Language resource management — Semantic annotation framework (SemAF) — Part 1: Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)

Temporal information in natural language texts is an increasingly important component to the understanding of those texts. ISO 24617-1:2012, SemAF-Time, specifies a formalized XML-based markup language called ISO-TimeML, with a systematic way to extract and represent temporal information, as well as to facilitate the exchange of temporal information, both between operational language processing systems and between different temporal representation schemes. The use of guidelines for temporal annotation has been fully attested with examples from the TimeBank corpus, a collection of 183 documents that have been annotated by TimeML before the current version of ISO-TimeML was formulated.

Gestion des ressources langagières — Cadre d'annotation sémantique (SemAF) — Partie 1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)

Upravljanje z jezikovnimi viri - Ogrodje za semantično označevanje (SemAF) - 1. del: Čas in dogodki (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)

Časovne informacije v besedilih v naravnem jeziku so vedno pomembnejše za razumevanje teh besedil. Ta del standarda ISO 24617, SemAF-Time, določa formaliziran jezik za označevanje ISO-TimeML, ki temelji na XML in na sistematičen način izlušči in predstavi časovne informacije ter olajšuje izmenjavo časovnih informacij med sistemi obdelave izvajalnega jezika in med različnimi shemami časovne predstavitve. Uporaba smernic za časovno označevanje je potrjena s primeri iz korpusa TimeBank, zbirko 183 dokumentov, ki so bili označeni s TimeML pred oblikovanjem trenutne različice ISO-TimeML.

General Information

Status
Published
Publication Date
15-Jan-2012
Current Stage
9093 - International Standard confirmed
Completion Date
16-Jun-2023

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SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
01-julij-2013
Upravljanje z jezikovnimi viri - Ogrodje za semantično označevanje (SemAF) - 1.
del: Čas in dogodki (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
Language resource management -- Semantic annotation framework (SemAF) -- Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
Gestion des ressources langagières -- Cadre d'annotation sémantique (SemAF) -- Partie
1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: ISO 24617-1:2012
ICS:
01.020 Terminologija (načela in Terminology (principles and
koordinacija) coordination)
01.140.20 Informacijske vede Information sciences
35.240.30 Uporabniške rešitve IT v IT applications in information,
informatiki, dokumentiranju in documentation and
založništvu publishing
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 24617-1
First edition
2012-01-15

Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework
(SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time,
ISO-TimeML)
Gestion des ressources langagières — Cadre d'annotation sémantique
(SemAF) —
Partie 1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)




Reference number
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
©
ISO 2012

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT


©  ISO 2012
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56  CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland

