Interactive connotative dictionary system

• US 6,529,864 B1
• Filed: 08/11/1999
• Issued: 03/04/2003
• Est. Priority Date: 08/11/1999
• Status: Expired due to Term

• Current Assignee: Roedy Black Publishing Inc.
• Original Assignee: Roedy Black Publishing Inc.
• Inventors: Chase, Wayne O.
• Primary Examiner(s): EDOUARD, PATRICK NESTOR
• Application Number:
  US09/372,243
• Time in Patent Office: 1,301 Days
• Field of Search: 704/1, 704/9, 704/10, 707/530, 707/533, 707/100, 707/101, 707/532
• US Class Current: 704/9
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/237 Lexical tools
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 40/289 Phrasal analysis, e.g. finite state techniques or chunking

Abstract

A computerized interactive language reference tool is provided which associates one or more connotative meanings with a denotative context of a given term. A data base stores the denotative context and connotative meanings of a plurality of terms. Connotative meaning, along with the intensity of such meaning are identified using a statistical model of sampled responses from select panels of evaluators. Areas of human interest also are associated with a given term and its denotative meaning. Scaled ratings of the power, activity and abstract/concrete qualities of the term also are maintained. Connotative meanings for any given term are determined from predefined emotional descriptors organized into a plurality of predefined categories. The data base content is updated over time to accommodate changing and new connotations occurring over time.

Claims

1. A computer readable storage medium for storing a connotative language reference data base, comprising a plurality of records, each record comprising:

a first field for identifying a term;

a second field for identifying a denotative context for the term in the first field; and

a connotative field which stores a code, the code corresponding to an emotional descriptor, said emotional descriptor corresponding to an emotional affect, the emotional affect being a connotative meaning for said term.

2. A computer readable storage medium for storing a connotative language reference data base, comprising a plurality of records, each record comprising:

a first field for identifying a term;

a second field for identifying a denotative context for the term in the first field;

a connotative field which stores a code, the code corresponding to one selection of a plurality of predefined connotative selections, said one selection corresponding to a connotative meaning for said term, in which the connotative field is one of a plurality of connotative fields for each record, each one of the plurality of connotative fields storing a code corresponding to one selection of a plurality of predefined connotative selections, the plurality of predefined connotative selections comprising an indicator of no connotative association and a plurality of sets of emotional descriptors, each one set of the plurality of sets corresponding to a mutually exclusive one emotional category of a plurality of emotional categories.

3. The medium of claim 2, in which there are no more than one connotative field of the plurality of connotative fields associated with each one of the plurality of emotional categories.

4. The medium of claim 2, in which there are two connotative fields of the plurality of connotative fields associated with each one of the plurality of emotional categories—

a first field of the two associated connotative fields storing a code for identifying a primary connotative selection, a second field of the two associated connotative fields for storing a code for identifying a secondary connotative selection, the primary connotative selection and the secondary connotative selection selected from the plurality of predefined connotative selections.

5. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

a third field for identifying the part of speech for the term as used in the denotative context identified by the second field.

6. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

for each one connotative field of the plurality of connotative fields, an intensity field which identifies an intensity rating for the connotative selection identified by the code in the corresponding one connotative field.

7. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

a power field for identifying a power rating associated with the term.

8. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

an activity seventh field for identifying an activity rating for the term.

9. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

an abstract field for identifying a rating along an abstract to concrete rating scale for the term.

10. The medium of claim 2, in which each record further comprises:

a plurality of contextual fields for identifying human interest categories associated with the term.

11. The computer readable storage medium of claim 2, further comprising computer executable code means of instructions for processing a user input to search for a record among the plurality of records corresponding to the user input.

12. The medium of claim 11, which stores a plurality of filtering options, and wherein said code means comprises computer executable instructions for processing the user input to search for a record among the plurality of records corresponding to a selection identified by the user input, the identified selection identifying a filtering option from among the plurality of filtering options.

13. A computer system for executing a computer program implementing a connotative language reference, the system comprising:

a data base having a plurality of records, each record including;

a first field for identifying a term;

a second field for identifying a denotative context for the term in the first field;

a plurality of connotative fields, each one of the plurality of connotative fields storing a code corresponding to one selection of a plurality of predefined connotative selections, the plurality of predefined connotative selections comprising an indicator of no connotative association and a plurality of sets of emotional descriptors, each one set of the plurality of sets corresponding to a mutually exclusive one emotional category of a plurality of emotional categories;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying for a given record, the term, the denotative context and at least one selection of the plurality of predefined connotative selections among the plurality of connotative fields.

14. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

a contextual field for identifying a human interest area associated with the term, the identified human interest area being from a predefined set of human interest areas;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying a plurality of filtering options corresponding to predefined set of human interest areas;

means for processing a selection of filtering options to identify an output record from the data base which includes an entry among the output record'"'"'s plurality of contextual fields which corresponds to the selection of filtering options.

15. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

a contextual field for identifying a special diction area associated with the term, the identified special diction area being from a predefined set of special diction areas;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying a plurality of filtering options corresponding to predefined set of special diction areas;

means for processing a selection of filtering options to identify an output record from the data base which includes an entry among the output record'"'"'s plurality of contextual fields which corresponds to the selection of filtering options.

16. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

a power field for identifying a power rating associated with the term;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying a filtering option corresponding to a scale of power ratings;

means for processing a selection of filtering options to identify an output record from the data base which includes an entry among the output record'"'"'s plurality of contextual fields which corresponds to the selection of filtering options.

17. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

an activity power field identifying an activity rating associated with the term;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying a filtering option corresponding to a scale of activity ratings;

means for processing a selection of filtering options to identify an output record from the data base which includes an entry among the output record'"'"'s plurality of contextual fields which corresponds to the selection of filtering options.

18. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

an abstract field for identifying a rating along an abstract to concrete scale, the rating being associated with the term;

the system further comprising;

means for displaying a filtering option corresponding to the abstract to concrete scale;

means for processing a selection of filtering options to identify an output record from the data base which includes an entry among the output record'"'"'s plurality of contextual fields which corresponds to the selection of filtering options.

19. The system of claim 13, in which each record of the data base further comprises:

for each one of the plurality of connotative fields, an intensity field for identifying an intensity rating associated with the corresponding connotative field;

said displaying means for displaying the intensity field for connotative selection of said given record.

20. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for displaying a plurality of filtering options;

means for processing a selection of displayed filtering options to identify an output record from the data base corresponding to the selection of filtering options.

21. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for updating the data base to change the connotative selection associated with the given record.

22. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for displaying an emotional descriptor from multiples ones of said plurality of categories for the given record and a depiction of a corresponding intensity value for said displayed emotional descriptor.

23. The system of claim 13, further comprising a plurality of display placeholder variables, each one of the plurality of display placeholder variables corresponding to one of the plurality of emotional categories and holding an emotional descriptor associated with the corresponding emotional category for the given record, said display means displaying the held emotional descriptors for the given record.

24. The system of claim 13, further comprising:

means for storing said plurality of predefined connotative selections; and

computer executable means of instructions for associating each said code of said plurality of connotative fields to a corresponding one of said plurality of predefined connotative selections.

25. The system of claim 13, in which the power rating is the human interest term.