Database

The working copy of GermaNet is stored in a database. It contains all the GermaNet data.



GernEdiT - The GermaNet Editing Tool

GernEdiT is used by the lexicographers to enter lexicographic data into GermaNet. It provides a graphical user interface to the database, which mainly allows maintaining the GermaNet data in a user-friendly way. There are several ways to search data, and browse through the GermaNet graph. These functionalities support lexicographers, among other things, in finding the appropriate place in the hierarchy for the insertion of new synsets and lexical units. Figure 1 shows a screenshot of GernEdiT. The tool can also be used to export all GermaNet data into the distribution format XML.


Screenshot of GernEdiT
Figure 1: Screenshot of GernEdiT - The GermaNet Editing Tool



Database Structure

The database is structured according to GermaNet, which means that there are tables to store synsets, lexical units, relations, etc. Figure 2 overviews the whole database structure. Each table is explained in detail in the following.


Entity-Relationship-Diagram
Figure 2: Overview of the database structure


lex_unit_table

Each entry in this table represents a lexical unit with all its information.

  • id: unique identifier
  • synset_id: specifies the synset, to which this lexical unit belongs to
  • orth_form: the orthographical form of this lexical unit
  • orth_var: an orthographical variant
  • old_orth_form: the orthographical form, which specifies a difference in the old German orthography; this is only set, if there was a second allowed variant in the old orthography
  • old_orth_var: an orthographical variant, which specifies a differing variant, which was allowed in the old German orthography; this is only set, if it is not allowed anymore in the new orthography
  • named_entity: specifies weather this lexical unit is a named entity or not
  • artificial: specifies weather this lexical unit is used to represent an artificial node in the graph
  • style_marking: specifies weather the style of this lexical unit is marked


example_table

Each entry in this table represents an example that belongs to a lexical unit.

  • id: unique identifier
  • lex_unit_id: refers to the lexical unit, to which this example belongs to
  • text: the example itself
  • frame_type_id: specifies the frame type of this example; if this is empty, this example has no frame


frame_table

Each entry in this table represents a frame that belongs to a lexical unit.

  • id: unique identifier
  • lex_unit_id: refers to the lexical unit, to which this example belongs to
  • frame_type_id: specifies the frame type of this frame


frame_type_table

This table contains all possible frame types.

  • id: unique identifier
  • text: the frame type itself, e.g. NN, NE, or NN.AN.Az


lex_rel_table

All lexical relations are stored in this table.

  • id: unique identifier
  • rel_type_id: specifies the type of lexical relation, see the description of lex_rel_type_table
  • from_lex_unit_id: specifies the lexical unit from which this lexical relation starts
  • to_lex_unit_id: specifies the lexical unit to which this lexical relation goes


lex_rel_type_table

Here, all types of lexical relations are stored.

  • id: unique identifier
  • name: the name of the lexical relation, e.g. antonymy or pertonymy; notice that synonymy does not appear in this table, because the synonymy relation can be determined by searching for all lexical units with the same synset_id
  • dir: specifies if this lexical relation is valid in one or both directions (i.e. one or both); revert means that the relation is in both directions, but in different ways
  • inv: the name for the lexical relation in the inverse direction; especially interesting, if the direction field (dir) is specified as revert


synset_table

Each entry in this table represents a synset with all its information.

  • id: unique identifier
  • word_class_id: specifies the word class of this synset, e.g. Bewegung, Geist, etc.
  • word_category_id: specifies the word class of this synset, e.g. adj, nomen, or verben
  • paraphrase: a description of this synset
  • comment: a comment for this synset


word_class_table

This table stores all possible word classes.

  • id: unique identifier
  • word_class: the word class itself, e.g. Allgemein, Bewegung, Geist, etc.


word_category_table

This table stores all possible word categories.

  • id: unique identifier
  • word_category: the word class itself, e.g. adj, nomen, or verben


con_rel_table

This table contations all conceptual relations.

  • id: unique identifier
  • rel_type_id: specifies the type of conceptual relation, see the description of con_rel_type_table
  • from_synset_id: specifies the synset from which this conceptual relation starts
  • to_synset_id: specifies the synset to which this conceptual relation goes


con_rel_type_table

Each entry in this table specifies one type of conceptual relation.

  • id: unique identifier
  • name: the name of the conceptual relation, e.g. hyperonymy or meronymy
  • dir: specifies if this conceptual relation is valid in one or both directions (i.e. one or both); revert means that the relation is in both directions, but in different ways
  • inv: the name for the conceptual relation in the inverse direction, e.g. hyponymy; especially interesting, if the direction field (dir) is specified as revert
  • transitive: specifies weather this conceptual relation is transitive