Jump to content

Dictionary Building Resources: Difference between revisions

From MorDictionary
← Older edit
VisualWikitext
 
(4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 17: Line 17:
=== Corpus & Usage Research ===
=== Corpus & Usage Research ===


* '''Google Books Ngram Viewer''' — [https://books.google.com/ngrams Google Ngram Viewer]
* '''Google Books Ngram Viewer''' — [https://books.google.com/ngrams Google Ngram Viewer] — Track historical frequency of words.
  Track historical frequency of words.
* '''COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English)''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ english-corpora.org/coca] — Modern American English usage patterns.
 
* '''British National Corpus''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/ english-corpora.org/bnc] — British English usage data.
* '''COCA (Corpus of Contemporary American English)''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/coca/ english-corpora.org/coca]
* '''Sketch Engine''' — [https://www.sketchengine.eu/ sketchengine.eu] — Advanced corpus querying tool.
  Modern American English usage patterns.
 
* '''British National Corpus''' — [https://www.english-corpora.org/bnc/ english-corpora.org/bnc]
  British English usage data.
 
* '''Sketch Engine''' — [https://www.sketchengine.eu/ sketchengine.eu]
  Advanced corpus querying (professional tool).


----
----
Line 33: Line 26:
=== Etymology Research ===
=== Etymology Research ===


* '''Online Etymology Dictionary''' — [https://www.etymonline.com/ etymonline.com]
* '''Online Etymology Dictionary''' — [https://www.etymonline.com/ etymonline.com] — Quick-reference etymology.
  Quick-reference etymology.
* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org] — Collaborative etymology chains.
 
* '''Perseus Digital Library''' — [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ perseus.tufts.edu] — Classical Greek and Latin texts.
* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org]
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com] — Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
  Collaborative etymology chains and multilingual entries.
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com] — Early American English reference.
 
* '''Perseus Digital Library''' — [http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/ perseus.tufts.edu]
  Classical Greek and Latin texts.
 
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com]
  Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
 
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com]
  Early American English reference.


----
----
Line 52: Line 36:
=== Pronunciation Tools ===
=== Pronunciation Tools ===


* '''IPA Chart (International Phonetic Alphabet)''' — [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart ipa chart]
* '''IPA Chart''' — [https://www.internationalphoneticassociation.org/content/full-ipa-chart ipa chart]
 
* '''Forvo''' — [https://forvo.com/ forvo.com] — Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
* '''Forvo''' — [https://forvo.com/ forvo.com]
* '''Wiktionary Audio Archives''' — [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pronunciation commons pronunciation files]
  Crowdsourced pronunciation recordings.
 
* '''Wiktionary Audio Archives''' — [https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Pronunciation commons pronunciation category]
  Community-recorded pronunciation files.


----
----
Line 64: Line 44:
=== Frequency & Register Checking ===
=== Frequency & Register Checking ===


* '''Word Frequency Lists''' — [https://www.wordfrequency.info/ wordfrequency.info]
* '''Word Frequency Lists''' — [https://www.wordfrequency.info/ wordfrequency.info]
 
* '''Google Scholar''' — [https://scholar.google.com/ scholar.google.com] — Academic register reference.
* '''Google Scholar''' — [https://scholar.google.com/ scholar.google.com]
* '''Project Gutenberg''' — [https://www.gutenberg.org/ gutenberg.org] — Literary corpora for historical usage.
  Academic register reference.
 
* '''Project Gutenberg''' — [https://www.gutenberg.org/ gutenberg.org]
  Literary corpora for historical usage.


----
----
Line 83: Line 59:
----
----


== 🧠 Neologism Design ==
== Neologism Design ==
 
Coining new words requires discipline, not whimsy.


=== Neologism Communities ===
=== Neologism Communities ===
* Reddit neologismhelp
* Lemmy neologismhelp
* Linguistics forums


=== Principles of Sound Coinage ===
* '''Reddit''' — [https://www.reddit.com/r/NeologismsHelp/ r/NeologismsHelp]
* Morphological consistency
* '''Lemmy''' — [https://lemmy.world/c/NeologismHelp c/NeologismHelp]
* Transparent affix use
* Linguistics forums and word-creation discussion groups
* Etymological plausibility
* Phonetic elegance
* Semantic necessity


A good neologism fills a gap.
----
A great neologism feels inevitable.


