Concept Hierarchy Convention

A Concept Hierarchy Convention is a naming convention that establishes structural rules for organizing concepts in hierarchical relationships.

• AKA: Hierarchical Naming Convention, Taxonomy Naming Standard, Ontology Hierarchy Convention, Concept Tree Convention.
• Context:
  • It can typically define Parent-Child Naming Rules for inheritance relationships.
  • It can typically specify Level Indicators showing hierarchical depth.
  • It can typically establish Sibling Differentiation patterns for parallel concepts.
  • It can typically mandate Inheritance Markers in child concept names.
  • It can typically prescribe Abstraction Levels from general concepts to specific concepts.
  • ...
  • It can often include Multiple Inheritance Rules for complex taxonomies.
  • It can often provide Facet Organization for multi-dimensional classification.
  • It can often support Polyhierarchy Structures with multiple parents.
  • It can often enforce Consistency Checks across hierarchy levels.
  • ...
  • It can range from being a Simple Concept Hierarchy Convention to being a Complex Concept Hierarchy Convention, depending on its structural complexity.
  • It can range from being a Strict Concept Hierarchy Convention to being a Flexible Concept Hierarchy Convention, depending on its rule flexibility.
  • It can range from being a Monohierarchical Convention to being a Polyhierarchical Convention, depending on its inheritance pattern.
  • It can range from being a Domain-Specific Concept Hierarchy Convention to being a Universal Concept Hierarchy Convention, depending on its application scope.
  • ...
  • It can integrate with Concept Naming Conventions for name consistency.
  • It can connect to Knowledge Base Systems for taxonomy management.
  • It can interface with Ontology Editors for hierarchy visualization.
  • It can communicate with Reasoning Systems for inheritance inference.
  • ...
• Example(s):
  • GM-RKB Hierarchy Convention:
    • General-to-specific progression: Task → Domain-Specific Task → Legal Task
    • Qualifier inheritance: parent qualifiers propagate to children
    • Suffix consistency: children maintain parent's suffix type
  • Biological Taxonomy Convention:
    • Linnaean hierarchy: Kingdom → Phylum → Class → Order → Family → Genus → Species
    • Binomial nomenclature for species level
    • Latin naming requirements
  • Library Classification Conventions:
    • Dewey Decimal System with numeric hierarchies
    • Library of Congress Classification with alphanumeric codes
    • Universal Decimal Classification with faceted approach
  • Software Package Conventions:
    • Java Package Naming with reverse domain notation
    • Python Module Hierarchy with dot notation
    • XML Namespace Convention with URI-based identification
  • ...
• Counter-Example(s):
  • Flat Namespace, which lacks hierarchical structure.
  • Tag System, which uses non-hierarchical labels.
  • Random Organization, which lacks systematic structure.
• See: Concept Naming Convention, Taxonomy, Ontology, Knowledge Organization System, Hierarchical Classification, Inheritance Relationship, Parent-Child Relationship.

---