Glossary

abbreviation

 is a shortened form of a word, phrase or term which represents its full form. Abbreviations can be subdivided into ‘clippings’ (vet for veterinary surgeon), ‘contractions’ (don’t for do not), ‘acronyms’ (EURALEX for European Association for Lexicography), ‘initialisms’, ‘acrophones’ or ‘alphabetisms’ (VIP for very important person) and ‘blends’ (brunch for breakfast/lunch).

accent

 (1) Prominence in the pronunciation of a syllable (e.g., stress) achieved by increased loudness or duration, or by alteration of pitch. (2) Aspects of pronunciation which are characteristic either intra-lingually of a speaker’s regional or social dialect, or interlingually of a speaker’s first or dominant language. (3) A diacritic.

acrolect

 is the most prestigious dialect or variety of a particular language.

acronym

 See abbreviation.

acrophone

 See abbreviation.

active use

 In a bilingual dictionary designed for active use the source language is native to the user.

active use dictionary

 is a type of dictionary designed to help with encoding tasks, such as the production of a text. In monolingual lexicography, the typical example of an active dictionary is the thesaurus, whose main function is to provide vocabulary choice for the writer. In a bilingual dictionary designed for active use the source language is native to the user. The main function is translation into a foreign language. Cf. passive use dictionary.

affix

 is the collective term for a word formant that can be used only when added to another morpheme (root or stem). A bound morpheme attached to a root or stem to modify its meaning (e.g., un- in undo). 

affixation

 is the process of morphological modification in which affixes are added to a base or stem, either for deriving new words or for forming inflections, or both. See derivational affixation, inflectional affixation.

affixoid

 is a regular word that also works as an affix.

allomorph

Variants of a morpheme that appear in different contexts but have the same function or meaning. 

allusion

 is a literary or other cultural reference, typically in the form of an intertextual quotation. It is often oblique and not usually assigned to its source.

almanac(k)

 is a type of reference work published regularly, usually once a year, which contains historical, geographical, technical or other encyclopedic information arranged in chronological or thematic form. See calendar.

alphabet

 is an inventory of graphic symbols (letters) used to represent speech.

alphabetical order or alphabetization

 is a system whereby strings of characters (letters) are placed in order based on the position of the characters in the conventional ordering of an alphabet. It is the main way of collating dictionary entries. In most languages the ordering is based on the left-most character in the word, but in some languages, such as Arabic and Hebrew, the ordering is based on the right-most character in the word.

alphabetism

 See abbreviation.

analysis language

the meta-language used to describe the vernacular language being studied.

analytic definition

 is a description of the range of reference of a lexical unit. This description is made up of a generic term identifying the broad category to which it belongs, and modifying word or phrase which specifies its obligatory components of meaning, thus restricting it to include only the appropriate referents, and distinguishing it from similar senses and words. E.g., doctor “a person licensed to practice medicine”. Cf. circular definition.

antonym

 is a lexical unit opposite in meaning in some way to another. Antonyms can be gradable, e.g., big, bigger and small, smaller, or complementary (one or the other), e.g., dead or alive, male or female, or converse (relational opposites), e.g., buy and sell, husband and wife.

antonymy

 deals with oppositeness of meaning and lexical units with opposite meanings of various kinds.

antoseme

 is a lexical unit with two senses which express opposite sides of a common relationship, such as a reciprocal kinship term. E.g., spouse can refer to either husband or wife.

app

 is a software program. It is most often used for programs on mobile devices, like cell phones or tablets, but sometimes it also refers to programs on a desktop or laptop computer

archive

 is a collection of historical documents providing a record of information about a place, institution or group of people (from Google).

area (of FLEx)

 is one of the major divisions of the functionality in FLEx. “Lexicon”, “Grammar”, and “Texts & Words” are examples of some of the areas in FLEx.

article

 See entry.

backup/back up

 refers to the activity of copying of physical or virtual files or databases to a secondary location for preservation in case of equipment failure or catastrophe; the resulting file of the backup process.

bilingual dictionary

 In a bilingual dictionary only the definition (meaning) is in the user’s language; the entry lexical unit is in some language other than the user’s. The assumption is that the native speaker’s knowledge of her language is perfect but the other language is assumed to be more or less unknown.

blend

 See abbreviation.

borrowed word

 See loanword.

