TOOL(S): Intercontinental Dictionary Series (IDS), lexical & semantic fields

         
    Intercontinental Dictionary Series (IDS)
     
Founding Editor:        Mary Ritchie Key (University of California, Irvine)

General Editor:     Bernard Comrie (Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology, Leipzig)
     
    Purpose: The purpose of the IDS is to establish a database where lexical
material across the continents is organized in such a way that comparisons can
be made. Historical studies, comparative, and theoretical linguistic research
can be based on this documentation. This is a long term cooperative project
that will go on for several generations and will involve linguists all over the
world. It is aimed towards international understanding and cooperation. This
is a pioneering effort that will have global impact. The purpose also
contributes to preserving information on the little-known and "non-prestigious"
languages of the world, many of which are becoming extinct.     
     
    Rationale: Information on languages of the world is scattered over all
the continents and islands and published in dozens of languages and scripts.
There is need of a database where one can find comparable material to formulate
hypotheses and test and validate those theories. For example, theories on
intercontinental connections have been proposed on the basis of the distribution of
‘sweet potato’ and yet there is no single source, where words with this
meaning can be found in many languages. Good quantitative and statistical studies
are almost impossible to do now in non-Western languages. The IDS will provide
a quantitative base for a scientific approach to language analysis and
comparisons. The IDS will provide the research tools necessary for expanding studies
such as phonological theory, word formation, language change, lexical
distribution, symbolism and onomatopoeia, classification, and other ideas that have
to do with history of people and migrations. The IDS will serve?not only as a
synonym dictionary?but as an index to meaning and to cultures of various people
around the earth.    
         
    Plan of Series: The IDS series will appear in electronic form on the
internet. In addition, the IDS series may appear in hard copy as 

1.  a volume with 25 or more languages recorded;
2.  a fascicle with 5 to 10 languages recorded; 
3.  in single WordLists, which are archived until enough are gathered to make
up a fascicle or volume. 

A list of fascicles and volumes in progress is available from the general
editor.      
         
    Procedure: The IDS is developed in cooperation and complementation with
other research projects. Throughout the world there are linguistic
activities?from establishing of databases in universities and think-tanks to publishing
grammar series and literacy materials, to individual projects such as the
Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus project (
http://stedt.berkeley.edu/). Many projects seek to make linguistic data accessible in a format that
will allow generalizations to be made. The computer now gives us the potential
for tying together linguistic databases. The IDS editors will continue to
monitor linguistic activity around the world, both for choosing the languages for
forthcoming compilations and for collaboration with other research teams.  
         
    Format: Each fascicle and volume will be produced in the same format,
which will assure the elegance of having comparable materials. Comparative work
in Indo-European has been carried on over 200 years, and excellent research
tools have been produced. This experience forms a basis for similar research
tools to be produced for the pre-literate languages which have been more recently
recorded. Specifically, a model for IDS is _A Dictionary of Selected Synonyms
n the Principal Indo-European Languages_, comp. by Carl Darling Buck,
University of Chicago Press, 1949, 1515 pages. The dictionary is organized in a
topical outline of 22 chapters. The outline has been adapted for the IDS, with the
numbering system generally maintained; and this will remain the same for all
the WorldLists. Buck’s dictionary contains approximately 1200 potential entries
(not complete for all languages, of course). The IDS adaptation contains over
1,300 entries. If a form does not exist in a certain area of the world, the
entry is left blank. Loanwords are identified when possible. The entries are
given bilingually or trilingually, with English as the first heading, and the
language(s) of the area alongside, for example, _South American Indian Languages_
contains English, Portuguese, and Spanish in the main glosses.   
         
    The text includes something about the phonology of each language, and
highlights the linguistic phenomena of particular interest in comparative
discussions of the family represented. The transcriptions of all the languages are
regularized, to simplify comparative research and to encourage the use of the
computer for future manipulation of data. Bibliographical material is included,
directing readers to grammars and other linguistic works on each language. The
text may also include discussions on changes of meaning among the related
languages, showing something of the semantic systems.    
         
