Semantic computing with IEML

Abstract

This paper presents IEML, Information Economy MetaLanguage, a constructed language with the same expressive power as a natural language and with computable semantics. Distinguished from pragmatic and referential semantics, linguistic semantics have not yet been completely formalized. Only its syntagmatic dimension has been mathematized in the form of regular languages. Its paradigmatic dimension remained to be formalized. In order to complete the mathematizing of language, including its paradigmatic dimension, I have coded linguistic semantics with IEML. This article introduces its 3000-word dictionary, its formal grammar, and its integrated tools for building semantic graphs. For the future, IEML could become a vector for a fluid calculation and communication of meaning—semantic interoperability—capable of de-compartmentalizing the digital memory, and of advancing the progress of collective intelligence, artificial intelligence, and digital humanities. I conclude by indicating some research directions.