browser

 is a program used for accessing sites on the internet or for opening certain kinds of files.

calendar

 is a type of reference work which arranges the information provided in relation to the days of the year.

calque or loan translation

is a word or phrase borrowed from another language by literal, word-for-word or root-for-root translation. Calques can be classified as:

·                semantic calque, where additional meanings of the source word are transferred to the word with the same primary meaning in the target language;

·                phraseological calque, where idiomatic phrases are translated word-for-word;

·                syntactic calque, where a syntactic function or construction in the source language is imitated in the target language;

·                loan-translation, where a word is translated morpheme-by-morpheme into another language;

·                morphological calque, where the inflection of a word is transferred.

categories of information in a lexical entry

 can be divided into information about the headword and information about words related to the headword.

checkbox

 is a small box in a software program interface, next to an item that a user can choose. When the user wants that item to be selected, they place a checkmark in the box (“tick the box” or “select the box”). When they want that item not to be selected, they remove the checkmark (“untick the box”, “clear the box”). See radio button.

Chrome

 is a browser.

circular definition

 defines the meaning of a lexical unit using a synonymous lexical unit or expression. E.g., house “abode, domicile, residence, dwelling place, home, building, …” This definition is circular because the dictionary user then has to find out what abode, domicile, etc. mean. Cf. analytic definition. See synonymy.

citation form

 is the form of the lexical unit chosen to refer to it in isolation. In languages that have inflected bound roots a bare root is not acceptable to native speakers for citation and one of the inflected forms has to be chosen for citation.

clipping

 See abbreviation.

clitic

 typically has the phonological shape of an independent word, but cannot be stressed and can only occur phonologically bound to a host element. Sentence clitics occur in a fixed position, usually second position in the sentence. Word clitics are bound to a word and are divided into proclitics, which are bound to the following host, and enclitics which are bound to a preceding host.

combo box

 is a mechanism in a computer program that allows the user to choose from a list of items. It usually is displayed as a rectangle with one of the choices showing, and may have a downward-pointing triangle to indicate that it will expand when the user clicks on it, to show all the options.

communication

 is the interaction for the exchange of information. The most basic means for human communication is verbal language, studied as a symbolic code in linguistics; the wider context of communication is the province of semiotics. Both are relevant to lexicography, as dictionaries and other reference works make use of various forms of communication through phonic, graphic and other means.

communicative shift

 is any of the major stages in the development of human communication. Speech is the original form of human communication. This was expanded by writing (ca. 5,000 years ago), by printing (ca. 500 years ago), and by computing and other media (e.g., radio, television, film) (contemporary).

compound word

 is a group of two or more words that form a lexical unit of one word according to phonological, morphological, syntactic and semantic criteria.

complex form

 an entry that is composed of other entries (in FLEx, referenced by other forms), e.g., compound words, phrasal verbs, contractions. 

conceptual extendedness

 is a semantic relationship between senses of a lexeme as currently recognised by speakers of a language. The progressive derivation of more figurative senses from the basic literal sense can be divided into three stages:  primary, secondary, figurative.

concordance

 is an index of every occurrence of every lexical unit in a specific text or texts. The primary purpose is to show where a particular lexical unit occurs in the body of writing.

conjugation

 the variation of the form of a verb in an inflected language such as Latin, by which are identified the voice, mood, tense, number, and person.

connotative meaning

 describes the emotions and associations connected to a lexical unit. Certain lexical units can have a positive, negative, or neutral connotation depending on our experiences. Cf. denotative meaning.

contraction

 See abbreviation.

controls

 are the various mechanisms by which a user interacts with a computer program. A dialog box, radio button, checkbox, combo box are all examples of different kinds of controls.

conventionalized knowledge

 is the bank of knowledge that a group of speakers have about their language and culture.

corpus

 a structured set of texts used for linguistic analysis. 

cross-reference

 refers to other entries in the dictionary which the headword relates to, such as derivatives or compounds of the same root, synonyms, antonyms or other meaning-related items.

database

 is a structured set of data held in a computer, especially one that is accessible in various ways (from Google).

declension

 the variation of the form of a noun, pronoun, or adjective, by which its grammatical case, number, and gender are identified.

default audience

 is the audience for whom the dictionary is designed.

definition

 describes the meaning of a lexical unit. See analytic definition, circular definition, gloss.

