Abstract

Databases that are currently being developed for repositories of digital linguistic information typically fall into the strictly relational category. We present work on an object-relational database which allows for the representation of hierarchical relationships. This has particular benefits for the storage and access of morphological data in the system of word formation. A model that makes use of inheritance hierarchies elegantly captures the relationship between a root, its derivative, and its derivative, and so on. We report on the experimental Node DataBlade, a software bundle that extends the functionality of the object-relational database system Informix (Brown 2001) by supporting the storage and manipulation of hierarchical data. We show how this functionality provides a way of capturing specifically inheritance relationships between members of a derivational family in Russian.

Document Type

Conference Proceeding

Publication Date

2001

Language

English

Notes/Citation Information

Hippisley, Andrew; Tariq, Mariam; and Chang, David. 2001. Hierarchical data and the derivational relationship between words. In: Bird, Steven; Buneman, Peter and Mark Lieberman (eds) Proceedings of the Institute for Research into Cognitive Sciences Workshop on Linguistic Databases, 125-133. Penn University.

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