    Compilers: Each fascicle and volume will have a chief editor and a group
of language specialists who are the contributors for each language entered in
the dictionary. The actual contributors of language data generally have a high
level of field work and other experience in the language. Inasmuch as
possible, contributors are sought who are native speakers of the languages recorded.
In addition, the volume editor may choose to have a group of associate editors
or area consultants. The scholars are chosen for their interests in
cross-cultural research and for their skills and willingness to give time and thought
to the objectives of the IDS. They are also chosen for wide representation of
the geographical areas and universities and scholarly groups available. Much of
the data being entered into the dictionary is from unpublished field notes.
Since the personnel for each title are different, several volumes can be in
process of compilation at the same time.     
         
    Choice of Languages: The languages chosen for each volume are areally
defined and are representative of the linguistic features of the area.
Well-established language families will be grouped accordingly. Practical consideration
must be given to: availability of publications and field work; comparative
work done; orthographies involved; coordination with other research; contacts and
cooperation of personnel and their expertise. Each language family that is
entered into a dictionary will be corrected and supported by linguistic experts,
who will be consulted regularly.     
         
    Plan of Volumes: The production of each fascicle and volume will involve
sufficient interaction between the editor and the language specialists to
assure accuracy. During the initial stages of compilation, the editor will
acquaint the collaborators with the outline and organization of the dictionary as a
series. The IDS Wordlist is distributed to each language contributor and to the
associate editors. As the contributors fill in the Wordlist, correspondence
with the editor deals with such matters as morpheme division, dialect usage,
orthography, and difficulties in finding the correct translations. Particularly
important are the responses from the consultants regarding information on
features of the languages that should be included in the introductory material.
The final stage of this collaboration results in a pre-publication copy which is
disseminated to each contributor for final checking. A time schedule is
necessary to keep the production on an orderly course. This is blocked out for the
development of each fascicle to be completed in about three years’ and a
volume in about five years’ time.      
         
    Computer Use: The format of IDS lends itself exceptionally well to the
use of the computer. The IDS data is stored in a machine-readable format which
will be posted on the internet. This would open an unlimited access to IDS data
for scholars from all over the world, who would be able to use the
dictionaries for further research.  
         
    Origin and History of IDS: The idea for a work such as the IDS came to
Mary Ritchie Key while on a Fulbright in Chile in 1975 studying the semantic
grouping in the cognate sets of comparative studies. This was followed by pilot
projects at the University of California, Irvine, using comparative data of
recognized language families. In 1982, a computer science and math major
constructed a program which we called "SYNCOG", using three words from C.D.Buck:
‘water’, ‘skin’, ‘eat’. Scholars were contacted who were chosen for their inter
ests in cross-cultural research and for their skills and willingness to give
time and thought to the objectives of the dictionary series. In 1984, an award
from the University of California, Irvine Faculty Research Committee to "launch
the Intercontinental Dictionary Series" set the series on its way. In 1990,
the IDS won an Honourable Mention from the Rolex Awards for Enterprise, from
Switzerland.     
         
    Further Possibilities: The obvious and immediate product of this
intercontinental enterprise is a dictionary series. There are other imaginable
advantages. An IDS center would serve as a clearinghouse for comparative work between
the continents. It could also serve as a repository for scholars to leave
their unpublished materials in a place where they would be appreciated and
utilized in further research. Thus, it would assure preservation and continuity of
unpublished work-in-progress. And finally, it will bring together data on the
languages of the world, in such a way that will give importance to all
languages. This speaks to the unity of all the peoples on earth.      
         
    Mary Ritchie Key     
    University of California, Irvine     
    (Adapted by Bernard Comrie
     Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig)    
         
 -
         
    ::salivatin':: I want the IDS WordList!!!  NOW!!!!!!