denotation

 or denotative meaning involves the relationship between a linguistic unit (especially a lexical unit) and the nonlinguistic entities to which it refers. It is thus equivalent to referential meaning.

denotative meaning

 refers to the relationship between a linguistic unit (especially a lexical unit) and the nonlinguistic entities to which it refers. It is thus equivalent to referential meaning. Cf. connotative meaning.

derivational affixation

 changes one word into another word.

derivative

 is one lexical form derived from another.

diachronic

 describes the development of a language (in this context) through a period of time.

dialect

 a particular form of a language which is peculiar to a specific region or social group. The term may have a negative connotation when used in contrast to the accepted standard form of the language.

dialectal information

 A dictionary normally describes one primary dialect which is explicitly identified, and may include some subsidiary information indicating how a related dialect expresses a semantic concept related to the headword.

dialog box

 is a graphical box on the screen in a computer program where the user is asked to provide information or take some action.

dictionary

 A dictionary is a text (usually a book) which lists the lexical expressions (usually words) of a language with their meanings explained in an ordered format (usually alphabetical).

dictionary app

 is a program that can be built from an online dictionary. The result can be installed on a mobile device to allow a user to access the information in a dictionary from their phone or tablet.

domain

 A category or semantic field in which words are grouped (e.g., Kinship, Agriculture). 

emic

 refers to research that fully studies one culture with no (or only a secondary) cross-cultural focus; insider perspective.

enclitic

 An enclitic is bound to a preceding host. See clitic.

encyclopedia

 An encyclopedia gives information about the world or about a particular subject rather than information about the meanings of lexical units as in a dictionary. This information is usually listed alphabetically as in a dictionary.

entry

 is a set of information that describes a word or phrase; a complete description for one lexical expression entered in the dictionary for the source language (usually as a single paragraph). A structured record of a word’s form, pronunciation, part of speech, meaning, and usage. 

entry list

 is the main subsection of a printed dictionary and contains a list of all the lexical entries in the dictionary.

etic

 refers to research that studies cross-cultural differences; outsider perspective.

etymology

 is the study of the origins and history of the form and meaning of words. A dictionary may have an etymological part of the lexical entry which describes the origins of the headword.

etymon

 is a word or morpheme from which a later word is derived.

exemplar

 is a person or thing serving as a typical example or excellent model.

extensional meaning

 refers to the class of entities to which a term is correctly applied. For example, the extension of the term flower would be a list of all the entities referred to by the term, e.g., daffodil, rose, fuchsia …… grammatical collocation refers to any kind of restriction that the word has in grammatical combination with other words or syntactic categories, e.g. the adjective abject is attributive and can only be used before the noun, as in abject poverty. Grammatical collocations are a type of syntagmatic relations.

F1, F2, etc.

 are abbreviations for the function keys on a keyboard. The keys are usually marked with these labels.

fieldwork

Collecting linguistic data directly from speakers in natural settings. 

figurative sense

 is a non-literal extension of the meaning of the primary sense of the lexical entry. A figurative sense is derived from the primary sense by analogy (for example, personification), association (for example, metonymy), or similarity (for example, metaphor and simile). Figurative definitions of meaning occur after definitions of primary and secondary senses.

figure of speech

 is a word or phrase used in a non-literal sense for rhetorical or vivid effect.

Firefox

 is a browser.

FLEx

 is FieldWorks Language Explorer.

form information

 provides information on the form of the lexical entry, such as the citation form of the lemma, the spelling and pronunciation of the lexical unit, the morphological features of the lexical unit, and the (morpho-)syntactic features of the lexical unit. Cf. semantic information.

framing structure

 comprises a set of the main sections of a printed dictionary that correspond to the chapters of a book.

generic-specific

 is a lexical relation which is a hierarchical association between a lexical unit with a broader, more general meaning and other lexical units with a narrower, more precise meaning. Another name for the generic-specific lexical relation is hyponymy.

gloss

 is a summary of the meaning of a morpheme or word in another language, suitable for use in interlinear text displays. 

v. provide meaning in a second language.

glossary

 is a word-list like a dictionary but will typically have a more limited or specialist function than a dictionary.

grammar

The set of rules that govern a language’s structure. 

grammatical category or class

 See lexical category.

