CODEWITHSUNDEEP
rdfowlontologyrdfs
Francisco Ragout
Francisco Ragout

Reputation: 103

How to add a synonym for a concept in an existing ontology?

Given an existing ontology, how can I add an alternative label for a concept? In particular, I'm trying to add synonyms for ChEBI concepts. Example: here is the ChEBI class for Herbicide. We can see some synonyms (like herbizid). I could just go and add copy/paste that to add my own synonym, but that won't be extending the ontology, just modifying the original one.

<owl:Class rdf:about="http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CHEBI_24527">
        <rdfs:subClassOf rdf:resource="http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/CHEBI_25944"/>
        <obo:IAO_0000115 rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">A substance used to destroy plant pests.</obo:IAO_0000115>
        <oboInOwl:hasDbXref rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Wikipedia:Herbicide</oboInOwl:hasDbXref>
        <oboInOwl:hasOBONamespace rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">chebi_ontology</oboInOwl:hasOBONamespace>
        <oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Herbizid</oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym>
        <oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Unkrautbekaempfungsmittel</oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym>
        <oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Unkrautvertilgungsmittel</oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym>
        <oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">Wildkrautbekaempfungsmittel</oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym>
        <oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">herbicides</oboInOwl:hasRelatedSynonym>
        <oboInOwl:id rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">CHEBI:24527</oboInOwl:id>
        <oboInOwl:inSubset rdf:resource="http://purl.obolibrary.org/obo/chebi#3_STAR"/>
        <rdfs:label rdf:datatype="http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string">herbicide</rdfs:label>
    </owl:Class>

Upvotes: 1

Views: 304

Answers (1)

Henriette Harmse
Henriette Harmse

Reputation: 4787

This really comes down to whether the extension will only be used privately (i.e., by yourself or the organization you work for) or whether the extension has value for the community in general.

In the private case you can create your own ontology that imports chebi and then you can add the extensions you want to your ontology. Importing chebi will allow you to get access to newer releases of chebi whereas maintaining your own copy of chebi will cause you to be stuck with that version of chebi.

In the general case it is best to open an issue in the issue tracker of chebi. Further, chebi allows you to become a user which seems to allow you to submit changes. This way your changes (once accepted) will benefit the community in general.

Upvotes: 1

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