X-Git-Url: https://git.donarmstrong.com/?p=deb_pkgs%2Fscowl.git;a=blobdiff_plain;f=current%2Fr%2Fvarcon%2FREADME;h=c69c206c5819fd4a4ec5af9e123efcaf6855cd2e;hp=bc25ad9695a327dfe7f64d861687e1d31b33209d;hb=7b14ba883fb1046508c44be37b4c6ba5da5feacf;hpb=b72d489091bf51f14f63db9bec15fe71fa52a395 diff --git a/current/r/varcon/README b/current/r/varcon/README index bc25ad9..c69c206 100644 --- a/current/r/varcon/README +++ b/current/r/varcon/README @@ -1,58 +1,182 @@ -Variant Conversion Info (VARCON) +Variant Conversion Info (VarCon) -Revision 4.1 +Revision 5.1 (SVN Revision 161) -August 10, 2004 +January 6, 2011 -Copyright 2000-2004 by Kevin Atkinson (kevina@gnu.org) +Copyright 2000-2011 by Kevin Atkinson (kevina@gnu.org) -This package contains tables to convert between American, British, and -Canadian spellings and vocabulary as well as well as a table listing the -equivalent forms of other variants. +This package contains information to convert between American, +British, and Canadian spellings and vocabulary as well and other +variant information. The latest version can be found at http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/. -The abbc.tab contains mappings between American, British with "ise" -spelling, British with "ize" spelling, and Canadian spellings. The -fields are separated by a tab character and have the Unix EOL -character. The first four columns are the spellings respectively. -The last column is used to mark words where the American or British -spelling is also used in the British or American spelling but only -when the word has a certain meaning. American words that are also -used in British / Canadian spellings are marked with a "A" while -British words that are also used in American / Canadian spellings are -marked with a "B". - -The file voc.tab is like abbc.tab except that it converts between -vocabulary instead of spelling. If more than one word if often uses to -describe the same thing the words are separated with commas. The last -column contains additional notes on when the word is used. Unlike -abbc.tab it is generally not suitable for automatic conversion. +The main data file is varcon.txt. It contains information on the +preferred American, British, and Canadian spelling of a word as well +as other variant information. + +Each line contains a mapping between the various spellings of a word. +Words are tageed to indicate where the spelling is used, and each +word/tag pair is separated with a " / ". For example in the line: + A Cv: acknowledgment / Av B C: acknowledgement +"acknowledgment" and "acknowledgement" are two spellings of the same +word and "A", "Cv", "B", etc are the tags. Tags are seperated by +spaces and the group of tags is seperated from the word with a ": ". +Here, "acknowledgment" is the preferred American spelling (as +indicated by the "A") of the word, and "acknowledgement" is the +preferred Canadian and British spelling ("B" and "C"). However the +American spelling is sometimes used in Canada (as indicated by "Cv", +where the lowercase "v" indicated a variant form) and the British +spelling is sometimes used in America (as indicated the the "Av"). + +More generally each tag consists of a spelling category (for example +"A") followed possible by a variant indicator. The spelling +categories are as follows: + A: American + B: British "ise" spelling + Z: British "ize" spelling or OED prefered Spelling + C: Canadian + _: Other (Variant info based on American dictionaries, never used + with any of the above). +and the variants tags are as follows: + .: equal + v: variant + V: seldom used variant + -: possible variant, should generally not used + x: improper variant (should not use) + +The "." or equal variant tags are reserved for special cases when +there is little agreement between dictionaries or when I think the +dictionary is wrong. The "v" indicator is used for most words marked +as variants in the dictionary. However, some variants will be demoted +to a "V". For example, if the variant is marked as "also" by +Merriam-Webster, or also if only some dictionaries acknowledge the +existence the variant. "-" is used when the variant is generally not +listed is the dictionary but I could find some evidence of it use, or +when it is it marked as as a archaic spelling for the word. The "x" +is used when the spelling is almost generally considered a +misspelling, and is only included for completeness. + +If there are no tags with the 'Z' spelling category on the line than +'B' implies 'Z'. Similarly if there are no 'C' tags than 'Z' implies +'C'. + +For ease of reading and maintaining the data file, each line is +grouped in a cluster of closely related words. Each cluster is +uniquely identifed by a headword, which is generally the American +spelling of word on the first line of the cluster. Each cluster is +started with a '#' and is followed by the headword with some +additional information after it. For example the cluster for +acknowledgment is: + # acknowledgment (level 