-

    The Intercontinental Dictionary Series is a long-term project founded by
Mary Ritchie Key (University of California, Irvine) that aims to publish
electronic lexical databases for a large number of languages from around the world.
All these databases are based on the IDS WordList,
which is itself an adaptation of the list used by Buck (1949), _A Dictionary
of Selected Synonyms in the Principal Indo-European Languages_.

_IDS lexical fields based on

Chapter 1: PHYSICAL WORLD IN ITS LARGER ASPECTS

Chapter 2: MANKIND: SEX, AGE, FAMILY RELATIONSHIP

Chapter 3: ANIMALS

Chapter 4: PARTS OF THE BODY; BODILY FUNCTIONS AND CONDITIONS

Chapter 5: FOOD AND DRINK; COOKING AND UTENSILS

Chapter 6: CLOTHING; PERSONAL ADORNMENT AND CARE

Chapter 7: DWELLING, HOUSE, FURNITURE

Chapter 8: AGRICULTURE, VEGETATION

Chapter 9: MISCELLANEOUS PHYSICAL ACTS AND THOSE PERTAINING TO ARTS AND
CRAFTS, WITH SOME IMPLEMENTS, MATERIALS, AND
PRODUCTS

Chapter 10: MOTION; LOCOMOTION, TRANSPORTATION, NAVIGATION

Chapter 11: POSSESSION, PROPERTY, AND COMMERCE

Chapter 12: SPATIAL RELATIONS: PLACE, FORM, SIZE

Chapter 13: QUANTITY AND NUMBER

Chapter 14: TIME

Chapter 15: SENSE PERCEPTION

Chapter 16: EMOTION (WITH SOME PHYSICAL EXPRESSIONS OF
EMOTION); TEMPERAMENTAL, MORAL, AND AESTHETIC NOTIONS

Chapter 17: MIND, THOUGHT

Chapter 18: VOCAL UTTERANCE, SPEECH; MUSIC

Chapter 19: TERRITORIAL, SOCIAL, AND POLITICAL DIVISIONS; SOCIAL RELATIONS

Chapter 20: WARFARE AND HUNTING

Chapter 21: LAW

Chapter 22: RELIGION AND BELIEFS

---------

semantic fields
[Sino-Tibetan Etymological Dictionary and Thesaurus (STEDT) project (
http://stedt.berkeley.edu/)]:

    Body Parts

    Animals, Natural Objects, Plants

    Kinship Terms, Ethnonyms, Social Roles, Personal Effects

    Culture, Artifacts, Religion

    Verbs of Motion, of Manipulation, and of Production (Action Verbs)

    Abstract Nouns and Verbs, Psychological Verbs, Verbs of Utterance

    Shape, Size, Color, Measure, Number, Time, Space

    Grammatical words
     

---  º°`°º ø,¸¸,ø º°`°º ø,¸¸,ø º°`°º ø,¸¸,ø º°`°º  º°`°º ø,¸~->
Hanuman "Mister Sinister" Zhang, Sloth-Style Gungfu Typist
- "the sloth is a chinese poet upsidedown" --- Jack Kerouac {1922-69}
<A HREF="http://www.boheme-magazine.net">=> boheme-magazine.net</A>

"Poems are sketches for existence." - Paul Celan

"...make things/touch and radiate in the mind..." - Kenneth White

"One thing foreigners, computers, & poets have in common
is that they make unexpected linguistic associations." --- Jasia Reichardt

"There is no reason for the poet to be limited to words, & in fact the poet
is most poetic when inventing languages. Hence the concept of the poet as
'language designer'."  --- O. B. Hardison, Jr.

"Poetic creation still remains an act of perfect spiritual freedom. Poetry
remakes & prolongs language; every poetic language begins by being a secret
language, that is, the creation of a personal universe, of a completely closed
world." - Mircea Eliade

"... upward into/the depths." - Tomas Transtromer

"As webs come out of spiders, or breath forms in frozen air, worlds
come out of us".—William Irwin Thompson, _Imaginary Landscape_