Adjectives in GermaNet
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Semantic Relations
Instead of using the concept of satellite or similar synsets we try to structure adjectives in GermaNet hierarchically and do not allow indirect antonyms. We make use of the hyponymy relation wherever it is possible.
Example: "froh" (happy)
The following semantic relations are used to describe adjectives:
- Antonymy, e.g. schlecht is the antonym of gut
- Hyponymy, e.g. gut is the hypernym of toll
- Association, e.g. landesweit is associated with Land
- Pertonymy, e.g. atomar has the pertainym Atom
- Participle, e.g. bedeutend is the participle of bedeuten
Pertonymy (has_pertainym)
The lexical relation pertonymy combines adjectives derived from a noun with their nominal base. The noun forms the basis of the adjective and determines its meaning (e.g. the adjective finanziell (financial) is derived from the noun Finanzen (finance)).
Participle (has_participle)
A subgroup of adjectives corresponds formally with the participle of a verb. Their semantic refers to the semantic of the underlying verb, but additionally they show to a different extent idiosyncratic semantic features. In those cases where the semantics of the underlying verb is in a significant way relevant for the interpretation of the participle adjective, there is a relation between the adjective and the respective verb. For example, ergreifend, ergriffen refer to the verb ergreifen in the sense of having an emotional effect on someone (eine emotionale Wirkung auf jemanden haben).
Adjectives in GermaNet
The approach taken in GermaNet differs from WordNet® in the following points:
- We distinguish between different semantic classes of adjectives.
- We abandon the cluster-approach taken in WordNet® in favour of a hierarchical structuring of adjectives comparable to that of nouns and verbs. This eliminates the rather fuzzy concept of indirect antonyms of WordNet®.
- We also try to cope without distinguishing between relational and descriptive adjectives as the criteria for their distinction seem to be not at all clear. It seems as if some uses of relational adjectives in English are realised by nominal compounds in German.
- We do not introduce "artificial" antonyms (e.g. Wordnet®: pregnant !-> nonpregnant).
For an overview see the table with semantic adjective classes in GermaNet.
Semantic Fields for Adjectives
In GermaNet, adjectives are divided into 16 semantic classes following the classes proposed by Hundsnurscher and Splett (1982), with some changes to the subclasses and a special class for the so-called pertainyms. All semantic adjective classes that are used in GermaNet are listed here.
| Adjective Class | Examples | |
|---|---|---|
| Perceptional (Perzeption) | lightness (Helligkeit) | hell, dunkel |
| colour (Farbe) | rot, grün, blau | |
| sound (Geräusch) | laut, leise | |
| taste (Geschmack) | süß, sauer, salzig | |
| smell (Geruch) | aromatisch, muffig | |
| surface (Oberfläche) | rau, glatt, glänzend | |
| Spatial (Ort) | dimension (Dimension) | lang, kurz, flach |
| direction (Richtung) | nördlich, frontal | |
| localisation (Lokalisierung) | nah, mittig, untere | |
| origin(Herkunft) | einheimisch, fremd | |
| spatial distribution (Raumverteilung) | voll, leer | |
| form (Form) | rund, eckig | |
| existence (Existenz) | vorhanden, anwesend | |
| Temporality-related (Zeit) | time (Zeit) | früh, spät |
| velocity (Geschwindigkeit) | langsam, schnell, flott | |
| age (Alter) | alt, jung | |
| habit (Gewohnheit) | normal, typisch, unüblich | |
| Motion-related (Bewegung) | motion | plump, fließend |
| Material-related (Substanz) | composition (Beschaffenheit) | golden, grob, fein |
| state (Zustand) | offen, geschlossen | |
| stability (Stabilität) | stabil, wacklig | |
| consistency (Konsistenz) | flüssig, fest, schleimig | |
| ripeness (Reife von Nahrung) | reif, frisch, grün | |
| dampness (Feuchtigkeit) | nass, trocken, feucht | |
| purity (Reinheit) | sauber, schmutzig, trüb | |
| gravity (Gewicht) | schwer, leicht, massiv | |
| physics (Physik) | elektrisch, magnetisch | |
| chemistry (Chemie) | asbesthaltig, dioxinhaltig | |
| temperature (Temperatur) | warm, kalt | |
| Weather-related (natPhaenomen) | weather / climate | schwül, lau, regnerisch |
| Body-related (Koerper) | life (Belebtheit) | lebendig, tot |
| constitution (Konstitution) | stark, schwach | |
| affliction (Gebrechen/Krankheit) | krank, gesund, taub | |
| desire/feeling (Körpergefühl) | hungrig, satt, müde | |
