[Lexicog] Digest Number 343

[John Roberts]

> Claire Bowern wrote:
>> Coming up with a good database structure early on is really important
>> (I've learnt this the hard way, several times actually!)

> Mike Maxwell wrote:
> I can't speak for others on this list, but personally I'd like to hear
> more about that.

Well, one of the main issues on structuring your database is whether you
decide to have a form-based dictionary or a meaning-based dictionary. For
example, CHAMBERS is a form-based English dictionary. If you look up *house*
you will find this word listed as a headword and then within that entry many
subentries of compounds and idiomatic expressions based on the form *house*
are listed. These subentries are all words, compounds or expressions derived
from the word-form *house*. In MDF terms these would each have a \se field.

house
   house arrest
   houseboat
   houseful
   house guest
   house-party
   open house
   on the house

But notice that CHAMBERS is inconsistent with its form-based arrangement.
There are many compounds based on *house* where this form occurs as the
second root in the compound, such as *cookhouse*, *greenhouse*, *icehouse*,
*powerhouse*, etc. A consistent formal arrangement would place all these as
sub-entries under house, or at least have a cross-reference to them as main
entries.

A semantic arrangement would treat *house arrest*, *houseboat*, *houseful*,
etc. as lexemes (units of meaning) in their own right and give them each a
main entry. They wouldn't be sub-entries under *house*. Cf. COBUILD, for
example, which does have a semantic arrangement - see below. Notice that
COBUILD has *boarding house*, *council house*, *doll's house* and *wendy
house* listed as sub-entries as examples of different types of house. On the
other hand they don't list *cookhouse*, *greenhouse*, *icehouse*,
*powerhouse* because semantically they are not examples of different types
of house.

house
   under house arrest
   on the house
   open house
houseboat
houseful
house guest
house-party
open house

So whether you choose a form-based arrangement or a semantic-based
arrangement for your dictionary entries this will have a major impact on the
macro-structure of your dictionary. If you set your dictionary up as
form-based and then decide to change to semantic-based or vice-versa it is a
HUGE job to convert the database.

John Roberts



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