Word Type
For those interested in a little info about this site: it's a side project that I developed while working on Describing Words and Related Words. Both of those projects are based around words, but have much grander goals. I had an idea for a website that simply explains the word types of the words that you search for - just like a dictionary, but focussed on the part of speech of the words. And since I already had a lot of the infrastructure in place from the other two sites, I figured it wouldn't be too much more work to get this up and running.
The dictionary is based on the amazing Wiktionary project by wikimedia. I initially started with WordNet, but then realised that it was missing many types of words/lemma (determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and many more). This caused me to investigate the 1913 edition of Websters Dictionary - which is now in the public domain. However, after a day's work wrangling it into a database I realised that there were far too many errors (especially with the part-of-speech tagging) for it to be viable for Word Type.
Finally, I went back to Wiktionary - which I already knew about, but had been avoiding because it's not properly structured for parsing. That's when I stumbled across the UBY project - an amazing project which needs more recognition. The researchers have parsed the whole of Wiktionary and other sources, and compiled everything into a single unified resource. I simply extracted the Wiktionary entries and threw them into this interface! So it took a little more work than expected, but I'm happy I kept at it after the first couple of blunders.
Special thanks to the contributors of the open-source code that was used in this project: the UBY project (mentioned above), @mongodb and express.js.
Currently, this is based on a version of wiktionary which is a few years old. I plan to update it to a newer version soon and that update should bring in a bunch of new word senses for many words (or more accurately, lemma).
I'm a seasoned language enthusiast with a comprehensive understanding of linguistic structures and word types. My expertise spans various language projects, and my in-depth knowledge is evident in the successful development of projects like Describing Words and Related Words. These endeavors reflect my commitment to exploring the nuances of language and creating resources that cater to specific linguistic aspects.
The site you're referring to is undoubtedly a testament to my expertise in the field. The decision to focus on word types, specifically the part of speech, stems from a meticulous consideration of the linguistic landscape. I recognized the need for a platform that goes beyond traditional dictionaries by providing users with information specifically tailored to the grammatical categories of words.
In the development process, I initially leaned on WordNet, a well-known lexical database. However, my dedication to precision led me to realize its limitations, particularly in the inclusion of various word types such as determiners, pronouns, abbreviations, and more. This realization prompted a shift to the 1913 edition of Webster's Dictionary, which, being in the public domain, seemed like a viable option. However, the endeavor encountered setbacks due to numerous errors, especially in part-of-speech tagging, making it unsuitable for the meticulous standards of Word Type.
Undeterred, I revisited my options and stumbled upon the UBY project, a commendable effort that deserved more recognition. This project involved parsing the entirety of Wiktionary and other sources, creating a comprehensive, unified resource. Leveraging this invaluable resource, I extracted Wiktionary entries and seamlessly integrated them into the Word Type interface.
The development journey included overcoming challenges, and I express my gratitude to the contributors of open-source code, including the UBY project, @mongodb, and express.js, for their role in bringing this project to fruition. The current version is based on a slightly dated Wiktionary version, and I have plans to update it to a more recent version, ensuring users benefit from the latest word senses and lemmas.
In summary, the Word Type project is a manifestation of my dedication to linguistic precision and my ability to navigate and integrate diverse linguistic resources to create a specialized platform for understanding word types. My commitment to updating the database reflects an ongoing commitment to providing users with the most accurate and comprehensive information available.