| sex (Geschlecht) | männlich, weiblich | |
| appearance (Aussehen) | schön, hässlich, hübsch | |
| bodily state (Körperzustand) | schwanger, geschlechtsreif | |
| Mood-related (Gefuehl) | feeling (Empfindung/Gefühl)) | froh, traurig, bewegt |
| stimulus (Reiz) | angenehm, traurig, bewegend | |
| Spirit-related (Geist) | intelligence/attention (Intelligenz/Aufmerksamkeit) | klug, dumm, aufmerksam |
| knowledge/experience (Wissen/Erfahrung) | erfahren, fähig, gebildet | |
| Behaviour-related (Verhalten) | behaviour/character (Verhalten/Charakter) | böse, faul, höflich |
| animal specific tierspezifisch | zahm, wild | |
| skill (Geschicklichkeit) | geschickt, unbeholfen | |
| relations (Beziehung) | feindlich, umweltfreundlich | |
| sympathy (Sympathie) | beliebt, verachtet | |
| inclination (Neigung) | naschhaft, gesprächig | |
| Social-related (Gesellschaft) | stratum (Schicht) | arm, reich, erwerbstätig |
| institution/politics (Institution/Politik) | staatlich, privat, demokratisch | |
| religion (Religion) | gläubig, christlich | |
| state (Land) | europäisch, deutsch | |
| region (Region) | städtisch, ländlich, bundesweit | |
| Quantity-related (Menge) | number (Zahl) | zwei, dreißig |
| quantity (Quantität) | viel, wenig, vierfach | |
| costs (Kosten) | teuer, billig | |
| return (Ertrag) | einträglich, fruchtbar | |
| Relational (Relation) | validity (Geltung) | gültig, ungültig, möglich |
| certainty (Gewissheit) | gewiss, sicher, eindeutig | |
| requirements (Bedarf) | wichtig, wesentlich, nötig | |
| effectiveness (Wirksamkeit) | wirksam, effektiv | |
| difficulty/energy requirement (Schwierigkeit/Energieaufwand) | schwer, einfach, sparsam | |
| functioning (Funktionalität) | intakt, defekt, kaputt | |
| security (Sicherheit) | gefährlich, sicher, riskant | |
| order (Geordnetheit) | geordnet, ordentlich, chaotisch | |
| linking (Verknüpfung) | lose, zugehörig, verbunden | |
| correspondence (Übereinstimmung) | gleich, verschieden, ähnlich | |
| accuracy (Genauigkeit) | genau, vage, klar | |
| completeness (Vollständigkeit) | komplett, lückenhaft, total | |
| cause (Ursache) | wetterbedingt, psychogen | |
| reference (Bezug) | direkt, symbolisch, konkret | |
| beneficial effect (Zuträglichkeit) | heilsam, schädlich, giftig | |
| General (Allgemein) | comparative | enorm, riesig, stattlich |
| evaluation | gut, schlecht, übel | |
| norm | sonderbar, grotesk | |
| Pertainyms (Pertonym) | 'derived from' | atomar, notariell, regional |
| Privative (privativ) | defined by negation | rauchfrei, sorglos, luftleer |
Perceptional Adjectives (adj.Perzeption)
The class of perceptional adjectives contains adjectives that describe what a human being can perceive by his/her five senses. According to what we can see (lightness, colour, surface), hear (sound), taste, smell and touch (surface) they are further divided into the six subclasses that are listed in the table. The adjectives describing the surface of a material include both what we can touch (e.g. weich, glatt) and what we can see (e.g. glänzend, matt).
General Adjectives (adj.Allgemein)
These are adjectives with a "general" meaning. General adjectives can be superordinate to (many of) the other adjective classes. For instance, some behaviour-related adjectives can be assigned to the general adjectives gut or schlecht: angenehm, hyperonym: gut, positiv (Allgemein)
Pertainyms (adj.Pertonym)
Pertainyms are adjectives pertaining to a noun that forms the basis of the adjective and therefore determines its meaning (e.g. finanziell/financial -> Finanzen/finance). They often cannot be classified according to one of the semantic classes described above. Each pertainym is connected with its noun by the lexical relation Pertainymy, e.g. finanziell pertains to nomen.Besitz:Finanzen. Those denominal adjectives that can be classified should be listed in the corresponding file, e.g. intellektuell/intellectual as a spirit-related adjective in the file adj.Geist: intellektuell pertains to nomen.Kognition:Intellekt
Typical German pertainym suffixes are -(i,u)ell, -al, -ar, -isch, and -lich.
Privatives (Privativa)
These are denominal adjectives that are defined by negation. They can be paraphrased with "to have no x / to be without x" (e.g. ärmellos/sleeveless, fettfrei/fatless). Similar to pertainyms they are only listed in this class if they cannot be assigned to another class, e.g. bügelfrei/non-iron, adj.privativ, but sorglos belonging to the class adj.Gefuehl.
Typical German privative suffixes are -los, -frei, -leer.