GENERAL: definition guidelines

[solpahi]

Use this thread to discuss definition styles, guidelines, suggestions, etc.

For example, some people have suggested to remove slashes from definitions. What do you think the optimal definition looks like?

[uakci]

I think that removing slashes is a good idea; let's keep the definition to having one keyword in it, but put all the synonyms in the keyword listing of each definition, and add some clues somewhere else, so for example:

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cusku

Definition:

x1 expresses x2 to intended audience x3 via medium x4.

Keywords:

say, express, communicate
x1: sayer [...]
x2: [...]

Semantic and pragmatic information:

x1 agent
x2 focus; se du'u / quote

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All those files could be easily parsed and used for some evil artificial intelligence or research or whatever.

[solpahi]

I think uakci's suggestion is going in the right direction.

I definitely agree that keywords should be listed separately and can be used to find the gismu without clogging up the definition. Sometimes it will be hard to find the one English expression that most adequately captures the gismu meaning, but we should try. (for example, deciding whether to go with "x1 expresses" or "x1 says")

[solpahi]

I think there should be a note in the preface of the dictionary that clearly states that the meanings of the gismu are not determined by the meaning of the English words in their definition, but that they have a definition of their own, and that the English is just an attempt to convey as clearly and as simply as possible the meaning of the gismu. By stating this we avoid having to worry for each gismu that we're making it look like it is just based on English meanings. Grasping the full meaning (or at least most of it) requires reading not only the definition, but also the notes and the examples and the additional keywords.