ii © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . vi
Introduction . vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Overview . 4
5 Motivation and requirements . 4
6 Basic concepts and metamodel . 5
7 Specification of ISO-TimeML . 8
7.1 Overview . 8
7.2 Abstract syntax . 8
7.2.1 Introduction . 8
7.2.2 Conceptual inventory . 9
7.2.3 Syntax rules . 9
7.3 Concrete XML-based syntax . 10
7.3.1 TimeML vs. ISO-TimeML: Stand-off annotation and other differences . 10
7.3.2 Naming conventions . 12
7.3.3 Example annotations . 12
7.3.4 Basic elements: , , and . 12
7.3.5 Link elements: , , and . 18
7.3.6 Other tags: , and . 22
8 Towards a semantics for ISO-TimeML . 26
8.1 Overview . 26
8.2 Tense and aspect in language . 26
8.2.1 Tense . 26
8.2.2 Aspect . 26
8.3 Temporal relations . 27
8.4 An interval-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 28
8.4.1 Technical preliminaries for interval temporal logic . 28
8.4.2 Basic event-structure . 29
8.4.3 The interpretation of . 31
8.4.4 Interpretive rule summary . 36
8.5 An event-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 37
8.5.1 Introduction . 37
8.5.2 Defining an event-based semantics . 38
Annex A (normative) Core annotation guidelines . 41
A.1 Introduction . 41
A.2 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes . 41
A.2.1 The element . 41
A.2.2 The element . 48
A.2.3 The element . 55
A.3 The link elements: , , and . 56
A.3.1 Overview . 56
A.3.2 The element . 56
A.3.3 The element . 59
A.3.4 The element . 61
A.3.5 The element . 62
© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Annex B (informative) Completely annotated examples .63
B.1 Complex TIMEX3 examples .63
B.2 Complex TLINK and SLINK examples .64
B.3 Causative examples .67
Annex C (informative) Event and temporal annotations for Chinese .68
Annex D (informative) Annotation for Italian fragment .74
D.1 Introduction .74
D.2 Basic references .74
D.3 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes .74
D.3.1 How to annotate EVENTs .74
D.3.2 Event identification and tag span .75
D.3.3 What NOT to tag .78
D.3.4 Introductory note .78
D.4 The element .81
D.5 The link tags .82
D.6 Informative: Examples of tense, aspect and mood annotation in Italian.82
D.7 Sample of Italian annotation .84
Annex E (informative) Temporal annotation of predicates in Korean .89
E.1 Introduction .89
E.2 Basic references .89
E.3 Morpholoy of Korean predicates .89
E.4 Temporal structure: informative .91
E.5 Temporal annotation of non-Latin texts .92
E.6 Tense .93
E.6.1 Tense markers .93
E.6.2 Annotation guidelines for the attribute @tense .95
E.6.3 Contextual interpretation of tense .96
E.7 Aspect . 114
E.7.1 Aspect markers . 114
E.7.2 Annotation of aspect markers . 115
E.7.3 Interpretation of aspectual features. 116
E.7.4 Interpretation conditions of aspect . 118
E.8 Modality . 118
E.8.1 Conjectural modal markers . 118
E.8.2 Annotation of modality CONJECTURAL . 119
E.8.3 Interpretation of modality CONJECTURAL . 120
E.9 Mood . 120
E.9.1 Mood markers . 120
E.9.2 Annotation of mood RETROSPECTIVE . 121
E.9.3 Interpretation of RETROSPECTIVE mood . 122
E.10 Specific values for attributes in Korean . 122
E.11 Summary . 122
Annex F (informative) Past and current activities on temporal and event annotation . 124
F.1 Introductory remarks . 124
F.2 Annotating temporal expressions . 124
F.3 Annotating events . 125
F.4 Annotating relations between times and events . 127
F.4.1 Ways of capturing time-event relational information . 127
F.4.2 Subordinating and aspectual relations . 129
Annex G (informative) Tools and templates . 130
G.1 Overview . 130
G.2 Annotation tools and templates . 130
G.2.1 Overview . 130
G.2.2 The ALEMBIC workbench . 131
G.2.3 The CALLISTO toolkit . 131
G.2.4 The TANGO temporal relation editor . 131
G.3 Analytic tools . 132
iv © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
G.3.1 Overview . 132
G.3.2 The TARSQI toolkit . 132
G.3.3 The IBM TimeML annotator . 133
G.3.4 The Amsterdam temporal component extractor . 133
G.3.5 The Time Calculus analyser . 133
Annex H (normative) Specification . 134
H.1 Requirement . 134
H.2 Attribute classes . 134
H.2.1 att.anchored . 134
H.2.2 att.annotate . 135
H.2.3 att.id . 135
H.2.4 att.lang . 135
H.2.5 att.linguistic . 136
H.2.6 att.pointing . 138
H.2.7 att.typed . 138
H.3 Elements . 139
H.3.1 . 139
H.3.2 . 139
H.3.3 . 140
H.3.4 . 141
H.3.5 . 141
H.3.6 . 142
H.3.7 . 143
H.3.8 . 145
H.3.9

. 146
H.3.10 . 146
H.3.11 . 146
H.3.12 . 146
Bibliography . 147

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved v

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 24617-1 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Terminology and other language and content
resources, Subcommittee SC 4, Language resource management.
ISO 24617 consists of the following parts, under the general title Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework (SemAF):
 Part 1: Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
 Part 2: Dialogue acts
The following parts are under preparation:
 Part 4: Semantic roles (SemAF-SRL)
 Part 5: Discourse structure (SemAF-DS)
The following parts are planned:
 Part 3: Named entities (SemAF-NE)
 Part 6: Principles of semantic annotation
 Part 7: Spatial information (ISO-Space)
 Part 8: Relations in Discourse (SemAF-DRel)
vi © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 8 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Introduction
This part of ISO 24617 results from the agreement between the TimeML Working Group and the ISO Working
Group, ISO/TC 37/SC 4/WG 2, Language resource management – Semantic annotation, that a joint activity
should take place to accommodate the two existing documents for annotating temporal information,
TimeML 1.2.1 and TimeML Annotation Guidelines, into ISO international standards. This work should lead to
the achievement of two objectives:
 modification of the two documents in conformance to the ISO International Standards;
 verification of the annotation guidelines for a wide coverage of multilingual resources.
It should be noted that this part of ISO 24617 provides normative guidelines not just for temporal information,
but also for information content in various types of events in English as well as other languages.

