Stock, Kristin (2010). Describing spatial relations using informal semantics. In Mordechai (Muki) Haklay, Jeremy Morley, & Hanif Rahemtulla (Eds.), Proceedings of the GIS Research UK 18th Annual Conference GISRUK 2010 (pp. 267-272). London: University College London.
This paper presents the results of an experiment that evaluated the use of Natural Semantic Metalanguage (NSM) for the definition of spatial relations by non-experts, and the consequent
comparison of those semantic definitions. This approach has the benefits of allowing informal
semantics to be expressed and capturing individual variations in semantics, rather than requiring a
consensus view to be adopted. The paper describes an experiment and its outcomes, and in doing this, shows how NSM can be used to compare the semantic equivalence of expressions constructed by different individuals, even if they are non-experts using naïve, non-literal, individually-specific definitions of the spatial relations concerned.
