is a F(X) F(X)
mapping with for A F(X)
P
(A) : X [0, 1]
x (A(x))
, x X
If 1 then P
(A) A).
Nowadays the fuzzy modier P
2
is still a very popular choice for representing
the adverb very (see e.g. [BAB1998], [YASMUK1998]). Fig. 19.2 shows the
eect of P
2
on the fuzzy sets large and close to 5.
19.2.2 Shifting modiers
Another type of fuzzy modiers, the shifting modiers, was already infor-
mally suggested by Lako[LAK1973] in the 70s. A.o. Hellendoorn [HEL1990]
and Bouchon[BOU1993] used it in a more formal manner. Since the shifting
is an operation on objects of the universe (and not an operation on their
degree of membership like the powering is), its only applicable for fuzzy
sets in a universe equipped with such an operation. For X = R, i.e. the
set of real numbers, and R we dene the shifting modier S
with for
A F(R)
S
(A) : R [0, 1]
x A(x ), x R
227\ ESSLLI Student Session 1999
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
large
very large
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
close to 5
A
B
Figure 19.3: Eect of shifting modiers on (a) large and (b) close to 5
19.3 Shortcomings of the fuzzy modiers as a rep-
resentation for very
19.3.1 Behaviour of S
(A) A
If A is decreasing and 0 then S
(A) A
If A is increasing, then very A could be represented by e.g. S
1
. If A is
decreasing, then very A could be represented by e.g. S
1
. But in general,
there is no so that (A F(X)) (S
(A)) = support A)
If we choose to represent very by P
2
, then every square x that is certainly
large (x kernel(large)) is also very large (x kernel(very large)). In other
words in this representation there cant be any squares that are considered
to be large to degree 1, but very large to a lower degree. Every square
that is large to degree 1, is automatically considered to be very large to
degree 1 as well. In some reallife situations however a square with a size
of 7.5cm e.g. can be considered large to degree 1, but not very large to
the same degree. (Compare with : some people consider a man of 75 years
certainly old (75 kernel(old)), but not certainly very old (75 / kernel(very
old).) Furthermore : every square x that isnt very large to any degree (x /
support(very large)), cant be considered to be large in any degree either
(x / support(large)). These properties are clearly counterintuitive. Its
worth mentioning that the shifting modiers do not have this shortcoming.
19.3.3 Two interpretations of very
In the mid 70s, Hersh and Caramazza[HECA1976] did some psycholinguistic
experiments on the accuracy of P
2
as a representation for very (and the
usefulness of fuzzy sets to model linguistic terms in general). One of their
most interesting ndings was that there are two dierent interpretations of
the adverb very. Vanden Eynde[VDEYN] also did research on this subject
and came to a similar conclusion. The two interpretations are
1. The inclusive interpretation (g. 19.4a) : the fuzzy set very large
is included in the fuzzy set large. Semantical entailment is clearly
respected : (x X)(x is very large x is large).
2. The noninclusive interpretation (g. 19.4b) : the fuzzy set very
large isnt included in large, neither is large in very large. large and
very large denote two dierent (overlapping) categories. This doesnt
mean that the person interpreting large and very large doesnt respect
semantical entailment, but in this case he is following Grices maxime
of conversation [GRI1978] : Make your speech contribution as infor-
mative as required. When a listener hears that x is large, he assumes
that x isnt very large, because in the latter case the speaker would
have used the more informative utterance x is very large. So large
+ > not very large.
We would like to remark that the dierence between the two interpreta-
tions of large and very large doesnt only have consequences for the choice
229\ ESSLLI Student Session 1999
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10
large
very large
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
0 2 4 6 8 10 12
large
very large
Figure 19.4: (a) Inclusive interpretation (b) noninclusive interpretation
of a fuzzy modier to model very (restrictive or not), but also inuences the
shape of the membership function for large.
It is clear that Zadehs restrictive P
2
can only be used to model very in
the inclusive interpretation. Finally we would like to mention that Hersh
and Caramazzas research showed another shortcoming of Zadehs P
2
in the
inclusive interpretation. While P
2
increases the slope of an increasing mem-
bership function, the slopes of the functions for tall and very tall resulting
from the experiment were approximately equal. In fact Hersh and Cara-
mazza decided that the membership function for tall could be shifted to the
right to obtain a pretty good approximation for the membership function
for very tall.
19.3.4 Choosing the best representation
The two kinds of fuzzy modiers described above, i.e. the powering and the
shifting modiers, are easy operators from a mathematical point of view.
However they both have their own advantages and disadvantages from a
linguistic perspective. Neither one of them is the best in general, but we
can give some guidelines on how to choose the most suitable in a specic
situation. We assume that in a noninclusive interpretation the fuzzy sets
have membership functions that can be approximated by a Gaussian curve
like in g. 19.4b, while in an inclusive interpretation they can have any shape.
Furthermore we keep in mind that P
2
has the disadvantage of keeping the
kernel and the support, so well avoid the use of P
2
whenever possible. For
X a universe and A F(X) we can use the following guidelines to decide
which fuzzy modier we will use to represent very :
Representing the Adverb Very in Fuzzy Set Theory: Martine De Cock /230
start
no yes
inclusive interpretation? X equipped with shifting? S
yes no
no
X equipped with shifting? P
2
?
yes
no
A increasing or decreasing? P
2
yes
S