grammatical collocation

 refers to any kind of restriction that the word has in grammatical combination with other words or syntactic categories, e.g., the adjective abject is attributive and can only be used before the noun, as in abject poverty. Grammatical collocations are a type of syntagmatic relation.

grapheme

 is the minimum distinct unit in the writing system of a language.

guide words

 occur at the top of the page of a dictionary and tell you the first and last words defined on the page.

headword

 is the head item of the dictionary entry or article and is what the information in the entry is about.

historical information

 provides information on the the history of the headword in the language. See etymology.

homograph

 is a lexical unit which has the same written form but different meanings, as in bear (=animal) and bear (=carry).

homography

 is a type of homonymy and refers to lexical units which have the same written form but different meanings.

homonym

 refers to each of two or more lexical units having the same spelling or pronunciation but different meanings and origins. E.g., club1 ‘an organisation made up of people who are all interested in a particular activity’ and club2 ‘a thick, heavy stick that can be used as a weapon’.

homonymy

 refers to lexical units which have the same form but different meanings.

homophony

 is a type of homonymy and refers to lexical units which have the same pronunciation but different meanings, as in four and for.

hover

 is an action where a user holds his or her mouse over something without clicking on it. For items that have tooltips, if the user waits long enough, a message will appear.

hypernym

 is the generic term in a generic-specific relationship. E.g., colour is a hypernym of red.

hypernymy

 refers to the semantic relationship of above or superordinate in a generic-specific relationship. The meaning of the generic term is completely included in the meaning of the specific term.

hyponym

 is the specific term in a generic-specific relationship. E.g., spoon is a hyponym of cutlery.

hyponymy

 refers to the semantic relationship of under or subordinate in a generic-specific relationship. The specific term has at least one additional peripheral component which narrows the scope of its meaning from that of the generic term.

icon

 is a small picture in a computer program that represents an action you can do. Usually the picture gives a clue about what the action is, and if you click on the picture, you will be executing that command.

ideophone

 is a word or phrase a speaker uses, the form of which helps to suggest the meaning of what is being said. Typically an ideophone is only fully comprehensible in the context in which it is spoken.

idiom

 is a lexical complex (typically a phrase) which is semantically simplex. It is an association of a single semantic unit with a string of words, the meaning of which cannot be deduced from the meanings of the individual words in the idiom have in other non-idiomatic contexts. E.g., kick the bucket (=die), red herring (=false clue).

illustrative sentence or example sentence

 illustrates how the headword is used in a particular context.

Import/export 

Moving dictionary data into or out of lexicographic software formats. 

index

 is the target-language to source-language reversal in a bilingual dictionary.

infix

 is an affix that occurs inside the root.

inflectional affixation

 signals the grammatical function of the word.

inflectional variants

 are variants of the same word. E.g., show, shows, showed, shown, showing, are variants of the lexeme show.

information about the headword in a lexical entry

 includes (a) lexeme, lemma, headword, (b) phonological (if not transparent from the orthography), (c) sense number, (d) part of speech, (e) definition, (f) illustrative sentence, (g) usage, (h) restrictions, (i) encyclopedic information, (j) morphology.

information about words related to the headword in a lexical entry

 includes (a) homonym number, (b) lexical functions, (c) etymology, historical, (d) loanword, (e) cross-reference.

initialism

 See abbreviation.

intensional meaning

 refers to the set of properties that uniquely define a term. For example, ‘legs+flat surface, etc.’ define the intension of table and an intensional definition would be based on such notions. E.g., ‘A table is something with legs, a flat surface, etc.’

interjection

 is an expression of emotion that interjects between expressions that are more readily understood as conventional words in the language.

language

 (1) The method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. (2) A system of communication used by a particular country or community.

lemma

 is the base form of a lexical unit which represents the full form paradigm of this lexical unit. In many dictionaries the lemma is used as the citation form.

letter

 is a graphic symbol used in an alphabetic writing system to represent one or more speech sounds. See grapheme, spelling, writing.

lexeme

 refers to the minimal distinctive unit in the semantic system of the language. It is made up of one or more form-meaning composites called lexical units.

lexical category

 is a syntactic category for elements that are part of the lexicon of a language. These elements are at the word level. Also known as part of speech, word class, grammatical category, grammatical class and syntactic category.

lexical collocation

 refers to any kind of arbitrary restriction that any word has in combination with another. E.g., auspicious ‘collocates’ with a limited number of nouns, such as occasion, event, sign, etc. Lexical collocations are a type of syntagmatic relation.

