PROBLEMS ASSOCIATED WITH THE USE OF COMPOUND WORDS IN THESAURI, WITH SPECIAL REFERENCE TO BS 5723:1979

Although many large systems have by‐passed the problem by employing ‘natural language’, compound words remain a difficulty in thesaurus construction. In the past, rules have been devised which attempted to approach the problem via syntax, but these were not altogether satisfactory. Instead, it is proposed that the major criteria for handling compound words should rest upon their orthography (i.e. physical form), lexicography (dictionary definition) and semantics, with special attention being given to the possible occurrence of homographs—words which differ in meaning, but share a common form. The suggestions contained in BS 5723, Guidelines for the establishment and development of monolingual thesauri, are assessed in relation to these criteria. BS 5723 is criticized for failing to pay sufficient attention to the requirements of mechanized systems, and for its partial failure in not recording the divergent needs of pre‐and post‐coordinate systems.