Importing multiple languages as different senses

[Aleix]

Is it possible to import a file with multiple languages and have each language being treated as a different sense?

I have a db file that has the lexeme form and the translation for that lexeme in multiple languages and I'd like to import it so that the multiple translations are imported as different senses for the corresponding lexeme.

For example, I have "apple" as the lexeme and have "maçã", "manzana", "appel", and "omena" as the translations. I'd like to import it to Flex so there's one entry for "apple" and 4 different senses, each with one of the translations.

The file itself is prepared with the lexeme and the translations in their own column (\lx, \language1, \language2, \language3, etc).

[Andreas_Joswig]

Hi Aleix,

I'm not sure there is a way that you can tweak the importer to do that for you. Frankly, I hope there is not, because if you use senses to separate languages, then this would be using the software in a way that it is not intended to work, and you would experience all kinds of unwanted consequences for that.

The way to present the meaning of the same lexeme in several languages is to use only the gloss and/or the definition field in different writing systems. If you have not done so yet, it is extremely important that you familiarize yourself with the concept of writing systems, as this is a crucial element of the architecture of your lexical database. As long as you are not working on a monolingual dictionary, you will have at least two different writing systems in your database - one for the vernacular language, and one for the analysis language. In the case that you describe, you'll want to add a few more analysis languages (I suspect they are Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch and one more I don't recognize). Each sense-related field (such as gloss and/or definition) will then come with extra lines for each different writing system, and you can easily put all information under the same sense.

The importer will allow you to link each of your /laguage-n fields to one of the writing systems of the gloss field.

I hope this import works out well for you! Best wishes,

Andreas

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Andreas Joswig, PhD

Senior Linguistics Consultant

Hambühren, Germany / Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

+49 1512 3581686 (Ger) or +251 910 497594 (Eth)

[Beth-docs Bryson]

Here is a playlist of videos showing the very basics of importing from an SFM file.  Note that this assumes that the file to be imported is incredibly straightforward, with very few fields, and completely consistent use of those fields.  (It doesn’t take much for an SFM file to get complex enough that it needs a lot of pre-processing before importing in order for its structure to be clear (whether to another linguist, or to a computer); these videos are not about that.)

https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLE0Ud4zAQz-2ZDh3ebKxCCR6dKZQpmrUu

The third video (“Import two Glosses”) is about importing into more than one Writing System, as Andreas was describing.

Here is a list of several playlists of videos about FLEx, over and above the ones listed on the FLEx download site.

https://sites.google.com/sil.org/dls-course/videos

-Beth

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[Kevin Warfel]

Dear Aleix,

 

Just a few thoughts for you to consider:

 

Without knowing the details of what you are wanting in the way of formatting, it would be bold to claim with certainty that you can achieve your desired results via writing systems. However, I can say with great confidence that there is much more that is possible than at first meets the eye, when it comes to formatting entries in FLEx (which presumably is reflected in the dictionary app). A different color for each language is one basic option that is possible; I can’t think of how that would be achieved without using different writing systems. (Of course, it is possible to have multiple writing systems in the project and use only one of them in each sense, and perhaps that’s what you are envisioning.)

 

If you do use different senses to separate data based on language, how will you handle words that have multiple senses (in the true lexicographical sense)? Will you have a way to distinguish Sense 1/Language 1, S1/L2, S1/L3 from Sense 2/Language 1, S2/L2, S2/L3? Or will you separate the two senses into distinct entries in order to make them clear?

 

Best wishes,

 

Kevin Warfel

Associate Dictionary & Lexicography Services Coordinator

Rapid Word Collection workshop consultant

 

From: flex...@googlegroups.com <flex...@googlegroups.com> On Behalf Of Aleix
Sent: Saturday, February 25, 2023 6:29 PM
To: FLEx list <flex...@googlegroups.com>
Subject: Re: [FLEx] Importing multiple languages as different senses

 

While I'm aware that the intented way to use Flex with multiple languages is to use multiple writing systems, I want to use multiple senses instead for better formatting in the resulting dictionary app.

I'll see if I can tweak the app's formatting when using multiple writing systems.

 

Thank you.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/abf905dd-811d-4b5e-b555-bd3d3adc02dfn%40googlegroups.com.

[Feda Negesse]

Hi folks,

Any help with import list (from excel) of words to Lexique Pro ?

Sent from my iPhone

On 1 Mar 2023, at 8:01 PM, Kevin Warfel <kevin_...@sil.org> wrote:



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[Claire Bowern]

It sounds like a different tool might be more appropriate. Tshwanedje.com Tshwanelex's "term dictionary" supports multiple languages. It's a different data model from FLEx.

Claire

On Tue, Feb 28, 2023 at 5:32 PM Aleix <gmsu...@gmail.com> wrote:

While I'm aware that the intented way to use Flex with multiple languages is to use multiple writing systems, I want to use multiple senses instead for better formatting in the resulting dictionary app.

I'll see if I can tweak the app's formatting when using multiple writing systems.

Thank you.

On Sunday, February 26, 2023 at 7:38:31 AM UTC+9 Beth-docs Bryson wrote:

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/flex-list/abf905dd-811d-4b5e-b555-bd3d3adc02dfn%40googlegroups.com.

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Claire Bowern

Professor, Director of Undergraduate Studies

Editor: Diachronica

Department of Linguistics, Yale University