)
- ↳ process (bfo)
- ↳ Semantic Change Event
- ↳ Amelioration
- ↳ Conceptual Bridge
- ↳ Cultural Shift
- ↳ Decline
- ↳ Domain Network
- ↳ Emergence
- ↳ Extensional Drift
- ↳ Inflection Point
- ↳ Intensional Drift
- ↳ Label Drift
- ↳ Lexical Replacement
- ↳ Pejoration
- ↳ Semantic Drift
- ↳ Sense-Level Change
- ↳ Stable Polysemy
- ↳ Structural Drift
- ↳ Word-Level Change
Definition
A process by which the meaning of a term changes over time. Top-level class for all semantic change phenomena.
Property Structure
Object and Data Properties
rdfs:domain on this class or ancestor
| Property | Range | Description |
|---|---|---|
| affectsConcept | Concept | Links a semantic change event to the term/concept undergoing change. |
| controlledForArtifacts | boolean | Boolean: whether detection method controlled for frequency/polysemy artifacts. |
| evidencedBy | disposition | Links semantic change event to documentary evidence supporting its identification. |
| hasCause | — | Links semantic change to its driving cause (external or internal). |
| hasConfidence | float | Researcher's confidence in the semantic change annotation (0.0-1.0). |
| hasControlCondition | — | Reference to control/null condition for validating genuine vs. artifact change. |
| hasDescription | string | Human-readable description of the semantic change event. |
| hasEndYear | integer | Calendar year when semantic change completed or stabilized (for query convenience). |
| hasExecutionTrace | Activity | Retrospective provenance: WHAT was actually detected. |
| hasFromMeaning | Concept | The original or source meaning before the semantic change. |
| hasProcessSpecification | Plan | Prospective provenance: HOW change should be detected. |
| hasSentimentDirection | string | Direction of sentiment change: pejoration, amelioration, or neutral. |
| hasStartYear | integer | Calendar year when semantic change began (for query convenience). |
| hasTemporalScale | string | Scale of temporal span: centuries, decades, years, months. |
| hasTextualEvidence | — | Links to specific text segment providing evidence for semantic change. |
| hasToMeaning | Concept | The new or target meaning after the semantic change. |
| hasURIStability | float | Measure of identifier consistency (0.0-1.0); 1.0 = no URI changes. |
| hasWorkflowStructure | Plan | Links semantic change detection to process design (prospective provenance). |
| isSynthetic | boolean | Boolean: whether this is synthetic (simulated) or authentic (real) semantic change. |
| occursDuringInterval | Interval | Links semantic change event to the temporal interval when it occurred. |
| occursInDomain | Concept | The disciplinary or discourse domain where semantic change occurs. |
| passesControlTest | boolean | Boolean: whether change observed in genuine but not control condition. |
| usesDetectionMethod | DetectionMethod | The computational method used to detect/measure this semantic change. |
| usesExternalKnowledgeBase | — | External knowledge source consulted for semantic correspondence. |
Subclasses 17
Amelioration
Semantic change toward positive sentiment or attitude (elevation). Conceptual Bridge
Work or publication that mediates between different disciplinary meanings, facilitating semantic transfer. Cultural Shift
Culturally determined changes in word associations, not core meaning. Decline
Meaning becomes obsolete, archaic, or significantly less frequent in usage. Domain Network
Development of discipline-specific semantic network with specialized terminology. Emergence
New meaning appears in discourse, often through neologism or semantic extension. Extensional Drift
Changes in concept instances (things the concept extends to). Inflection Point
Rapid semantic transition marking shift between distinct meanings. Characterized by abrupt change in term usage patterns... Intensional Drift
Changes in concept properties (characteristics implied by the concept). Label Drift
Changes in the lexical labels (names) of a concept. Lexical Replacement
One word replaces another for expressing the same concept. Pejoration
Semantic change toward negative sentiment or attitude (degeneration). Semantic Drift
Gradual, incremental meaning change over extended period without distinct inflection point. Sense-Level Change
Semantic change in a specific word sense/usage. Stable Polysemy
Multiple distinct meanings coexist without conflict across disciplines. No single dominant sense emerges. Structural Drift
Changes to ontology structure: hierarchy, URIs, equivalences. Word-Level Change
Aggregate semantic change across all senses of a word.
Semantic change toward positive sentiment or attitude (elevation). Conceptual Bridge
Work or publication that mediates between different disciplinary meanings, facilitating semantic transfer. Cultural Shift
Culturally determined changes in word associations, not core meaning. Decline
Meaning becomes obsolete, archaic, or significantly less frequent in usage. Domain Network
Development of discipline-specific semantic network with specialized terminology. Emergence
New meaning appears in discourse, often through neologism or semantic extension. Extensional Drift
Changes in concept instances (things the concept extends to). Inflection Point
Rapid semantic transition marking shift between distinct meanings. Characterized by abrupt change in term usage patterns... Intensional Drift
Changes in concept properties (characteristics implied by the concept). Label Drift
Changes in the lexical labels (names) of a concept. Lexical Replacement
One word replaces another for expressing the same concept. Pejoration
Semantic change toward negative sentiment or attitude (degeneration). Semantic Drift
Gradual, incremental meaning change over extended period without distinct inflection point. Sense-Level Change
Semantic change in a specific word sense/usage. Stable Polysemy
Multiple distinct meanings coexist without conflict across disciplines. No single dominant sense emerges. Structural Drift
Changes to ontology structure: hierarchy, URIs, equivalences. Word-Level Change
Aggregate semantic change across all senses of a word.
@prefix bfo: <http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/> .
@prefix dcterms: <http://purl.org/dc/terms/> .
@prefix owl: <http://www.w3.org/2002/07/owl#> .
@prefix rdfs: <http://www.w3.org/2000/01/rdf-schema#> .
@prefix sco: <http://ontextract.org/sco#> .
@prefix skos: <http://www.w3.org/2004/02/skos/core#> .
sco:SemanticChangeEvent a owl:Class ;
rdfs:label "Semantic Change Event" ;
dcterms:bibliographicCitation "Tahmasebi et al. (2021). Survey of Computational Approaches to Lexical Semantic Change Detection. Language Science Press." ;
rdfs:comment "A process by which the meaning of a term changes over time. Top-level class for all semantic change phenomena." ;
rdfs:subClassOf bfo:BFO_0000015 ;
skos:definition "A temporal process wherein a linguistic term undergoes modification in its semantic content, usage patterns, or conceptual associations within a discourse community." .