lexical database

 is a database for storing information about the words in a certain language. See database.

lexical entry

 is the entry in a dictionary of information about a lexical unit. See headword, citation form.

lexical or lexeme form

 is an abstract unit representing a set of wordforms differing only in inflection and not in core meaning. It is a component part of a lexical unit.

lexical functions

 (also known as lexical semantics or lexical relationships) include such notions as synonymy (same meaning), antonymy (opposite meaning), hyponymy (generic-specific relationships) and meronymy (part-whole relationships), that describe how the meanings or senses of words are organised by substitutability and hierarchy.

lexical relation

 is a culturally recognised pattern of association that exists between lexical units in a language.

lexical relation with a set of pairs structure

 is a pattern of association between lexical units which is characterized by a binary contrast, correlation, or correspondence between two sense sets. E.g., opposites {(long - short), (good - bad), (hot - cold)}, individual-group {(lion - pride), (wolf - pack), (buffalo - herd)}.

lexical relation with a simple set structure

 is a pattern of association between lexical units that share one or more semantic components. E.g., synonym sets.

lexical relation with a tree structure

 is a pattern of association that is characterised by a set of lexical units which both have an inclusion relationship with and are dominated by one lexical unit. These sets may form a taxonomy or a meronymy. E.g., generic specific [animal [horse [appaloosa, arabian, Tennessee walker], dog, cow]]], whole-part [arm [elbow, forearm, wrist]].

lexical relations set

 is a grouping of senses that are lexically related to each other. E.g., a “happy” synonym set {happy, joyful, glad}.

lexical semantics

 is concerned with the analysis of word meanings and relations between them.

lexical unit

 is a form-meaning composite that represents a lexical form, and single meaning of a lexeme.

lexical verb

 is a member of the open class of verbs which form the primary verb vocabulary of a language. E.g., the verb come in will be coming is a lexical verb.

lexicography

 is the art and science of dictionary-making. Lexicography can also be understood as applied lexicology.

lexicology

 is the scientific study of the vocabulary of a language (including its history). Important subsets of this discipline are lexical semantics (meanings of words) and lexical functions (relationships between word meanings).

lexicon

 A lexicon is a word-list like a dictionary but has a more limited function than a dictionary. It can be a simple word-list, or a glossary of terms related to a particular subject, or a more specialised listing of terms.

linguistic sign

 consists of an expression (a certain form) and a content (a certain meaning) and also has a function (a certain way of behaving in combination with other linguistic signs).

Linux

 is an operating system.

literal meaning

 is used to give the glosses of the individual components of a multi-morpheme expression, such as a compound or an idiom, where the meaning of the whole is different from the sum of its parts.

loan translation

 See calque.

loanword (or loan word or loan-word)

 is a word borrowed from a donor language and incorporated into a recipient language without translation. It is distinguished from a calque, or loan translation, where a meaning or idiom from another language is translated into existing words or roots of the host language.

macrostructure

 of a dictionary is primarily the ordered list of its entries. Each section of a dictionary, such as a table of contents, a set of instructions for using the dictionary, grammatical information, etc., is also a macrostructure of the dictionary.

main entry

 also known as major entry, is the entry for each word or word group constituting a lexeme described in the dictionary which contrasts with all other lexemes in the language.

major entry

 See main entry.

meronym

 is a lexical unit which denotes part of something but which is used to refer to the whole of it. E.g., faces when used to mean people in I see several familiar faces present.

meronymy

 refers to the part-whole relationship between meanings of lexemes.

metalanguage

 is the language of instruction used in the bilingual dictionary.

microstructure

 of a dictionary is primarily the structure within an entry paragraph. Each section of a dictionary will have its own microstructure.

minor entry

 is listed alphabetically with the main entries but refers to a main entry for full information on the headword entry.

monolingual dictionary

 In a monolingual dictionary the entry word and its definition (meaning) is in the language of the user. The assumption is that the native speaker’s knowledge of her language is deficient to some degree.

morpheme

 is the smallest unit of grammatical function in the composition of words.

morphemic arrangement for dictionary entries

 is form-based. Under this system derivatives, compounds, and idioms are organised into subentries under one main entry as illustrated below. Cf. semantic arrangement for dictionary entries.