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved vii

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

---------------------- Page: 10 ----------------------
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

Language resource management — Semantic annotation
framework (SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
1 Scope
Temporal information in natural language texts is an increasingly important component to the understanding of
those texts. This part of ISO 24617, SemAF-Time, specifies a formalized XML-based markup language called
ISO-TimeML, with a systematic way to extract and represent temporal information, as well as to facilitate the
exchange of temporal information, both between operational language processing systems and between
different temporal representation schemes. The use of guidelines for temporal annotation has been fully
attested with examples from the TimeBank corpus, a collection of 183 documents that have been annotated
by TimeML before the current version of ISO-TimeML was formulated.
NOTE Throughout this document, SemAF-Time refers to the ISO 24617-1, while ISO-TimeML refers to the
annotation language specified in this document.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE The first reference shows how dates and times are represented and the second provides a format for the
standoff representation of ISO-TimeML annotation presented here.
ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of
dates and times
ISO 24612:2011, Language resource management — Linguistic annotation framework (LAF)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 8601:2004 and the following apply.
NOTE The terms and definitions provided below are provided to clarify the terminology relating to the metamodel,
specification, and semantics of ISO-TimeML. Terminology derived from XML and other formal languages as well as from
general temporal logics is not defined here.
3.1
ALINK
linking tag that represents a phase relation between an aspectual verb (or morpheme) and a predicate
denoting an event (3.5)
3.2
annotation
process of adding information to segments of language data or that information itself
© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved 1

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
3.3
beginning
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) begins
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.4
end
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) ends
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.5
event
eventuality
something that can be said to obtain or hold true, to happen or to occur
NOTE The term “event” is used here with a very broad notion of event, which includes all kinds of actions, states,
processes, etc. It is not to be confused with the more narrow notion of event as something that happens at a certain point
in time (such as the clock striking 2, or waking up) or during a short period of time (such as laughing).
3.6
instant
point in time with no interior points
NOTE Time is often viewed as a straight line from minus infinity to plus infinity. In this view, time is formed by an
infinite sequence of points. An instant can also be seen as an infinitesimally small interval. Cf. OWL-Time Ontology for
“instant”: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time/.
3.7
markable
entity in general, or segment of a text in particular, that is subject to an annotation (3.2)
3.8
MLINK
linking tag that represents the measurement of the duration of an event (3.5) or the measurement of the
length of a (possibly discontinuous) time span
3.9
point of event
instant (3.6) at which the event (3.5) mentioned in a given utterance occurs
NOTE Next to a point of speech, a point of event also needs to be defined in order to interpret tense. For example, in
“Arthur smiled”, the temporal location of the point of event can be defined as being prior to the point of speech.
3.10
point of reference
instant (3.6) of temporal perspective on the event (3.5) in a given utterance
NOTE 1 “Arthur will ha
...

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 24617-1
First edition
2012-01-15

Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework
(SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time,
ISO-TimeML)
Gestion des ressources langagières — Cadre d'annotation sémantique
(SemAF) —
Partie 1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)




Reference number
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
©
ISO 2012

---------------------- Page: 1 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT


©  ISO 2012
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
Case postale 56  CH-1211 Geneva 20
Tel. + 41 22 749 01 11
Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland

ii © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 2 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . vi
Introduction . vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Overview . 4
5 Motivation and requirements . 4
6 Basic concepts and metamodel . 5
7 Specification of ISO-TimeML . 8
7.1 Overview . 8
7.2 Abstract syntax . 8
7.2.1 Introduction . 8
7.2.2 Conceptual inventory . 9
7.2.3 Syntax rules . 9
7.3 Concrete XML-based syntax . 10
7.3.1 TimeML vs. ISO-TimeML: Stand-off annotation and other differences . 10
7.3.2 Naming conventions . 12
7.3.3 Example annotations . 12
7.3.4 Basic elements: , , and . 12
7.3.5 Link elements: , , and . 18
7.3.6 Other tags: , and . 22
8 Towards a semantics for ISO-TimeML . 26
8.1 Overview . 26
8.2 Tense and aspect in language . 26
8.2.1 Tense . 26
8.2.2 Aspect . 26
8.3 Temporal relations . 27
8.4 An interval-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 28
8.4.1 Technical preliminaries for interval temporal logic . 28
8.4.2 Basic event-structure . 29
8.4.3 The interpretation of . 31
8.4.4 Interpretive rule summary . 36
8.5 An event-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 37
8.5.1 Introduction . 37
8.5.2 Defining an event-based semantics . 38
Annex A (normative) Core annotation guidelines . 41
A.1 Introduction . 41
A.2 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes . 41
A.2.1 The element . 41
A.2.2 The element . 48
A.2.3 The element . 55
A.3 The link elements: , , and . 56
A.3.1 Overview . 56
A.3.2 The element . 56
A.3.3 The element . 59
A.3.4 The element . 61
A.3.5 The element . 62
© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved iii