----
== Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries ==


== 📚 Recommended Dictionaries & Glossaries ==
=== General Dictionaries ===


MorDictionary respects tradition while refusing to be boring.
* '''Oxford English Dictionary (OED)''' — [https://www.oed.com/ oed.com]
* '''Merriam-Webster''' — [https://www.merriam-webster.com/ merriam-webster.com]
* '''Wiktionary''' — [https://www.wiktionary.org/ wiktionary.org]
* '''Wordnik''' — [https://www.wordnik.com/ wordnik.com]


=== General Dictionaries ===
----
* Oxford English Dictionary
* Merriam-Webster
* Wiktionary
* Wordnik


=== Specialized & Historical ===
=== Specialized & Historical ===
* Green’s Dictionary of Slang
* Webster’s 1828
* Regional glossaries
* Field-specific glossaries (legal, nautical, theological, technical)


Each dictionary has a temperament.
* '''Green’s Dictionary of Slang''' — [https://greensdictofslang.com/ greensdictofslang.com]
Study their strengths.
* '''Webster’s 1828 Dictionary''' — [https://webstersdictionary1828.com/ webstersdictionary1828.com]
Observe their weaknesses.
* '''Phrontistery''' — [https://phrontistery.info/ phrontistery.info] — Obscure and rare vocabulary collections
Avoid their dullness.
* '''The Grandiloquent Dictionary''' — [https://www.islandnet.com/~egbird/dict/words.pdf PDF edition] — Unusual and sesquipedalian words
* '''Oxford Reference''' — [https://www.oxfordreference.com/ oxfordreference.com] — Subject glossaries (legal, theological, technical, etc.)


----
----


== 🏛 Collaborative Lexicography ==
== Collaborative Lexicography Philosophy ==
 
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers.
 
It is communal.


* Wiktionary (open lexicography)
Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers, but maybe we should try to minimize the slop a smidge. I mean, I love [https://www.urbandictionary.com/ Urban Dictionary], but sometimes it’s a bit much.
* Community glossaries
* Language preservation projects
* Personal lexicographic blogs


MorDictionary encourages participation, experimentation, and preservation.
Let’s have fun, but let’s try to make a functional dictionary at the same time.


----
----


== 📜 Philosophy ==
== Philosophy ==


We oppose boring dictionaries.
We oppose boring dictionaries.

Latest revision as of 04:04, 20 February 2026

Dictionary Craft Tools

[edit | edit source]

A practical guide for lexicographers, wordsmiths, and neologism architects.

MorDictionary does not merely define words.

We build them. We preserve them. We refine them. We sometimes invent them.

This page collects tools, communities, and reference materials useful for crafting dictionary entries, mining example sentences, and coining neologisms.

Entry Construction Tools

[edit | edit source]

Corpus & Usage Research

[edit | edit source]

Etymology Research

[edit | edit source]
  • Online Etymology Dictionary — etymonline.com — Quick-reference etymology.
  • Wiktionary — wiktionary.org — Collaborative etymology chains.
  • Perseus Digital Library — perseus.tufts.edu — Classical Greek and Latin texts.
  • Oxford English Dictionary (OED) — oed.com — Historical English dictionary (subscription required).
  • Webster’s 1828 Dictionary — webstersdictionary1828.com — Early American English reference.

Pronunciation Tools

[edit | edit source]

Frequency & Register Checking

[edit | edit source]

Example Sentence Craft

[edit | edit source]

Sentence Mining Communities

[edit | edit source]

Neologism Design

[edit | edit source]

Neologism Communities

[edit | edit source]
[edit | edit source]

General Dictionaries

[edit | edit source]

Specialized & Historical

[edit | edit source]

Collaborative Lexicography Philosophy

[edit | edit source]

Dictionary-making is no longer confined to ivory towers, but maybe we should try to minimize the slop a smidge. I mean, I love Urban Dictionary, but sometimes it’s a bit much.

Let’s have fun, but let’s try to make a functional dictionary at the same time.

Philosophy

[edit | edit source]

We oppose boring dictionaries.

A dictionary entry should:

  • Inform
  • Contextualize
  • Illuminate
  • Delight

A lexicon is not merely a record. It is a living archive of thought.

See Also

[edit | edit source]

MorDictionary — A project of the Moribund Institute.

Retrieved from "https://mordictionary.org/index.php?title=Dictionary_Building_Resources&oldid=35"