GIS作为新一代地理学语言的特征_英文_胡最.pdf

J. Geogr. Sci. 2014, 24(3): 560-576 DOI: 10.1007/s11442-014-1106-2 © 2014 Science Press Springer-Verlag A new geographical language: A perspective of GIS 1,2,3 * 1 1 HU Zui , TANG Guoan , LU Guonian 1. Key Laboratory of Virtual Geographic Environment of Ministry of Education, Nanjing 210046, China; 2. Department of Resources Environment and Tourism Management, Hengyang 421008, Hunan, China; 3. Engineering Technical Laboratory of Digital Protection of Traditional Village of Hunan Province, Hengyang 421008, Hunan, China Abstract: Language plays a vital role in the communication, sharing and transmission of in- formation among human beings. Geographical languages are essential for understanding, investigating, representing and propagating geo-spatial information. Geographical languages have developed and evolved gradually with improvements in science, technology and cogni- tive levels. Concerning the theoretical progress from geographical information ontology, epistemology and linguistic theory, this paper firstly puts forward the concept of a GIS lan- guage and discusses its basic characteristics according to changes in the structures, func- tions and characteristics of geographical languages. This GIS language can be regarded as a system of synthetic digital symbols. It is a comprehensive representation of geographical objects, phenomena and their spatial distributions and dynamic processes. This representa- tion helps us generate a universal perception of geographical space using geographical scenarios or symbols with geometry, statuses, processes, spatio-temporal relationships, semantics and attributes. Furthermore, this paper states that the GIS language represents a new generation of geographical language due to its intrinsic characteris