morphological information

 indicates the morpheme representation of the headword.

morphology

 the system of the internal structure of morphemes within words. The study of the structure and formation of words. 

morphosyntax

 the intersection of morphology and syntax. 

nonlinear affixation

 is morphemes realised by suprasegmental forms such as tone, stress, nasalisation, etc.

onomatopoeia

 is the formation of a word from a sound associated with what is named. E.g., cuckoo, sizzle.

orthography

 is the conventional written form of the language.

package installer

 is a program for finding, installing, and upgrading software on a computer.

pane (of FLEx)

 is one of the divisions of a window.

paradigmatic

 (paradigm) is a basic term in linguistics for the set of substitutional relationships a linguistic unit has with other units in a specific context.

paradigmatic lexical relation

 is a culturally determined pattern of association between lexical units that (a) share one or more core semantic components, (b) belong to the same lexical category, (c) fill the same syntactic position in a syntactic construction, and (d) have the same semantic function. See lexical relation for examples of paradigmatic lexical relations.

part of speech (POS)

 refers to word class or syntactic category. The grammatical category of a word (e.g., noun, verb, adjective).  See lexical category.

passive use

 In a bilingual dictionary designed for passive use the source language is foreign to the user.

passive use dictionary

 In monolingual lexicography the passive use function is primarily for decoding tasks such as reading. In a bilingual dictionary designed for passive use the source language is foreign to the user. Cf. active use dictionary.

phoneme

 is the minimal distinct unit in the sound system of a language.

phonemic transcription

 symbols represent distinct units of the sound system of a particular language and are used in dictionaries to indicate the pronunciation of words or phrases.

phonetic transcription

 symbols represent phonetic articulatory values. Representation of speech sounds using a specialized alphabet like IPA. 

phonological information

 provides an indication of how the lexical unit is pronounced if this not transparent from the orthography. Typically, special symbols are used, such as the IPA symbols.

phonology

 the system of interaction of sounds within a word and across word boundaries.

phrasal verb

 is an idiomatic combination of a verb and adverb, or a verb and preposition. E.g., taken in (=deceived), set about (=start to do), put up with (=bear or suffer).

phrase

 is a small group of words standing together as a conceptual unit, typically forming a component of a clause. A phrase is also an idiomatic expression. E.g., kicked the bucket which means to die.

phraseological calque

 See calque.

polysemy

 refers to a lexical unit which has a range of different meanings. E.g., plain = ‘clear’, ‘unadorned’, ‘obvious’ …. A large proportion of a language’s vocabulary will be polysemic or polysemous.

prefix

 is an affix that occurs before the root or stem.

primary sense

 is the core meaning of the lexical unit. The first definition given in the lexical entry is the primary or core sense.

principal parts, the main inflected forms of a verb, from which all the other inflections may be deduced.

proclitic

 A proclitic is bound to a following host. See clitic.

project (of FLEx)

 is a lexical database.

pronunciation guide

 explains the meanings of the symbols used in the pronunciation of a lexical unit. It is normally located in the front of a dictionary and at the bottom of every facing page.

proverb

 is a conventionalised expression (usually a statement) that conveys folklore or common knowledge or makes a comment about some aspect of life.

quotation

 (1) In a dictionary entry or citation file, a citation. (2) A saying from a literary or other text and recorded for posterity because of its content and/or style.

radio button

 is a mechanism in a software program that allows a user to select an item. It usually appears as a small circle next to the item to be chosen. Often, when a list has radio buttons, only one of the buttons may be selected at a time. See checkbox.

reference work

 is any product, such as a published book or computer software, that allows people to store and retrieve information relatively easily and rapidly. The dictionary is the prototypical ‘reference book’, as it provides structural linguistic and/or encyclopedic information by means of a generally known access system (such as an alphabet).

references (in FLEx)

 indicate other entries that have some relationship to the current relationship. References may be cross references, such as “see blue”, or they may indicate lexical relations, such as synonyms or antonyms, or subentries or variants.

referential meaning

 See denotation.

restore

 is a process that creates a FLEx project (database) from a backup file.

reversal index (also known as a finder list)

 is an alphabetized list of the glosses (translation equivalents) in a multilingual dictionary. For example, in a Vernacular-English dictionary, the reversal index would consist of an alphabetized list of the English glosses, accompanied by their vernacular equivalents.