35) + A Cv: acknowledgment / Av B C: acknowledgement + A Cv: acknowledgments / Av B C: acknowledgements + A Cv: acknowledgment's / Av B C: acknowledgement's +The "" tag will be explained latter, and "(level 35)" +indictated what level in SCOWL (see http://wordlist.sourceforge.net) +the headword is found in. The levels generaly mean the following: + <= 35: Very common word + <= 70: Can be found in the dictionary + 80: Likely a valid word, can likely be found in an + unabridged dictionary + > 80: May not even be a legal word + +Sometimes the spelling of a word depends on the usage. If so the word +is listed more than once within a cluster, with any usage information +being indicated after a " | ". For example here is part of the cluser +for prize: + A B: prize | reward + A B: prizes | reward + A C: prize / B: prise | otherwise + A C: prizes / B: prises | otherwise +which indicated than the preferred spelling of prize is always with a +"z" when meaning a reward, but otherwise is spelled with a "s" is +British English. In the example above a brief definition of the word +is given, but often no such attempt is made, and the definition simply +consists of a number, for example: + A B: sake | :1 + A C: sake / Av B Cv: saki | :2 + +Sometimes part-of-speach (POS) info is given to help distinguish which +form is used. For example: + A B C: practice / AV Cv: practise | + A Cv: practice / AV B C: practise | +POS info is always given given in the form "" and if a definition +is also given the the POS info is always first. The POS tags used are as +follows: + : Noun + : Verb + : Adjective + : Adverb + +A "(-)" before the definition indicated a rarly used or archaic form +of a word, for example: + A B: bark | :1 + A: bark / Av B: barque | (-) ship + +A "--" indicates a note rather than definition. This is generally +used to indicate that the spelling of the plural form not depend on +the spelling of the root word, for example: + _: cabby / _.: cabbie + _: cabbies | -- plural + +Misc. notes on a particular form of a word are given after a "#" on +the same line. Misc. notes for the cluster are given at the end of +the cluster and are prefixed with "##", for example: + # coloration (level 50) + A B C: coloration / B. Cv: colouration + A B C: colorations / B. Cv: colourations + A B C: coloration's / B. Cv: colouration's + ## OED has coloration as the prefered spelling and discolouration as a + ## variant for British Engl or some reason +In the notes ODE (not to be confused with OED) stands for Oxford +Dictionary of English, "Ox" is used for any Oxford dictionary, and +"M-W" for Merriam-Webster. + +Earlier versions of varcon contained numerous errors. With version +5.0 massive effort has been made to correct many of these errors. +Clusters that have undergone some form of verification (and likely +correction) are marked with "". As of version 5.0, most +clusters with headwords word in common usage (SCOWL level 35 and +below) should now be checked, as well as many others. No effort was +made to check clusters with headwords in SCOWL level 80 and above; +many of those entries are unlikely to be in the dictionary anyway. The file variant-also.tab contains additional mappings between various -spellings of a word which are not necessarily region dependent. Only -mappings that are not listed in abbc.tab are included in this mapping. -No attempt is made to distinguish the primary form of a word. The -file variant-infl.tab is like variant-also.tab except that it is -created automatically from the AGID inflection database. The file +spellings of a word which are not yet in varcon.txt. No attempt is +made to distinguish the primary form of a word. The file +variant-infl.tab is like variant-also.tab except that it is created +automatically from the AGID inflection database. The file variant-wroot.tab is like variant-infl.tab except that it also included the root form of the word. -Both the translation array and variant table includes a lot of strange -affixations of words which I have no intention of removing as some -people might find them useful. - -The "make-variant" Perl script will combine abbc.tab, variant-also.tab, -and variant-infl.tab into one huge mapping and will output the result -to "variant.tab". If the "no-infl" option is given than -variant-infl.tab will not be included. - -The "split" script will create 5 words lists from abbc.tab: -american.lst, british.lst, british_z.lst, canadian.lst, and -common.lst. The common.lst file contains words that were marked in -the last column as explained above and the other four contain all the -possible words that might be used by that particular country, included -some of the words marked in the last column. +The file voc.tab is similar to varcon.txt but converts between +vocabulary instead of spelling. Unlike varcon.tab it is a simple tab +seperated file with the fields correspoding to the American, British, +and Canadian words. If more than one word if often used to describe +the same