plWordNet in a nutshell

plWordNet is the biggest Polish wordnet. A wordnet is a semantic network, whose nodes are lexical units, while threads connecting the whole - semantic relations between lexical units. Those semantic relations are for instance

• hypernymy/hyponymy = a relation which links a word of a more general meaning (kot – 'cat') with a word of a more specific meaning (tygrys – 'tiger') (every tiger belongs to the feline family);
• meronymy/holonymy = a relation denoting a part and a whole, e.g. zderzak - 'bumper' – samochód - 'car' (cars have bumpers);
• antonymy - a relation of the semantic opposition, e.g. wejść – 'enter' – wyjść - 'leave', żonaty – 'married' – kawaler -'bachelor' (a detailed list of lexical relations is given here [link].

Lexical units which enter the same lexico-semantic relations (but not the same derivational relations) are treated as synonyms and linked into synsets that is synonym sets. The currently available version of plWordNet 1.6 amounts to 94523 synsets, 133071 lexical units and almost 150000 lexical relations.

The first ever wordnet (WordNet) was built in 1980s at Princeton University. Since that time hundreds of research teams have started the construction of wordnets for different languages, and among them our Languages Technologies Research Group G.4.19 at Wrocław University of Technology. In 2009 the first version of plWordNet was made available on the Internet. Similarly to its predecessor – Princeton WordNet – the current 1.6 version of plWordNet is available on the open licence [link].

Browsing plWordNet

plWordNet is available online in the form of WWW service. With the progress of works the available version will be updated .

Using plWordNet for scientific and commercial purposes

We are are willing to cooperate — both scientifically and commercially. The leaders of Wrocław University of Technology have decided to make plWordNet available free of charge for any applications (including commercial applications) on the basis of the licence modelled on that for Princeton WordNet.
To acquire plWordNet source files, please fill in the registration form given here [link].

Web service access 

Within the part of the Clarin project carried out at Wrocław University of Technology a web service was designed, which allows accessing plWordNet via a simple API. The details are given on the project homepage.

Aplication for the expansion plWordNet

The application is developed by a team of software designers and is often subject to change. Those interested in the use of the application are asked to contact us kontakt.