This is the README file for WordNet 2.0
1. About WordNet
WordNet was developed at Princeton University's Cognitive Science
Laboratory under the direction of George Miller, James S. McDonnell
Distinguished University Professor of Psychology, Emeritus. Over the
years many linguists, lexicographers, students, and software engineers
have contributed to the project.
WordNet is an online lexical reference system. Word forms in WordNet
are represented in their familiar orthography; word meanings are
represented by synonym sets (synsets) - lists of synonymous word forms
that are interchangeable in some context. Two kinds of relations are
recognized: lexical and semantic. Lexical relations hold between word
forms; semantic relations hold between word meanings.
To learn more about WordNet, the book "WordNet: An Electronic Lexical
Database," containing an updated version of "Five Papers on WordNet"
and additional papers by WordNet users, is available from MIT Press:
http://mitpress.mit.edu/book-home.tcl?isbn=026206197X
Information about WordNet, access to our online interface, and the
various WordNet packages that you can download are available from our
web site. All of the software documentation is available online, as
well as a FAQ. On this site we also have information about other
applications that use WordNet.
http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/
2. Contacting Us
Ongoing deveopment work and WordNet related projects are done by a
small group of researchers, lexicographers, and systems programmers.
Since our resources are VERY limited, we request that you please
confine correspondence to WordNet topics only. Please check the
documentation, FAQ, and other resources for the answer to your
question or problem before contacting us.
When reporting a problem, please be as specific as possible, stating
the computer platform you are using, which interface you are using,
and the exact error. The more details you can provide, the more
likely it is that you will get an answer.
Please address all e-mail concerning WordNet to 'wordnet@princeton.edu'.
We maintain a database of "registered" WordNet users. We use this
database to send mail to users when necessary (such as announcing a
new release), and also to help keep track of the number of users we
have, which in turn helps us with important items such as funding. If
you download WordNet, you are encouraged to send e-mail to the address
above, stating which platform you're using and which package(s) you've
downloaded.
In addition to the user database, there is a WordNet user discussion
group mailing list. Information on joining the user mailing list
is in the file README.list.
3. The WordNet Web Site
We maintain a Web site at http://www.cogsci.princeton.edu/~wn/
From this site users can download WordNet, run a web interface to
WordNet, and download "Five Papers on WordNet." We also maintain
links to other related projects and online interfaces to WordNet, and
an extensive (but by no means complete) bibliography. If you have an
application or paper that you would like included, please send e-mail
to the above address.
If you have trouble installing or downloading WordNet, have a bug to
report, or any other problem, please refer to the online FAQ file
first. If you can heal thyself, please do so. The FAQ will be
updated over time. And if you do find a previously unreported
problem, please report it to 'wordnet@princeton.edu'.
4. Current Release
WordNet Version 2.0 is the latest version available for download. See
the file CHANGES for information about changes from version 1.7.1.
Precompiled binaries for the WordNet browsers and library are included
in the database package for the following platforms.
(Note that these are the platforms that the binaries were compiled on.
Most should work on newer versions of the operating system.)
Sun SPARC Solaris 8
Red Hat Linux 7.2
Windows 2000
Windows XP
Silicon Graphics Irix 6.5.8
5. WordNet Packages
WordNet packages can either be downloaded from our web site, or via
anonymous FTP. The "Download WordNet" link describes each package.
In order to facilitate downloading, some of the packages are available
as both a single file or a series of smaller files. If you download a
package that has been split into smaller files you must make sure that
you download all of the individual files in the package.
6. Downloading WordNet
***** IF YOU USE FTP, REMEMBER TO FTP IN "binary" MODE!!! *****
****************************************************************************
* IF YOU DONWLOAD WordNet, PLEASE SEND MAIL TO wordnet@princeton.edu SO WE *
* CAN UPDATE OUR RECORDS AND KEEP TRACK OF OUR USERS FOR FUTURE MAILINGS *
* AND RELEASES. EVEN IF YOU ARE A CURRENT USER WHO IS UPGRADING, IT IS *
* USEFUL TO US TO KNOW THAT YOU HAVE UPGRADED TO 2.0. *
****************************************************************************
6.1 Princeton FTP Site
Host: ftp.cogsci.princeton.edu [128.112.144.11]
Login: ftp
Password: Your e-mail address
Directory: pub/wordnet
6.2 Stuttgart Mirror FTP Site
Host: ftp.ims.uni-stuttgart.de [141.58.127.61]
Login: ftp
Password: Your e-mail address
Directory: /pub/WordNet/2.0
Note: 'ls' sometimes doesn't work properly, 'dir' shows everything.
Due to the size of the WordNet distribution, please restrict
downloading to time frames outside office hours (i.e. outside 9am -
6pm EST).
All queries regarding the installation of the system, its use and
maintenance should be made to wordnet@princeton.edu only.
7. Installing WordNet Packages
WordNet packages are generally very easy to install. See the UNBUNDLE
file (on the FTP site and on the web site under "Download WordNet")
for instructions on unbundling downloaded packages. Once unbundled,
each package contains an INSTALL file with package-specific
installation and compilation instructions.
8. Bugs
Before reporting download or installation problems, or bugs, please
check the FAQ and BUGS files on our web site to see if your situation is
already addressed there. If not, then report WordNet related
problems to 'wordnet@princeton.edu'.