Alexandru Timotin, Florin Teodor Tãnãsescu * Structures for a Thesaurus of Technical Terminology

The definitional association is a fundamental one, concerning primitive concepts that are introduced at the same time in a correlative manner, either on an axiomatic basis (by logical association) or on empirical grounds (by factual association), without pertinent hierarchical links. Examples:

a) logical association (simultaneously introduced mathematical concepts on an axiomatic basis)
	natural number	<|>	zero
	natural number	<|>	successor
i.e. also	successor	<|>	zero
b) factual association (simultaneously introduced physical concepts on empirical grounds)
	electric field	<|>	electric charge
	electric field	<|>	electric force
	electric charge	<|>	electric force

The first example concerns Peano's axioms of the arithmetic, with three primitive concepts.

3) Antonymy, with acronym NN and graphic symbol ><

The antonymy is a precise association based on logical contradiction or on factual striking opposition. Examples:

free [in telecommunication]	><	busy [in telecommunication]
reproduction (of signals)	><	recording (of signals)
isotropy	><	anisotropy

4) Quasi-synonymy, with acronym QQ and graphic symbol <=>

The quasi-synonymy is a very strong association of concepts with close meanings and denominations which are often considered synonyms.

thermal energy	<=>	heat
mass [inertial]	<=>	(gravitational) mass

Remark: The thermal energy is defined as a part of the internal energy, which is a function of state of a thermodynamical system. Therefore, the thermal energy is a system property at a given moment of time. The heat - like the mechanical work - is a process function, that is a property of the interaction between twosystems during a given time interval.

According to the systematization adopted for the Theoretical Mechanics, the two types of mass may be defined as physically distinct (and proportional according to Einstein's law of equivalence), or may be considered identical (Newton's law of gravitation asserting that the gravitational force is proportional to the inertial mass of each body).

3.2.4. The semantic vicinity of a concept

The set of all semantic binary relations (hierarchical and associative) whose first member is a given concept (identified in the files of the thesaurus data bank by an alphanumeric code) is referred to as its semantic vicinity. It is a part of the semantic environment of the concept and may be also named its immediate semantic environment. Obviously, the semantic vicinity depends on the available concept fund. Since this fund is continuously developing (as is the very nature of the technical terminology), the actualization of the semantic vicinities, i.e. of the respective concept thesaurus, is a permanent task.

When a new concept is introduced in the data bank, the identification of the semantic vicinity begins with the identification of its ascendant relations which subordinate it to immediately superior concepts. The corresponding descendant relations will be generated automatically at once. The associative relations are added if possible. The semantic vicinity involves first the ascendant relations, next the associative ones, and last the descendant relations (see §4.3.1).

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