RAOP: Rethorical Annotation Ontology Project


Editor's Draft 24 June 2017

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https://github.com/bakulf/raop/ (RDF)
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Authors:
Andrea Marchesini, Tiziana Mancinelli

Copyright © 2014-2015 Andrea Marchesini and Tiziana Mancinelli

Creative Commons License This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License. This copyright applies to the

RAOP: Rethorical Annotation Ontology Project

and accompanying documentation in RDF. Regarding underlying technology, W3C's RDF technology, an open Web standard that can be freely used by anyone.

Abstract

This project aims to build a domain-specific ontology for the annotation of figures of speech, called RAOP – Rhetorical Annotation Ontology Project. RAOP will allow users to map rhetorical aspects of written and oral texts. Informed by the study of classical and modern rhetorical scholarship, this ontology, based on W3C Linked data and Semantic Web, will be a powerful model to represent the complexity of hierarchical and non-hierarchical structures such as a rhetorical system. Built in RDF, RAOP could also be expanded to all standards of Semantic Web and it could be used together with other formal ontologies already in existence such as FRBR, TEI and, CIDOC-CRM. This project is one of the possible approaches taken into consideration to digitize figures of speech by using technologies associated with Linked data and Semantic Web.

Table of Contents

1 Introduction

The aim of this project is to provide a tool for the digitization of figures of speech by using technologies associated with Linked data and the Semantic Web. Rhetoric as the art of discourse encompass a variety of principles and strategies – figures of speech and other compositional techniques – for the construction of a persuasive speaking or writing. Since the Aristotle to the early 20th century, this discipline was mainly dedicated to train students to be eloquent in a public space. The proliferation of schools produced many tutorials, several definitions and theories that allow a variety of methods and specialism. The purpose of RAOP is to support the rhetorical and syntactical digital literary analysis together with a scholarly theoretical approach of this realm.

Rhetoric is a set of operations made on language necessarily dependent on certain characteristics of language: all rhetorical operations are fundamental property of linear discourse which means that a discourse can be decomposed into a smaller and smaller units. RAOP seek to create the way for the representation of complex text structures as a rhetorical figure that involves multiple co-existing, hierarchical and no-hierarchical structure of annotation.

A figure of speech could belong to different categories characterized and distinguished by a combination of words with similar sounds or meanings, and it has a wide range of properties that involves the structure of the phrase. Rhetoric as the art of discourse encompasses a variety of principles and strategies – figures of speech and other compositional techniques – for the construction of a persuasive speaking or writing. Since the Aristotle to the early 20th century this discipline was mainly dedicated to train students: the proliferation of schools produced many tutorials, several definitions and theories, allowing differing purposes and methods.

A project such as ours aims to build a system to enable the user to detect figures of speech in order to disentangle mechanisms – grammatical and stylistic rules - that construct a discourse or the aspects of rhetoric that make communication more persuasive.In this project, we decided to take into account the categorisation found in the Manuale di retorica - Garavelli’s most recent Italian masterpiece.

2 Concept

Following Garavelli’s work, the RAOP hierarchy is organised into three main branches or categories: figures of speech, figures of thought, and tropes.

  1. Figures of speech which employ repetition – repetition of words or sounds in a specific pattern - are often used to gain attention, create an emphasis or, amplify a meaning. A figure of speech will include as subclasses rhetorical devices belonging to this category such as, for instance, an anaphora. An anaphora consists of repeating a sequence (group) of words at the beginnings of sentences that are close to each other.
  2. Figures of thought are a method of presenting ideas, feelings and concepts in an artful way. These figures of thought do not add new meaning and provide a new shade able to influence the first meaning. For instance, a chiasmus, which consists of four items – words or clauses – related to each other through a reversal of structures. These rhetorical devices could be linked to another resource called a syntactical figure.
  3. Each of these rhetorical devices have properties or functions. The four categories of change – which are called quadripartita ratio (Quint. Inst. 1.5.38) - are functions or operations governing that provide a standard means of the formation of all figures of speech are perceived as an alteration. * addition (per adiectionem), by adding to the item one or more components; * omission (per detractionem), by removing one or more components from a given item; * transposition (per transmutationem), by changing the position of a component within the item. Also called transferring; * permutation (per immutationem), by replacing one or more components of the whole iotem from outside. Immutatio is also called anthisesis.
  4. Tropes are a deviation from the ordinary meaning of words in their literal principal form. We are currently working on three subclasses in particular: metaphor, metonymy and synecdoche. In order to support the explanation and justify the strong interpretative act needed for these rhetorical figures, the encoding includes an explanation of the meaning.

