Domain properties and the representation of terminological relations

Abstract Frame-Based Terminology (FBT) proposes the use of frames as a model for the representation of terminological relations. Frames provide an alternative to the hierarchical concept systems of Wüster’s Allgemeine Terminologielehre (ATL; ‘General Theory of Terminology’). For some domains, frames are more useful than for others. In order to find out which properties of a domain determine this, three domains are compared. In the domain of rodents, a hierarchical concept system is an insightful representation of the core relations. FBT was developed for the domain of coastal management and the frame for this domain deserves special attention for this reason. For the domain of football matches, it is shown that hyponymy and meronymy only cover a small part of the domain, but a frame of the type used in coastal management does not improve this significantly. Instead, a frame based on an analysis of the football match into episodes is developed. In the conclusion, the factors that are responsible for the degree of usefulness of frames and the type of frame that is necessary are summarized.