---------------------- Page: 3 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Annex B (informative) Completely annotated examples .63
B.1 Complex TIMEX3 examples .63
B.2 Complex TLINK and SLINK examples .64
B.3 Causative examples .67
Annex C (informative) Event and temporal annotations for Chinese .68
Annex D (informative) Annotation for Italian fragment .74
D.1 Introduction .74
D.2 Basic references .74
D.3 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes .74
D.3.1 How to annotate EVENTs .74
D.3.2 Event identification and tag span .75
D.3.3 What NOT to tag .78
D.3.4 Introductory note .78
D.4 The element .81
D.5 The link tags .82
D.6 Informative: Examples of tense, aspect and mood annotation in Italian.82
D.7 Sample of Italian annotation .84
Annex E (informative) Temporal annotation of predicates in Korean .89
E.1 Introduction .89
E.2 Basic references .89
E.3 Morpholoy of Korean predicates .89
E.4 Temporal structure: informative .91
E.5 Temporal annotation of non-Latin texts .92
E.6 Tense .93
E.6.1 Tense markers .93
E.6.2 Annotation guidelines for the attribute @tense .95
E.6.3 Contextual interpretation of tense .96
E.7 Aspect . 114
E.7.1 Aspect markers . 114
E.7.2 Annotation of aspect markers . 115
E.7.3 Interpretation of aspectual features. 116
E.7.4 Interpretation conditions of aspect . 118
E.8 Modality . 118
E.8.1 Conjectural modal markers . 118
E.8.2 Annotation of modality CONJECTURAL . 119
E.8.3 Interpretation of modality CONJECTURAL . 120
E.9 Mood . 120
E.9.1 Mood markers . 120
E.9.2 Annotation of mood RETROSPECTIVE . 121
E.9.3 Interpretation of RETROSPECTIVE mood . 122
E.10 Specific values for attributes in Korean . 122
E.11 Summary . 122
Annex F (informative) Past and current activities on temporal and event annotation . 124
F.1 Introductory remarks . 124
F.2 Annotating temporal expressions . 124
F.3 Annotating events . 125
F.4 Annotating relations between times and events . 127
F.4.1 Ways of capturing time-event relational information . 127
F.4.2 Subordinating and aspectual relations . 129
Annex G (informative) Tools and templates . 130
G.1 Overview . 130
G.2 Annotation tools and templates . 130
G.2.1 Overview . 130
G.2.2 The ALEMBIC workbench . 131
G.2.3 The CALLISTO toolkit . 131
G.2.4 The TANGO temporal relation editor . 131
G.3 Analytic tools . 132
iv © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 4 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
G.3.1 Overview . 132
G.3.2 The TARSQI toolkit . 132
G.3.3 The IBM TimeML annotator . 133
G.3.4 The Amsterdam temporal component extractor . 133
G.3.5 The Time Calculus analyser . 133
Annex H (normative) Specification . 134
H.1 Requirement . 134
H.2 Attribute classes . 134
H.2.1 att.anchored . 134
H.2.2 att.annotate . 135
H.2.3 att.id . 135
H.2.4 att.lang . 135
H.2.5 att.linguistic . 136
H.2.6 att.pointing . 138
H.2.7 att.typed . 138
H.3 Elements . 139
H.3.1 . 139
H.3.2 . 139
H.3.3 . 140
H.3.4 . 141
H.3.5 . 141
H.3.6 . 142
H.3.7 . 143
H.3.8 . 145
H.3.9