thing the words are separated with commas. The last column +contains additional notes on when the word is used. Unlike varcon.txt +it is generally not suitable for automatic conversion. + +The "make-variant" Perl script will combine varcon.txt, +variant-also.tab, and variant-infl.tab into one huge mapping and will +output the result to "variant.tab". If the "no-infl" option is given +than variant-infl.tab will not be included. + +The "split" script will split out the information in varcon.txt into +several word lists named as follows: + [-v][-uncommon].lst +where is one of: american, british, british_z, canadian, +common, or other. "common" is used for words which appear in +varcon.txt, yet are used in all versions of english, such as "prize", +and "other" is used for the "_" spelling category. The mapping from +the variant indicators in varcon.txt to the numberic variant level is +as follows: + v => 0 + V => 1 + - => 2 +"-uncommon" is used for forms marked with "(-)" as already described. The "translate" Perl script will translate a text file from one spelling to another. Its usage is: @@ -71,9 +195,14 @@ Text is read in from standard input and is outputted to standard out. Words are marked with a '?' before and after the questionable word when the option is enabled. -If you discover any errors in these mappings, besides the strange -affixations, or have suggestions for additions be sure and let me know -at kevina@gnu.org. +The file varcon.pm contains some library routines for parsing +varcon.txt and is used by many of the scripts above. + +If you discover any errors in these mappings or have suggestions for +additions please file a bug report, which you can find instructions +for at http://wordlist.sourceforge.net/, or alternativly email me +directly at kevina@gnu.org, but I will likely tell you to file a bug +report so that I don't forget about it. SOURCE: @@ -120,11 +249,65 @@ As well as several online dicionaries: American Heritage: http://www.bartleby.com/61/ Cambridge (ESL): http://dictionary.cambridge.org/ +In version 5.0 a massive effort to correct the numerous errors in +VarCon was done. The primary sources used for verification where: + + Marriam-Webster: http://www.m-w.com/ + Free version of Oxford Dictionaries Online: + http://www.oxforddictionaries.com/ + Oxford dictionaries available via Oxford Reference Online + (subscription service, http://www.oxfordreference.com/): + The New Oxford American Dictionary (2nd edition, 2006) + and sometimes: The Oxford American Dictionary of Current English (2002) + The Concise Oxford English Dictionary (11th edition revised, 2008) + and sometimes: The Oxford Dictionary of English (2nd edition revised, 2005) + The Canadian Oxford Dictionary (2004) + +I also used Tysto UK vs US spelling list available at: + http://www.tysto.com/articles05/q1/20050324uk-us.shtml +to make sure I didn't leave out any information in VarCon, however any +additions from his lists where verified using the dictionaries +mentioned above as his lists contained numerous errors (such as +including archaic spellings of words) + +I also made indirect use of Luke's Canadian, British and American +Spelling page available at: + http://www.lukemastin.com/testing/spelling/cgi-bin/database.cgi?database=spelling +but only to perform some initial verification, in the end I rechecked +his data using the dictionaries above. (However, his data is, by far, +more accurate than Tysto's) + CHANGELOG: +From Revision 5.0 to Revision 5.1 (January 6, 2010) + + - Corrected numerous errors after running various forms + of verification on varcon.txt. + + - Reordered the clusters in varcon.txt so that they are + mostly in alphabetic order based on the headword. + +From Revision 4.1 to Revision 5.0 (December 27, 2010) + + - Completely new format for the main table which, in addition to + providing the preferred spelling of a word for various forms of + English, also records variant and other information. To reflect + this change, the name of the file was renamed from abbc.tab to + varcon.txt. + + - Massive effort to verify the variant information against + authoritative sources (mainly Oxford dictionaries). Most entries + for common words (SCOWL level 35 and below) have been checked + against at least a British and Canadian dictionary. + + - Added variant information for numerous other words, even when + there is no difference between the various forms on English. + + - Other changes corresponding to the new format. + From Revision 4 to Revision 4.1 (August 10, 2004) - - Fixed various errors ib abbc.tab + - Fixed various errors in abbc.tab - Removed clause 4 from the Ispell copyright with permission of Geoff Kuenning. @@ -156,7 +339,7 @@ From Revision 1 to Revision 2 (January 27, 2001) COPYRIGHT: -Copyright 2000-2004 by Kevin Atkinson +Copyright 2000-2010 by Kevin Atkinson Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute and sell this array, the associated software, and its documentation for any purpose is hereby