This project holds that the annotation of rhetorical figures is important not only for linguistic purposes, but also for discovering different styles of writing, purpose, and styles/typologies of written documents and genres. The study of rhetoric allows us to comprehensively analyse how language is used, looking at its emotional impact as much as its propositional content.

3 Dependencies

This document relies on the following specifications:

RAOP cross-reference: Listing RAOP Classes and Properties

RAOP introduces the following classes and properties. A machine-friendly version is also available in RDF/XML.

Classes: | AdditionCategory | Alliteration | Anaphora | Assonance | Document | Epanalepsis | Epistrophe | FigureCategory | FigureOfSpeech | FigureOfThought | Group | Metaphor | Metonymy | OmissionCategory | Onomatopoeia | Oxymoron | Paronomasia | PermutationCategory | Phoneme | Polyptoton | Polysyndeton | RethoricalDevice | Rhyme | SemanticItem | Simile | Syllable | Synecdoche | Synesthesia | SyntacticalFigure | TranspositionCategory | Trope | Word |

Properties: | category | comparison | interpretation | items | linkingContent | phonemes | semanticItems | sense | sentence | soundElements | subject | syllables | value |

Classes and Properties (full detail)


Classes

Class: raop:AdditionCategory

Category Additional -
Subclass Of:| FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:Alliteration

Alliteration - Repetition of the same letter or sound within nearby words. Most often, repeated initial consonants. Note: The term "alliteratio" was coined by Giovanni Pontano in 1519 as a further specification of the term annominatio. Current usage of this term is in its most restricted sense (repeated initial consonants), aligning it with the vice known as homoeoprophoron or paroemion.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
         xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <!-- Why not waste a wild weekend at Westmore Water Park? -->
  <raop:Word raop:value="waste">
    <raop:syllables><rdf:Seq>
      <rdf:li><raop:Syllable raop:value="wa" rdf:nodeID="waste_wa" /></rdf:li>
      <rdf:li><raop:Syllable raop:value="ste" /></rdf:li>
    </rdf:Seq></raop:syllables>
  </raop:Word>
  <raop:Word raop:value="wild">
    <raop:phonemes><rdf:Seq>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="wʌ" rdf:nodeID="wild_wʌ" /></rdf:li>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="ɪ" /></rdf:li>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="ld" /></rdf:li>
    </rdf:Seq></raop:phonemes>
  </raop:Word>
  <raop:Word raop:value="weekend">
    <raop:phonemes><rdf:Seq>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="w" rdf:nodeID="weekend_w" /></rdf:li>
      <!-- ... -->
    </rdf:Seq></raop:phonemes>
  </raop:Word>
  <raop:Word raop:value="westmore">
    <raop:phonemes><rdf:Seq>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="w" rdf:nodeID="westmore_w" /></rdf:li>
      <!-- ... -->
    </rdf:Seq></raop:phonemes>
  </raop:Word>
  <raop:Word raop:value="water">
    <raop:phonemes><rdf:Seq>
      <rdf:li><raop:Phoneme raop:value="w" rdf:nodeID="water_w" /></rdf:li>
      <!-- ... -->
    </rdf:Seq></raop:phonemes>
  </raop:Word>
  <raop:Alliteration>
    <raop:soundElements>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:Word raop:value="Why" />
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li rdf:nodeID="waste_wa" />
        <rdf:li rdf:nodeID="wild_wʌ" />
        <rdf:li rdf:nodeID="weekend_w" />
        <rdf:li rdf:nodeID="westmore_w" />
        <rdf:li rdf:nodeID="water_w" />
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:soundElements>
  </raop:Alliteration>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:Anaphora

Anaphora - Repetition of the same word or group of words at the beginning of successive clauses, sentences, or lines.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <raop:Anaphora>
    <raop:soundElements>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:Word raop:value="This" /><!-- This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle, -->
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:Word raop:value="This" /><!-- This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars, -->
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:Word raop:value="This" /><!-- This other Eden, demi-paradise, -->
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:Word raop:value="This" /><!-- This fortress built by Nature for herself -->
        </rdf:li>
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:soundElements>
  </raop:Anaphora>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:Assonance

Assonance - Repetition of similar vowel sounds, preceded and followed by different consonants, in the stressed syllables of adjacent words.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:Document

Document - which is an abstraction, created by or for a community of readers – 'an abstract class defining any kinds of publishing work'
Equivalent Classes:foaf:Document