. 146
H.3.10 . 146
H.3.11 . 146
H.3.12 . 146
Bibliography . 147

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved v

---------------------- Page: 5 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 24617-1 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Terminology and other language and content
resources, Subcommittee SC 4, Language resource management.
ISO 24617 consists of the following parts, under the general title Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework (SemAF):
 Part 1: Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
 Part 2: Dialogue acts
The following parts are under preparation:
 Part 4: Semantic roles (SemAF-SRL)
 Part 5: Discourse structure (SemAF-DS)
The following parts are planned:
 Part 3: Named entities (SemAF-NE)
 Part 6: Principles of semantic annotation
 Part 7: Spatial information (ISO-Space)
 Part 8: Relations in Discourse (SemAF-DRel)
vi © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

---------------------- Page: 6 ----------------------
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Introduction
This part of ISO 24617 results from the agreement between the TimeML Working Group and the ISO Working
Group, ISO/TC 37/SC 4/WG 2, Language resource management – Semantic annotation, that a joint activity
should take place to accommodate the two existing documents for annotating temporal information,
TimeML 1.2.1 and TimeML Annotation Guidelines, into ISO international standards. This work should lead to
the achievement of two objectives:
 modification of the two documents in conformance to the ISO International Standards;
 verification of the annotation guidelines for a wide coverage of multilingual resources.
It should be noted that this part of ISO 24617 provides normative guidelines not just for temporal information,
but also for information content in various types of events in English as well as other languages.

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved vii

---------------------- Page: 7 ----------------------
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

Language resource management — Semantic annotation
framework (SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
1 Scope
Temporal information in natural language texts is an increasingly important component to the understanding of
those texts. This part of ISO 24617, SemAF-Time, specifies a formalized XML-based markup language called
ISO-TimeML, with a systematic way to extract and represent temporal information, as well as to facilitate the
exchange of temporal information, both between operational language processing systems and between
different temporal representation schemes. The use of guidelines for temporal annotation has been fully
attested with examples from the TimeBank corpus, a collection of 183 documents that have been annotated
by TimeML before the current version of ISO-TimeML was formulated.
NOTE Throughout this document, SemAF-Time refers to the ISO 24617-1, while ISO-TimeML refers to the
annotation language specified in this document.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE The first reference shows how dates and times are represented and the second provides a format for the
standoff representation of ISO-TimeML annotation presented here.
ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of
dates and times
ISO 24612:2011, Language resource management — Linguistic annotation framework (LAF)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 8601:2004 and the following apply.
NOTE The terms and definitions provided below are provided to clarify the terminology relating to the metamodel,
specification, and semantics of ISO-TimeML. Terminology derived from XML and other formal languages as well as from
general temporal logics is not defined here.
3.1
ALINK
linking tag that represents a phase relation between an aspectual verb (or morpheme) and a predicate
denoting an event (3.5)
3.2
annotation
process of adding information to segments of language data or that information itself
© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved 1

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ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
3.3
beginning
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) begins
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.4
end
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) ends
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.5
event
eventuality
something that can be said to obtain or hold true, to happen or to occur
NOTE The term “event” is used here with a very broad notion of event, which includes all kinds of actions, states,
processes, etc. It is not to be confused with the more narrow notion of event as something that happens at a certain point
in time (such as the clock striking 2, or waking up) or during a short period of time (such as laughing).
3.6
instant
point in time with no interior points
NOTE Time is often viewed as a straight line from minus infinity to plus infinity. In this view, time is formed by an
infinite sequence of points. An instant can also be seen as an infinitesimally small interval. Cf. OWL-Time Ontology for
“instant”: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time/.
3.7
markable
entity in general, or segment of a text in particular, that is subject to an annotation (3.2)
3.8
MLINK
linking tag that represents the measurement of the duration of an event (3.5) or the measurement of the
length of a (possibly discontinuous) time span
3.9
point of event
instant (3.6) at which the event (3.5) mentioned in a given utterance occurs
NOTE Next to a point of speech, a point of event also needs to be defined in order to interpret tense. For example, in
“Arthur smiled”, the temporal location of the point of event can be defined as being prior to the point of speech.
3.10
point of reference
instant (3.6) of temporal perspective on the event (3.5) in a given utterance
NOTE 1 “Arthur will have gone by tomorrow”, where the point of speech is now, the point of event is some time in the
future, but before the point of reference referred to by “tomorrow”.
NOTE 2 To locate certain tenses in time, a third anchor point is also required, defined as the point of reference.
3.11
point of speech
time unit (3.17) at which a given utterance occurs
NOTE 1 The notion of point of speech is needed in order to interpret tense. This requires the use of anchor points in
time, of which the point of speech is one (point of text, see 3.12, is another one). For example, in “Arthur smiled”, the point
of speech is the time that the utterance is made.
NOTE 2 For a document as a whole, this may be considered to be the same as the document creation time.
2 © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

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ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
3.12
point of text
instant (3.6) at which reported speech is anchored
NOTE It is the point of time considered in the text of the speech. So for example, when a person is telling a story, it is
not enough to know the point of the speech itself (the document creation time), but the point at which the speech in the
story is taking place.
3.13
representation
format in which an annotation (3.2) is rendered, for instance in XML, independent of its content
3
...