root

 is the base form of the word which cannot be further analysed (taken apart) without loss of identity. Put another way, it is that part of the word remaining when all the affixes are removed. Roots can be free or bound, where they can only occur with another morpheme.

saying

 is a short, pithy, commonly known expression which generally offers advice or wisdom.

script (in FLEx)

 refers to the kind of alphabet used for a language. One script may be used for more than one language. For instance, Cyrillic is the script used for Russian, and it is also used for other Slavic languages. Devanagari is used for Hindi, as well for many minority languages in India. Latin, Cherokee, Arabic, IPA, Hangul, and Katakana are other examples of scripts.

secondary sense

 is derived from the primary sense of the lexical unit. There is a logical relationship between a secondary sense and the primary sense in that one or more elements of the primary sense are retained in the secondary sense. Secondary definitions follow the definition of the primary sense in the lexical entry.

semantic arrangement for dictionary entries

 is lexeme-based. Under this system there is a main entry for each lexeme as illustrated below. Cf. morphemic arrangement for dictionary entries.

semantic collocation

 refers to any kind of restriction that the semantic content of a word has in combination with other words. E.g., the verb damage can only have an inanimate object, for example, *the falling brick damaged the man is unsemantic. Semantic collocations are a type of syntagmatic relation.

semantic information

 provides information on the meaning of the lexical entry, such as the part of speech to which the lemma belongs and the systems of sense relations the lexical entry has. See form information.

sense

 In semantics this term refers to the system of linguistic relationships (sense relations) which a lexical unit contracts with other lexical units, i.e., the paradigmatic relationships of synonymy, antonymy, etc. and the syntagmatic relationships of collocation. It contrasts with reference or denotation which is the extralinguistic side of the notion of meaning. In terms of the structure of a dictionary entry senses of a lexeme can be divided into: primary, secondary and figurative senses

sense group

 is a collection of senses organised according to lexical category, conceptual extendedness, or semantic similarity.

sense number

 distinguishes multiple senses of meaning of the headword. The primary sense is listed first, followed by any secondary senses.

sense type

 is a classification of a sense on the basis of its conceptual extendedness. In other words, it is a classification of the primary sense of a lexeme and the degree to which another sense is different from the primary sense. Sense types in a typical dictionary entry are: primary, secondary, figurative.

sentence clitic

 occurs in a fixed position, usually second position in the sentence. Cf. word clitic. See clitic.

shift

 is the key on a keyboard that makes the letter keys produce capital letters.

shortcut

 is a way of executing a command in a program without using a menu. It usually involves pressing a key like “Ctrl” or “Alt” along with a letter or number.

source-language

 is the language of the main entries in a bilingual dictionary.

spelling

 is the conventionalised system of representing speech by writing in a particular language. In alphabetic scripts the graphic signs stand for one or more speech sounds, and languages vary in their correspondence between graphemes and phonemes.

splash screen

 is the initial (“welcome”) screen that appears when an app or program is first launched.

standard

 is the relatively uniform variety of a language used for interregional communication.

standard format field

 is the convention for marking data fields used in SIL database programs like Shoebox.

stem

 is the base form of the word which remains after the inflectional affixation has been removed. It can comprise a single root morpheme (i.e., a ‘simple stem’, as in house), or two root morphemes (e.g., a ‘compound’ stem, as in greenhouse), or a root morpheme plus a derivational affix (i.e., a ‘complex’ stem, as in manly, unmanly, manliness).

structured data

 is when data is in a standardized format, has a well-defined structure, complies to a data model, follows a persistent order, and is easily accessed by humans and programs. This data type is generally stored in a database.

subentry

 is a subsection of a main entry with its own headword, phonological, semantic, and grammatical information. The subentry usually has a meaning that is greater than the sum of its component morphemes. The kinds of subentries in a dictionary entry are: derivatives, compounds, idioms, phrase equivalents for key terms for translation, sayings, phrasal verbs. E.g., the derivative runner  under run, or the phrasal verb show off  under show.

suffix

 is an affix that occurs after the root or stem.

supplemental information

 is an optional part of the definition of a lexical unit, containing culturally or logically expected information.

syllable

A syllable is a unit of sound composed of 1) a central peak of sonority (usually a vowel), and 2) the consonants that cluster around this central peak.

synchronic

 describes the properties of a language (in this context) at a particular point in time.

