Re: Universal Language Dictionary revision

rick@harrison.net wrote:
> Oldtimers here will remember a project called the Universal Language
> Dictionary, which is both a polyglot dictionary and a basic vocabulary
> checklist that some have found useful in the conlang creation process.
>
> For several years I've been pondering a larger, better-defined, less
> English-influenced, infinitely expandable dictionary project. But I
> hesitate to even start, considering the enormity of it. So I decided to
> do a little revising of the ULD in the meantime. I've only just begun,
> and I imagine it will take several months to complete this revision. If
> anyone who has used the files in the past would like to take a look at
> the new formats and comment, that would be good.
>
> http://www.hdict.com/uld27/index.html
>
> xan. loha.
I definitely think it's a good idea to have related words grouped
together: above/under, before/during/after, etc. I did a similar thing
with a word list that I was developing for my languages (which spun off
the fictional IAL project "Tiki"). E.g., V0193 is "up" and V0194 is
"down", continuing with "north", "south", "east", "west", "right",
"left", "front", "rear/back", "side".

Having the gaps between groups of numbered items should make it easier
to insert words to fit with related ones, without needing to do much
renumbering (e.g., a new word defined as "by, past" could be assigned
the number 0167). There's still the possibility of filling in the gaps
and running out of numbers, or finding a new word that really should go
between two existing ones (e.g. if you've got "guitar" followed by
"banjo" and you want to add a word for "ukulele"). I did my vocabulary
list differently, with a set of 150 "essential vocabulary" words
followed by 300 "basic vocabulary" words, 600 "intermediate vocabulary"
words, and a mess of unordered "advanced" and "expert" vocabulary words
that I haven't sorted out yet. So any new words just get added into the
pile of "advanced" and "expert" words, but there's always a chance that
a new word really should have been in the "intermediate" or even the
"basic" category....

One thing about having "prepositions" in a category by themselves is
that words with similar meanings are found in different categories.
Examples from the original ULD: 016 is "near, close to", but 3D4 "near
(at / to a little distance)" means about the same thing.

016: near, close to [pr]
Deu: bei, neben
Ned: dichtbij, nabij
Ita: vicino a [pr]
E-o: proksime al
Nov: proxim
Tso: hats- [pfx], hatsílin [pr]

3D4: near (at / to a little distance) [aj/av]
Deu: nahe
Ned: na
Ita: vicino [aj]
E-o: proksima
Nov: proximi [aj], proximu [av]
Tso: hatsílin [aj], hats- [pfx]

Another example of this:

015: like, similar to [pr]
382: similar [aj]

Other things that would be nice to include:

Pronouns (including relative pronouns); obviously there are differences
from one language to another but these are some of the most frequently
used words in some languages.

Common social words and phrases: hello, goodbye, excuse me, thank you,
please, etc.