SLOVENSKI STANDARD
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
01-julij-2013
8SUDYOMDQMH]MH]LNRYQLPLYLUL2JURGMH]DVHPDQWLþQRR]QDþHYDQMH 6HP$) 
GHOýDVLQGRJRGNL 6HP$)7LPH,627LPH0/
Language resource management -- Semantic annotation framework (SemAF) -- Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
Gestion des ressources langagières -- Cadre d'annotation sémantique (SemAF) -- Partie
1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
Ta slovenski standard je istoveten z: ISO 24617-1:2012
ICS:
01.020 7HUPLQRORJLMD QDþHODLQ Terminology (principles and
NRRUGLQDFLMD coordination)
SIST ISO 24617-1:2013 en,fr,de
2003-01.Slovenski inštitut za standardizacijo. Razmnoževanje celote ali delov tega standarda ni dovoljeno.

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

INTERNATIONAL ISO
STANDARD 24617-1
First edition
2012-01-15

Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework
(SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time,
ISO-TimeML)
Gestion des ressources langagières — Cadre d'annotation sémantique
(SemAF) —
Partie 1: Temps et événements (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)




Reference number
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
©
ISO 2012

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

COPYRIGHT PROTECTED DOCUMENT


©  ISO 2012
All rights reserved. Unless otherwise specified, no part of this publication may be reproduced or utilized in any form or by any means,
electronic or mechanical, including photocopying and microfilm, without permission in writing from either ISO at the address below or
ISO's member body in the country of the requester.
ISO copyright office
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Fax + 41 22 749 09 47
E-mail copyright@iso.org
Web www.iso.org
Published in Switzerland

