Re: URIs for Concepts: Best Practices

As I don't have all the RDF/OWL etc. syntax rules at my fingertips I 
can't comment on that part of the discussion, but I'd just like to slip 
in a mention of a long-standing issue, clarification of which might help 
understanding.

When we are talking about a class or category of entities, such as 
"dogs", it is logical and clearer to use the plural form. Any definition 
or link is not to a specific dog, but to the attributes shared by all 
members of the class. A class may have sub-classes such as "spaniels" or 
"poodles", or specific instances such as "Fido", "Rover" or "Laika". It 
is important to be clear whether any URI is pointing to a category or to 
a specific instance.

The convention of using the plural only applies to "count-nouns", to 
which the question "how many" is applicable. "Non-count-nouns", to which 
"how much" applies, like "water" or "love", are naturally expressed in 
the singular form.

Leonard Will
-- 
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Received on Friday, 23 April 2004 06:24:20 UTC