Glossary
The following terms have been identified as challenging to translate into the vernacular, but are important if the participants are to understand the process of Rapid Word Collection. They are listed here with explanations and suggestions for how to translate them into languages which may not have these concepts. It is suggested that you print out the entire list and translate them into the language that you will be collecting words in.
B
- borrowed word
-
a word commonly used in a given language, but whose origins are in a different language
Synonyms: loan word
C
- capitalization
-
A word written with the first letter in upper case, as is commonly the practice in many languages for names of people and places.
- citation form
-
the form of a word most easily recognized by native speakers as its "fundamental" form; the form used to look up a word in a dictionary
- compound
-
a word formed by joining two or more words (e.g., homework)
- coordinator
-
the person who oversees all that goes on in a RWC workshop
D
- definition
-
a detailed explanation of the meaning of a word
- dictionary
-
an alphabetized list of the words of a language which includes definitions, parts of speech, example sentences, pictures, etc.
Synonyms: dictionaries lexicon lexicons
- division
-
any of the 9 top-level units into which the semantic domain templates are broken down, numbered 1 through 9
Synonyms: divisions section sections
- domain name
-
the term (or title) that summarizes the content of a particular semantic domain
- domain number
-
the outline-style number that indicates the relationship of a particular domain to others within the semantic domain hierarchy
- domain template
-
the explanatory prose, questions, and example words that make up the prompts for the elicitation of words in a particular semantic domain
Synonyms: domain templates
E
- example word
-
a suggestion provided in the language of the semantic domain templates to serve as a guide for the search for vocabulary in the target language
Synonyms: example words
F
- folder
-
a subset of the Questionnaire that is treated as a unit during a RWC workshop
Synonyms: folders
G
- gloss
-
a short (one word, if possible) translation equivalent
Synonyms: glosses
- glossary
-
a "dictionary" consisting of little or no more than an alphabetized list of words in one language and their glosses in a second language
- glosser
-
a person who writes short (usually 1-2 words) translation equivalents (glosses) in a more widely known language for the words collected during a RWC workshop
Synonyms: glossers
H
- hierarchy
-
(in RWC context) a ranked system of semantic domains, where certain domains are subdivided into multiple others
- homographs
-
words with identical orthographies
I
- idiom
-
a multi-word expression whose meaning cannot easily be guessed simply by knowing the meaning of each of the words that comprise it
Synonyms: idiomatic expression idiomatic expressions idioms
L
- language expert
-
a native speaker who is intimately acquainted with both the language which is the subject of a RWC workshop and its culture
- language of wider communication
-
a language used by multiple ethnic groups for communication between speakers of different mother tongues; a trade language
Synonyms: LWC
- lexical database
-
a set of words and expressions which comprise the basic components of a language, in electronic format
- list of semantic domains
-
the set of linguistic and cultural categories used to classify words and expressions relative to the area(s) of life in which they are used
M
- meaning
-
semantic content associated with a word or phrase
- mental network of semantic relations
-
the set of interconnected relationships between semantic domains as they relate to a language and culture
- misspelled
-
incorrect application of a language's orthography
- multi-word expression
-
a lexical unit of a language that is made up of more than one word (e.g., kick the bucket, start over)
Synonyms: idiom idiomatic expression
O
P
- progress spreadsheet
-
a spreadsheet which facilitates reporting the number of words already collected at any given time during a word-collection workshop, as well as helping to monitor the performance of each word-collection group
Synonyms: spreadsheet
Q
- question
-
(in the RWC context) a prompt to facilitate the collection of words which belong in a particular semantic domain
Synonyms: questions
R
- response sheet
-
the sheet of paper where the scribe writes down the words that are collected by a word-collection group in a Rapid Word Collection workshop
Synonyms: response sheets
S
- scribe
-
the member of a word-collection group who writes down words as the other members of the group say them
- semantic domain
-
an area of meaning which relates to a certain concept or a particular context in life For more information about the semantic domains used in Rapid Word Collection go to semdom.org.
Synonyms: semantic domains domain domains
- sense
-
one of (potentially) multiple meanings of a word
Synonyms: senses
- slang
-
language-usage that is informal, not typical of speakers of the language in general, and is usually identified with a particular subset of the society; often described in pejorative terms by those who consider their way of speaking to be "correct"
- specialized domain
-
a semantic domain dealing with an aspect of life about which only certain individuals have in-depth knowledge
- subdivision
-
a portion of a division
Synonyms: subsection subdomain
T
- thesaurus
-
a list of words in a given language that is organized by semantic theme
- typist
-
someone who enters data into a computer
Synonyms: typists