ii © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Contents Page
Foreword . vi
Introduction . vii
1 Scope . 1
2 Normative references . 1
3 Terms and definitions . 1
4 Overview . 4
5 Motivation and requirements . 4
6 Basic concepts and metamodel . 5
7 Specification of ISO-TimeML . 8
7.1 Overview . 8
7.2 Abstract syntax . 8
7.2.1 Introduction . 8
7.2.2 Conceptual inventory . 9
7.2.3 Syntax rules . 9
7.3 Concrete XML-based syntax . 10
7.3.1 TimeML vs. ISO-TimeML: Stand-off annotation and other differences . 10
7.3.2 Naming conventions . 12
7.3.3 Example annotations . 12
7.3.4 Basic elements: , , and . 12
7.3.5 Link elements: , , and . 18
7.3.6 Other tags: , and . 22
8 Towards a semantics for ISO-TimeML . 26
8.1 Overview . 26
8.2 Tense and aspect in language . 26
8.2.1 Tense . 26
8.2.2 Aspect . 26
8.3 Temporal relations . 27
8.4 An interval-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 28
8.4.1 Technical preliminaries for interval temporal logic . 28
8.4.2 Basic event-structure . 29
8.4.3 The interpretation of . 31
8.4.4 Interpretive rule summary . 36
8.5 An event-based semantics for ISO-TimeML . 37
8.5.1 Introduction . 37
8.5.2 Defining an event-based semantics . 38
Annex A (normative) Core annotation guidelines . 41
A.1 Introduction . 41
A.2 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes . 41
A.2.1 The element . 41
A.2.2 The element . 48
A.2.3 The element . 55
A.3 The link elements: , , and . 56
A.3.1 Overview . 56
A.3.2 The element . 56
A.3.3 The element . 59
A.3.4 The element . 61
A.3.5 The element . 62
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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Annex B (informative) Completely annotated examples .63
B.1 Complex TIMEX3 examples .63
B.2 Complex TLINK and SLINK examples .64
B.3 Causative examples .67
Annex C (informative) Event and temporal annotations for Chinese .68
Annex D (informative) Annotation for Italian fragment .74
D.1 Introduction .74
D.2 Basic references .74
D.3 ISO-TimeML elements and their attributes .74
D.3.1 How to annotate EVENTs .74
D.3.2 Event identification and tag span .75
D.3.3 What NOT to tag .78
D.3.4 Introductory note .78
D.4 The element .81
D.5 The link tags .82
D.6 Informative: Examples of tense, aspect and mood annotation in Italian.82
D.7 Sample of Italian annotation .84
Annex E (informative) Temporal annotation of predicates in Korean .89
E.1 Introduction .89
E.2 Basic references .89
E.3 Morpholoy of Korean predicates .89
E.4 Temporal structure: informative .91
E.5 Temporal annotation of non-Latin texts .92
E.6 Tense .93
E.6.1 Tense markers .93
E.6.2 Annotation guidelines for the attribute @tense .95
E.6.3 Contextual interpretation of tense .96
E.7 Aspect . 114
E.7.1 Aspect markers . 114
E.7.2 Annotation of aspect markers . 115
E.7.3 Interpretation of aspectual features. 116
E.7.4 Interpretation conditions of aspect . 118
E.8 Modality . 118
E.8.1 Conjectural modal markers . 118
E.8.2 Annotation of modality CONJECTURAL . 119
E.8.3 Interpretation of modality CONJECTURAL . 120
E.9 Mood . 120
E.9.1 Mood markers . 120
E.9.2 Annotation of mood RETROSPECTIVE . 121
E.9.3 Interpretation of RETROSPECTIVE mood . 122
E.10 Specific values for attributes in Korean . 122
E.11 Summary . 122
Annex F (informative) Past and current activities on temporal and event annotation . 124
F.1 Introductory remarks . 124
F.2 Annotating temporal expressions . 124
F.3 Annotating events . 125
F.4 Annotating relations between times and events . 127
F.4.1 Ways of capturing time-event relational information . 127
F.4.2 Subordinating and aspectual relations . 129
Annex G (informative) Tools and templates . 130
G.1 Overview . 130
G.2 Annotation tools and templates . 130
G.2.1 Overview . 130
G.2.2 The ALEMBIC workbench . 131
G.2.3 The CALLISTO toolkit . 131
G.2.4 The TANGO temporal relation editor . 131
G.3 Analytic tools . 132
iv © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
G.3.1 Overview . 132
G.3.2 The TARSQI toolkit . 132
G.3.3 The IBM TimeML annotator . 133
G.3.4 The Amsterdam temporal component extractor . 133
G.3.5 The Time Calculus analyser . 133
Annex H (normative) Specification . 134
H.1 Requirement . 134
H.2 Attribute classes . 134
H.2.1 att.anchored . 134
H.2.2 att.annotate . 135
H.2.3 att.id . 135
H.2.4 att.lang . 135
H.2.5 att.linguistic . 136
H.2.6 att.pointing . 138
H.2.7 att.typed . 138
H.3 Elements . 139
H.3.1 . 139
H.3.2 . 139
H.3.3 . 140
H.3.4 . 141
H.3.5 . 141
H.3.6 . 142
H.3.7 . 143
H.3.8 . 145
H.3.9

. 146
H.3.10 . 146
H.3.11 . 146
H.3.12 . 146
Bibliography . 147

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved v

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Foreword
ISO (the International Organization for Standardization) is a worldwide federation of national standards bodies
(ISO member bodies). The work of preparing International Standards is normally carried out through ISO
technical committees. Each member body interested in a subject for which a technical committee has been
established has the right to be represented on that committee. International organizations, governmental and
non-governmental, in liaison with ISO, also take part in the work. ISO collaborates closely with the
International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC) on all matters of electrotechnical standardization.
International Standards are drafted in accordance with the rules given in the ISO/IEC Directives, Part 2.
The main task of technical committees is to prepare International Standards. Draft International Standards
adopted by the technical committees are circulated to the member bodies for voting. Publication as an
International Standard requires approval by at least 75 % of the member bodies casting a vote.
Attention is drawn to the possibility that some of the elements of this document may be the subject of patent
rights. ISO shall not be held responsible for identifying any or all such patent rights.
ISO 24617-1 was prepared by Technical Committee ISO/TC 37, Terminology and other language and content
resources, Subcommittee SC 4, Language resource management.
ISO 24617 consists of the following parts, under the general title Language resource management —
Semantic annotation framework (SemAF):
 Part 1: Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
 Part 2: Dialogue acts
The following parts are under preparation:
 Part 4: Semantic roles (SemAF-SRL)
 Part 5: Discourse structure (SemAF-DS)
The following parts are planned:
 Part 3: Named entities (SemAF-NE)
 Part 6: Principles of semantic annotation
 Part 7: Spatial information (ISO-Space)
 Part 8: Relations in Discourse (SemAF-DRel)
vi © ISO 2012 – All rights reserved

