Onotatie

Onotatie is a notation framework designed to encode multi-layered observations and interpretations across disciplines such as data science, ethnography, and linguistics. Its aim is to provide a unified, machine-readable representation that combines ontological categories (what things are), relational structures (how entities relate), and contextual metadata (when, where, how observed).

Structure and syntax: The framework defines a small set of primitives called signs (labels for concepts), relations (binary links between signs), and contexts (scope and temporal information). Notation is expressed as linear sequences or nested graphs, using braces and arrows while avoiding ambiguity through a formal grammar. Color-coding or annotations may be used in human-readable renderings, but the machine-readable form remains syntax-based.

History: Onotatie emerged in scholarly discourse in the 2010s as a way to reconcile differing annotation schemes across studies. Several workshop proposals and early software libraries explored its feasibility. By the late 2010s, prototype tools allowed export/import to common data formats.

Applications and evaluation: It is used to annotate datasets with ontological tags and relational structures, enabling cross-study querying and integration. Critics note the learning curve and potential for over-standardization, but supporters argue it improves interoperability and reproducibility.

See also: Notation systems; Ontology; Data annotation; Knowledge representation.