Ontology As Structured by the Interfaces with Semantics

Where ontology meets grammar and cognition.

An umbrella organization for research about and around formal semantic ontology

OASIS is an umbrella organization for questions about:

...abilities, agents, animacy, aspects, attitudes, causation, degrees, dispositions, entities, events, facts, forces, habits, identity, intensions, intentions, kinds, numbers, obligations, persons, plurality, polarity, possession, possibilities, predication, properties, propositions, questions, scales, sentience, situations, states, stuff, times, tropes, worlds...

Answers to these questions arise from the interfaces with semantics: grammar (syntax) and cognition.

Ontology as the backbone of grammatical systems

Our most basic mental concepts of what is in the world form the backbone of grammatical systems.

Any particular language, through its grammatical system, forces the speaker to express certain distinctions which are in effect answers to ontological questions.

Using linguistic methods—the "x-ray machines" for grammatical systems—we can detect a rich ground truth about the ontological entities that natural language can manipulate.

Ontology as an interdisciplinary hinge

Ontological entities are a hinge that allows researchers from different frameworks to communicate.

From syntax, through semantics and philosophy, to pragmatics, psychology, neuroscience and computer science, we all rely on ontology.

Where two distinct frameworks each use a notion of "event", for instance, we can easily ask how those notions coincide or differ.

A network of networks

OASIS aims to provide human and digital infrastructure for a network of networks, through OASIS meetings and through the OASIS website.

Ontology researchers and communities are welcome to post publications, news, projects, and events.

Send us a content suggestion, or if you want to interact more closely with OASIS, contact us.

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The questions we ask

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News

The latest ontology news from the world of formal semantics and its interfaces.

A beautiful visualization of gender in language

March 4, 2024
How do languages mark gender? How do people feel about it?

OASIS 3 / SPE 12 invited speaker interviews

October 10, 2023
What do the invited speakers think will help linguists communicate with non-linguists? And other answers to burning questions....

OASIS "bubbles"

October 7, 2023
What are those round colored stickers that everyone is wearing on their nametags?

Upcoming events

Events taking place in and around the OASIS community.