Instrumentality in cognitive concept modelling

The present investigation addresses instrumentality in multidimensional terminological definitions with a double aim. The first aim is to elaborate a cognitive framework of instrumentality in LSP. The second aim is to outline a usage-based linguistic typology of instrumentality. The study is based on a mixed methodology in which instrumentality is analyzed both on the conceptual level and the predicational level using corpus data. So far, instrumentality has merely been investigated in an indirect, not corpus-based manner so that this semantic role, more specifically its multilayered character, is underspecified. In order to provide a definition of instrumentality which incorporates instrumental subtyping and its salience, thus allowing for an extended view of instrumentality and so-called associative relations, we investigated a German-French multidisciplinary corpus composed of abstracts in the field of microsurgery and cardiosurgery. Our results have led to some recommendations for existing ontological knowledge management tools like i-Term and i-Model.