synonym

 is a word or phrase that means exactly or nearly the same as another word or phrase in the same language. E.g., shut is a synonym of close.

synonymy

 deals with sameness of meaning and more than one word having the same meaning. In practise, synonyms do not have exactly the same denotative and connotative meaning, and range of application. Instead, there is a high degree of overlap in these areas.

syntactic calque

 See calque.

syntactic category

 See lexical category.

syntagmatic

 refers to the sequential characteristics of speech, as seen in a string of constituents, or the relationships between constituents in a construction.

syntax

 the way in which words are put together to form phrases and sentences.

table view

 is a way of displaying data in columns and rows.

target-language

 is the language of the translational equivalents in a bilingual dictionary.

thesaurus

 A thesaurus also lists words in a systematic way. However, it does not describe the meanings of words as such. Instead it lists words according to semantic criteria and typically links each word with a set of synonyms and antonyms. This enables the user to find different ways of saying the same thing.

thesaurus category

 is a semantic category that links words together, typically as synonyms or antonyms.

tone

The use of pitch in language to distinguish lexical or grammatical meaning. 

toolbar

 is a row in a program with symbols that represent commands that can be executed if the user clicks on them.

tooltip

 is a message that appears if you hover over a graphical item on the screen.

transcription

 (1) The process and result of representing spoken language by means of a specific notation system. See phonetic transcription, phonemic transcription. (2) The representation of words written in one script by means of another, e.g., the Korean or Devanagari scripts represented by the Latin alphabet.

translation equivalent

 is a brief translation of a word or phrase that could be substituted for it in a translated sentence. It is different from a definition that describes the meaning of the word because a definition normally could not be substituted for the word it defines.

tree view

 is a way of displaying data that reflects its hierarchy. Each item may have a parent and one or more children.

typology

 is the study or description of different types.

unicode

A computing standard for consistent encoding of characters from different writing systems. 

usage information

is a classification for lexical units on the basis of sociolinguistic and historical factors. E.g., formal, informal, dated, archaic, historical, literary, poetic, technical, rare, humorous, dialect, offensive, derogatory, vulgar slang.

variant

 a form or version of something that differs in some respect from other forms of the same thing or from a standard.

verb

A word (or lexical category) that typically denotes an action, process, or state and functions as the main predicate of a clause. 

version numbers

 are the sequence of digits that identify what version a specific software program is. Sometimes not all the parts of the number are in focus and they may be referred to abstractly. For instance, the expression 9.0.x means “any version of 9.0”. It could refer to version 9.0.1, 9.0.2, etc.

vernacular

the language or dialect spoken by the ordinary people in a particular country or region; (of language) spoken as one's mother tongue; not learned or imposed as a second language.

view (in FLEx)

1.      Normally, view refers to the divisions of an area that you can navigate to by clicking on the name of the view.

2.      View can also be used for a way of displaying the data. For instance, there may be a browse view that is in table format or tree format, or a detail view that displays and allows editing of all the specific details of the item that is selected in the browse view.

virtualization software

 is a program that can be used to run an operating system on a computer other than the one it was designed for. For instance, one can run a virtual Linux system on a Windows machine, or a virtual Windows system on a Mac, or many other combinations.

vocabulary

(1)   is the entire inventory of lexical expressions in a language.

(2)  is a list or collection of the words or phrases of a language, technical field, etc., usually arranged in alphabetical order and defined (or glossed in another language).

Webonary

A web platform for publishing dictionaries created using tools like FLEx. 

Windows

 is a computer operating system.

word

 is a unit of expression which has universal intuitive recognition by native speakers in both spoken and written form. What constitutes a word in a particular language can be isolated by criteria of phonology (e.g., a stretch of speech with a single primary stress), morphosyntax (e.g., minimum free form, minimum level of constituent rearrangement), lexicology (e.g., abstract representative of the common meaning of a series of variants, such as walk, walks, walking, walked). Such criteria would also indicate that theoretically word occupies a level in a hierarchy between morpheme and phrase.

word class

 See lexical category.

word clitic

 is bound to a word. Cf. sentence clitic. See clitic.

writing

 is the result of the second major communicative shift, from spoken communication to the graphic representation of language, which allowed the storage and more accurate and widespread transmission of information.

writing system (in FLEx)

 refers to the combination of a language and a script.