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
Introduction
This part of ISO 24617 results from the agreement between the TimeML Working Group and the ISO Working
Group, ISO/TC 37/SC 4/WG 2, Language resource management – Semantic annotation, that a joint activity
should take place to accommodate the two existing documents for annotating temporal information,
TimeML 1.2.1 and TimeML Annotation Guidelines, into ISO international standards. This work should lead to
the achievement of two objectives:
 modification of the two documents in conformance to the ISO International Standards;
 verification of the annotation guidelines for a wide coverage of multilingual resources.
It should be noted that this part of ISO 24617 provides normative guidelines not just for temporal information,
but also for information content in various types of events in English as well as other languages.

© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved vii

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
INTERNATIONAL STANDARD ISO 24617-1:2012(E)

Language resource management — Semantic annotation
framework (SemAF) —
Part 1:
Time and events (SemAF-Time, ISO-TimeML)
1 Scope
Temporal information in natural language texts is an increasingly important component to the understanding of
those texts. This part of ISO 24617, SemAF-Time, specifies a formalized XML-based markup language called
ISO-TimeML, with a systematic way to extract and represent temporal information, as well as to facilitate the
exchange of temporal information, both between operational language processing systems and between
different temporal representation schemes. The use of guidelines for temporal annotation has been fully
attested with examples from the TimeBank corpus, a collection of 183 documents that have been annotated
by TimeML before the current version of ISO-TimeML was formulated.
NOTE Throughout this document, SemAF-Time refers to the ISO 24617-1, while ISO-TimeML refers to the
annotation language specified in this document.
2 Normative references
The following referenced documents are indispensable for the application of this document. For dated
references, only the edition cited applies. For undated references, the latest edition of the referenced
document (including any amendments) applies.
NOTE The first reference shows how dates and times are represented and the second provides a format for the
standoff representation of ISO-TimeML annotation presented here.
ISO 8601:2004, Data elements and interchange formats — Information interchange — Representation of
dates and times
ISO 24612:2011, Language resource management — Linguistic annotation framework (LAF)
3 Terms and definitions
For the purposes of this document, the terms and definitions in ISO 8601:2004 and the following apply.
NOTE The terms and definitions provided below are provided to clarify the terminology relating to the metamodel,
specification, and semantics of ISO-TimeML. Terminology derived from XML and other formal languages as well as from
general temporal logics is not defined here.
3.1
ALINK
linking tag that represents a phase relation between an aspectual verb (or morpheme) and a predicate
denoting an event (3.5)
3.2
annotation
process of adding information to segments of language data or that information itself
© ISO 2012 – All rights reserved 1

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SIST ISO 24617-1:2013
ISO 24617-1:2012(E)
3.3
beginning
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) begins
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.4
end
instant (3.6) at which a temporal interval (3.17) ends
NOTE Adapted from Hobbs and Pan (2004).
3.5
event
eventuality
something that can be said to obtain or hold true, to happen or to occur
NOTE The term “event” is used here with a very broad notion of event, which includes all kinds of actions, states,
processes, etc. It is not to be confused with the more narrow notion of event as something that happens at a certain point
in time (such as the clock striking 2, or waking up) or during a short period of time (such as laughing).
3.6
instant
point in time with no interior points
NOTE Time is often viewed as a straight line from minus infinity to plus infinity. In this view, time is formed by an
infinite sequence of points. An instant can also be seen as an infinitesimally small interval. Cf. OWL-Time Ontology for
“instant”: http://www.w3.org/TR/owl-time/.
3.7
markable
entity in general, or segment of a text in particular, that is subject to an annotation (3.2)
3.8
MLINK
linking tag that represents the measurement of the duration of an event (3.5) or the measurement of the
length of a (possibly discontinuous) time span
3.9
point of event
instant (3.6) at which the event (3.5) mentioned in a given utterance occurs
NOTE Next to a point of speech, a point of event also needs to be defined in order to interpret tense. For example, in
“Arthur smiled”, the temporal location of the point of event can be defined as being prior to the point of speech.
3.10
point of reference
instant (3.6) of temporal perspective on the event (3.5) in a given utterance
NOTE 1 “Arthur will have gone by tomorrow”, where the point of speech is now, the point of event is some time in the
future, but before the point of reference referred to by “tomorrow”.
NOTE
...

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