2 Conceptual Foundations of Ontology

The primary goal of the Ontology Description Capture method is to provide a structured

technique, supported by automated tools, by which a domain expert can effectively develop and

maintain usable, accurate, domain ontologies. In the IDEF5 method, an ontology is constructed

by capturing the content of certain assertions about real-world objects, their properties, and their

interrelationships and representing that content in an intuitive and natural form. This section

provides an overview of the nature and content of an ontology, followed by a discussion that

contrasts the ontology capture method presented in this report with other existing methods.

2.1 The Nature of Ontological Inquiry

Historically, ontologies arise out of the branch of philosophy known as metaphysics, which deals

with the nature of reality, of what exists. The traditional goal of ontological inquiry in particular

is to divide the world “at its joints,” to discover those fundamental categories, or kinds, into

which the world’s objects naturally fall. So viewed, natural science provides an excellent

example of ontological inquiry. For example, a goal of subatomic physics is to develop a

taxonomy of the most basic kinds of objects that exist within the physical world (e.g., protons,

electrons, muons). At the other end of the spectrum, astrophysics, among other goals, seeks to

discover the range of objects that populate its domain (e.g., quasars, black holes, gravity waves).

Similarly, the biological sciences seek to categorize and describe the various kinds of living

organisms that populate the planet. Further examples of ontological inquiry can be observed in

the fields of geology, psychology, chemistry, sociolinguistics, and, in general, any discipline that

attempts to understand the nature of some set of physical, psychological, or social phenomena.

However, this sort of inquiry is not limited to the natural and social sciences. Abstract sciences

as well __mathematics, in particular __attempt to discover and categorize the domain of abstract

objects such as prime numbers, polynomial algorithms, commutative groups, topological spaces,

and so forth.

The natural and abstract worlds of pure science do not exhaust the applicable domains of

ontology. There are vast, human-designed and engineered systems such as manufacturing plants,

businesses, military bases, and universities in which ontological inquiry is just as relevant and

just as important. In these human created systems, ontological inquiry is primarily motivated by

the need to understand, design, engineer, and manage such systems effectively. This being the

13

case, it is useful to adapt the traditional techniques of ontological inquiry in the natural sciences

to these domains as well.

Contents

INTRODUCTION………………….......................................................................... 3

Unit1 SELF-TRANING TESTS................................................................................. 4

Unit2 TERM TESTS....................................................................................................9

Unit3 USEFUL WORDS............................................................................................22

Unit4 DIALOGUES…………………………………………………………………27

Unit 5 ДЕЛОВОЙ ИНОСТРАННЫЙ ЯЗЫК ……………………………….… 39

Unit6 CONTENTS………………………………………………………………..…46

LITERATURE