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Class: raop:Epanalepsis

Epanalepsis - Repetition of the same word or clause after intervening matter. More strictly, repetition at the end of a line, phrase, or clause of the word or words that occurred at the beginning of the same line, phrase, or clause.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <!-- In times like these, it is helpful to remember that there have always been times like these -->
  <raop:Epanalepsis>
    <raop:soundElements>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <rdf:li> 
          <raop:Group><raop:items><rdf:Seq>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="times" /></rdf:li>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="like" /></rdf:li>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="these" /></rdf:li>
          </rdf:Seq></raop:items></raop:Group>
        </rdf:li> 
        <rdf:li> 
          <raop:Group><raop:items><rdf:Seq>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="times" /></rdf:li>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="like" /></rdf:li>
            <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="these" /></rdf:li>
          </rdf:Seq></raop:items></raop:Group>
        </rdf:li>
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:soundElements>
  </raop:Epanalepsis>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:Epistrophe

Epistrophe - Ending a series of lines, phrases, clauses, or sentences with the same word or words.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
         xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <raop:Epistrophe>
    <dc:creator>Shakespeare</dc:creator>
    <dc:title>The Tempest</dc:title>
    <raop:soundElements>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <rdf:li>
          <!-- Hourly joys be still upon you! --><raop:Word raop:value="you" />
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <!-- Juno sings her blessings on you. [...] --><raop:Word raop:value="you" />
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <!-- Scarcity and want shall shun you, --><raop:Word raop:value="you" />
        </rdf:li>
        <rdf:li>
          <!-- Ceres' blessing so is on you. --><raop:Word raop:value="you" />
        </rdf:li>
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:soundElements>
  </raop:Epistrophe>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:FigureCategory

Category of the Figure -

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Class: raop:FigureOfSpeech

Figure of Speech - which employ repetition – repetition of words or sounds in a specific pattern - are often used to gain attention, create an emphasis or, amplify a meaning.
Properties include:| soundElements |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice |

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Class: raop:FigureOfThought

Figure of Thought - Those rhetorical figures are a method of presenting ideas, feelings and concepts in an artful way
Properties include:| semanticItems |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice |

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Class: raop:Group

Group - which represents a number of items (groups, words, phonemes, syllables) gathered and classed together. It is useful to define properties of rhetorical annotations.
Properties include:| items |

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Class: raop:Metaphor

Metaphor - A comparison made by referring to one thing as another.
Properties include:| comparison | interpretation | linkingContent | sentence | subject |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | Trope |

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Class: raop:Metonymy

Metonymy - Reference to something or someone by naming one of its attributes.
Properties include:| interpretation | sentence |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | Trope |

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Class: raop:OmissionCategory

Category Omission -
Subclass Of:| FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:Onomatopoeia

Onomatopoeia - Using or inventing a word whose sound imitates that which it names (the union of phonetics and semantics).
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:Oxymoron

Oxymoron - A figure of speech in which apparently contradictory terms appear in conjunction
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
  xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
  xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <raop:Oxymoron>
    <raop:semanticItems>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <!-- l'adolescenza mischiata
         nel tenebrore accecante di eterni 
         pomeriggi estivi --> 
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:SemanticItems>
            <raop:item>
              <raop:Word raop:value="tenebrore" />
            </raop:item>
          </raop:SemanticItems>
        </rdf:li>
     
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:SemanticItems>
            <raop:item>
              <raop:Word raop:value="accecante" />
            </raop:item>
          </raop:SemanticItems>
        </rdf:li>
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:semanticItems>
  </raop:Oxymoron>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:Paronomasia

Paronomasia - Using words that sound alike but that differ in meaning (punning). The Ad Herennium author further specifies that this is brought about through various kinds of metaplasm.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:PermutationCategory

Category Permutation -
Subclass Of:| FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:Phoneme

Phoneme - Any of the perceptually distinct units of sound in a specified language that distinguish one word from another.
Properties include:| value |

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Class: raop:Polyptoton

Polyptoton - Repeating a word, but in a different form. Using a cognate of a given word in close proximity.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:Polysyndeton

Polysyndeton -
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:RethoricalDevice

Rethorical Device - Figures of speech, or, as they are often called, rhetorical figures, are an artful deviation1 from the ordinary manner of speaking, used in order to impress an audience.
Properties include:| category |

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Class: raop:Rhyme

Rhyme - Correspondence of sound between words or the endings of words, especially when these are used at the ends of lines of poetry.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory | SyntacticalFigure |

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Class: raop:SemanticItem

Semantic Item - Add a semantic realm to the world
Properties include:| sense |

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Class: raop:Simile

Simile - An explicit comparison, often (but not necessarily) employing "like" or "as."
Properties include:| comparison | interpretation | linkingContent | sentence | subject |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | Trope |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
         xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
         xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
<raop:Simile>
     <raop:comparison rdf:nodeID="nuvole"/>
     <raop:interpretation>leggiadri e veloci come le nuvole</raop:interpretation>
     <raop:subject rdf:nodeID="cavalli"/>
     <raop:linkingContent rdf:nodeID="svelti"/>
  <raop:sentence>
    <raop:Group>
      <raop:items>
        <rdf:Seq>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word rdf:nodeID="cavalli" raop:value="cavalli" /></rdf:li>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="sono " /></rdf:li>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word rdf:nodeID="svelti" raop:value="svelti" /></rdf:li>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="come" /></rdf:li>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word raop:value="le" /></rdf:li>
          <rdf:li><raop:Word rdf:nodeID="nuvole" raop:value="nuvole" /></rdf:li>
        </rdf:Seq>
      </raop:items>
    </raop:Group>
  </raop:sentence> 
</raop:Simile>

</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:Syllable

Syllable - A unit of pronunciation having one vowel sound, with or without surrounding consonants, forming the whole or a part of a word.
Properties include:| value |

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Class: raop:Synecdoche

Synecdoche - A whole is represented by naming one of its parts (genus named for species), or vice versa (species named for genus).
Properties include:| interpretation | sentence |
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | Trope |

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Class: raop:Synesthesia

Synesthesia - In semantics and cognitive linguistics, a metaphorical process by which one sense modality is described or characterized in terms of another, such as a bright sound or a quiet color.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice | FigureOfSpeech |
Category:| AdditionCategory |

<?xml version="1.0"?>
<rdf:RDF xmlns:rdf="http://www.w3.org/1999/02/22-rdf-syntax-ns#"
  xmlns:dc="http://purl.org/dc/elements/1.1/"
  xmlns:raop="http://bakulf.github.io/raop/0.1#">
  <raop:Synesthesia>
    <raop:semanticItems>
      <rdf:Seq>
        <!-- l'adolescenza mischiata
         nel tenebrore accecante di eterni 
         pomeriggi estivi --> 
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:SemanticItems roap:sense="vista">
            <raop:item>
              <raop:Word raop:value="colore" />
            </raop:item>
          </raop:SemanticItems>
        </rdf:li>
        <!-- del -->
        <rdf:li>
          <raop:SemanticItems roap:sense="tatto">
            <raop:item>
              <raop:Word raop:value="vento" />
            </raop:item>
          </raop:SemanticItems>
        </rdf:li>
      </rdf:Seq>
    </raop:semanticItems>
  </raop:Synesthesia>
</rdf:RDF>

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Class: raop:SyntacticalFigure

Syntactical Figure -
Subclass Of:| FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:TranspositionCategory

Category Transposition -
Subclass Of:| FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:Trope

Trope - They are a deviation from the ordinary meaning of words in their literal principal form.
Subclass Of:| RethoricalDevice |

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Class: raop:Word

Word - which is, at the moment, the smallest meaningful element of speech or writing.
Properties include:| phonemes | syllables | value |

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Properties

Class: raop:category

Has category -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | RethoricalDevice |
Range:every value of this property is a | FigureCategory |

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Class: raop:comparison

Estimate similarities between two resources -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Simile | Metaphor |

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Class: raop:interpretation

The interpretation of this rethorical device -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Metaphor | Metonymy | Synecdoche | Simile |

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Class: raop:items

Has a list of items -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Group |
Range:every value of this property is a | Group | Word | Phoneme | Syllable |

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Class: raop:linkingContent

What connects the subject and the comparison nodes -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Simile | Metaphor |

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Class: raop:phonemes

Has a list of phonemes -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Word |

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Class: raop:semanticItems

Has a list of semantic items -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | FigureOfThought |
Range:every value of this property is a | Group | Word |

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Class: raop:sense

Has a particular meaning regarding a sense domain -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | SemanticItem |

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Class: raop:sentence

The sentence of the rethorical device -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Metaphor | Metonymy | Synecdoche | Simile |
Range:every value of this property is a | Group |

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Class: raop:soundElements

Has a list of sound elements -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | FigureOfSpeech |
Range:every value of this property is a | Group | Word | Phoneme | Syllable |

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Class: raop:subject

The subject -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Simile | Metaphor |

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Class: raop:syllables

Has a list of syllables -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Word |

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Class: raop:value

Has a literal value -
Domain:having this properties implies being a | Word | Phoneme | Syllable |

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