The underlying assumptions for interpreting the meaning of data often change over time, which further complicates the problem of semantic heterogeneities among autonomous data sources. As an extension to the COntext INterchange (COIN) framework, this paper introduces the notion of temporal context as a formalization of the problem. We represent temporal context as a multi-valued method in F-Logic; however, only one value is valid at any point in time, the determination of which is constrained by temporal relations. This representation is then mapped to an abductive constraint logic programming framework with temporal relations being treated as constraints. A mediation engine that implements the framework automatically detects and reconciles semantic differences at different times. We articulate that this extended COIN framework is suitable for reasoning on the Semantic Web. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The underlying assumptions for interpreting the meaning of data often change over time, which further complicates the problem of semantic heterogeneities among autonomous data sources. As an extension to the COntext INterchange (COIN) framework, this paper introduces the notion of temporal context as a formalization of the problem. We represent temporal context as a multi-valued method in F-Logic; however, only one value is valid at any point in time, the determination of which is constrained by temporal relations. This representation is then mapped to an abductive constraint logic programming framework with temporal relations being treated as constraints. A mediation engine that implements the framework automatically detects and reconciles semantic differences at different times. We articulate that this extended COIN framework is suitable for reasoning on the Semantic Web. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The underlying assumptions for interpreting the meaning of data often change over time, which further complicates the problem of semantic heterogeneities among autonomous data sources. As an extension to the COntext INterchange (COIN) framework, this paper introduces the notion of temporal context as a formalization of the problem. We represent temporal context as a multi-valued method in F-Logic; however, only one value is valid at any point in time, the determination of which is constrained by temporal relations. This representation is then mapped to an abductive constraint logic programming framework with temporal relations being treated as constraints. A mediation engine that implements the framework automatically detects and reconciles semantic differences at different times. We articulate that this extended COIN framework is suitable for reasoning on the Semantic Web. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

The underlying assumptions for interpreting the meaning of data often change over time, which further complicates the problem of semantic heterogeneities among autonomous data sources. As an extension to the COntext INterchange (COIN) framework, this paper introduces the notion of temporal context as a formalization of the problem. We represent temporal context as a multi-valued method in F-Logic; however, only one value is valid at any point in time, the determination of which is constrained by temporal relations. This representation is then mapped to an abductive constraint logic programming framework with temporal relations being treated as constraints. A mediation engine that implements the framework automatically detects and reconciles semantic differences at different times. We articulate that this extended COIN framework is suitable for reasoning on the Semantic Web. / Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA)

Anscombe (1964) presents influential arguments that 'before' and 'after' cannot denote converse relations, despite intuitions to the contrary. These arguments, I claim, rely on ambiguity of certain 'before'- and 'after'-sentences, ambiguity that arises from the interaction of tense and aspect with the temporal ordering relations denoted by 'before' and 'after'. To account for this ambiguity, I adopt a Discourse Representation Theory-based analysis of tense and aspect (Kamp & Reyle 2011) and apply it to a set of examples that exhibit the variety of readings available for 'before'- and 'after'-sentences. I argue that certain readings of stative 'after'-sentences support the existence of an inceptive coercion operator, equivalent in effect to the aspectual verb 'begin'. This operator has much in common with 'earliest', an operator proposed by Beaver & Condoravdi (2003), but it is motivated by independent aspectual considerations. I conclude with a discussion of areas for future research. / text

Nous nous demandons dans ce travail de quelle manière "quand" modifie l'interprétation qui serait faite d'une séquence de propositions P. Q ou Q. P lorsqu'il préfixe P. Après avoir souligné les problèmes que cette question soulevé dans plusieurs études fondatrices en sémantique temporelle, nous apportons des arguments pour défendre la théorie, admise par plusieurs auteurs, selon laquelle "quand P" est un adverbial de localisation temporelle. Nous montrons que les propriétés discursives de P, souvent traitée dans la littérature comme une proposition présupposée, s'expliquent par cette seule contrainte : "quand" impose de traiter cette proposition comme la description d'un repère temporel utilisé dans l'interprétation de Q. Nous montrons en outre que la théorie selon laquelle "quand P" désigne un repère temporel permet de rendre compte des contraintes qui pèsent sur les relations chronologiques pouvant s'établir entre les événements eP et eQ des deux propositions. En particulier, nous avançons que l'inférence d'une relation de succession immédiate entre eP et eQ reflète l'une des relations qui peuvent s'établir entre le référent d'un adverbial de localisation et l'événement qu'il localise : le référent de l'adverbial sert de borne initiale à l'intervalle d'occurrence de l'événement. Enfin, nous étudions la manière dont la description d'éventualité et le marqueur temporel accueillis par P contribuent à la sémantique de l'adverbial "quand P". Nous précisons les propriétés quantificationnelles et temporelles conférées au référent de "quand P" par les différents temps du français et expliquons par ces propriétés les contraintes de cooccurrence qui pèsent sur l'emploi des temps dans P et Q. / In this work, we adress the following question: how does "quand" change the interpretation that may be made of a sequence of clauses P. Q or Q. P when it prefixes P? After highlighting the problems that this matter raises in several pioneering studies in temporal semantics, we provide arguments to defend the theory E accepted by several authors E that quand P is a temporal locating adverbial. We show that the discourse properties of P, which is often treated in the literature as a presupposed proposition, is explained by the following single constraint: "quand" demands to treat this clause as the description of a time mark to be used in the interpretation of Q. We further show that the theory that "quand P" designates a time mark accounts for the constraints on the temporal relations that can be established between eP and eQ, the events of both clauses. In particular, we argue that the inference that eQ immediately follows eP reflects one of the relations that can be established between the referent of a temporal locating adverbial and the event it locates: the referent of the adverbial provides an initial bound to the interval of occurrence of the event. Finally, we study how the event description and the tense of P contribute to the semantics of the adverbial "quand P". We specify the quantificational and temporal properties imparted to the referent of quand P by the different tenses of French and explain these properties by co-occurrence constraints that impact the use of tenses in P and Q.