How do you format your dictionaries/grammars?

[Snyexarosha]

I currently have my lexicon situated in a massive Excel spreadsheet, and am still slowly adding words to it as I go. However, I would like to ultimately produce a traditional-looking dictionary for the language. I've started formatting my grammar in LaTeX (I use Overleaf), and I'm wondering if I could do the same for a dictionary. How do you guys go about making these things? I'd love to be pointed to a template, or to hear if you use some other program too (anything that could output a dictionary from a spreadsheet in particular!).

[Khemehekis]

I currently have my lexicon situated in a massive Excel spreadsheet, and am still slowly adding words to it as I go. However, I would like to ultimately produce a traditional-looking dictionary for the language. I've started formatting my grammar in LaTeX (I use Overleaf), and I'm wondering if I could do the same for a dictionary. How do you guys go about making these things? I'd love to be pointed to a template, or to hear if you use some other program too (anything that could output a dictionary from a spreadsheet in particular!).

You said a "massive" Excel spreadsheet. Do you have a huge lexicon (as in, over 10,000 words)?

I'm keeping the lexicon of Kankonian in a Quattro Pro X9 spreadsheet. When I'm finished with it all, though, I'm going to type all the words (Eng-Kan and Kan-Eng) into dictionary pages in .HTM format in Notepad, one page for each letter of the alphabet in each language. I have over 99,300 words though, so it'll be a real chore -- almost as much work as creating all those words!

[Visions1]

I used a chart in Pages once. I did it wrong, so it became murder.
Excel really is good, but I have no idea how to work it. Google Docs is the best I've had.

I normally format like this:
[Pxwtzkl] [/pxudezkil/] [translation] [notes]

[Arayaz]

I can’t stand Google Docs for dictionaries. Google Sheets is always my go-to.

[Snyexarosha]

You said a "massive" Excel spreadsheet. Do you have a huge lexicon (as in, over 10,000 words)?

More like massive because the file actually contains three sheets, one for each era of the language. It's how I keep track of phonological changes---so every step of evolution of a word is recorded there.

I'm keeping the lexicon of Kankonian in a Quattro Pro X9 spreadsheet. When I'm finished with it all, though, I'm going to type all the words (Eng-Kan and Kan-Eng) into dictionary pages in .HTM format in Notepad, one page for each letter of the alphabet in each language. I have over 99,300 words though, so it'll be a real chore -- almost as much work as creating all those words!

This sounds horrifying hahaha... I'm hoping I might figure out how to automate some of this, since it's pretty systematically laid out.

[Creyeditor]

I currently have my lexicon situated in a massive Excel spreadsheet, and am still slowly adding words to it as I go. However, I would like to ultimately produce a traditional-looking dictionary for the language. I've started formatting my grammar in LaTeX (I use Overleaf), and I'm wondering if I could do the same for a dictionary. How do you guys go about making these things? I'd love to be pointed to a template, or to hear if you use some other program too (anything that could output a dictionary from a spreadsheet in particular!).

I use LaTeX with a new command that automatically formats each entry. I think I have ortography /phonemic/ part of speech translations.

Edit: And I have a workflow from Excel Sheets to LaTeX and back.

[lurker]

I am currently in the process of normalizing the spreadsheet containing the Commonthroat lexicon in preparation for migrating it to a database. Which one I'm not sure yet, but most likely MS Access for now, but I'll likely transfer it to something else once support for Win 10 dies next year.

Right now I have a single Excel file with several sheets. One sheet contains every valid monosyllable in the language. Each monosyllable has an ID number as well as a field for its Romanization and fields for its onset, timing, tone, strength, phonation, and coda.

Another sheet contains each morpheme along with its definition, part of speech, whether it's a bound or free morpheme, etc. I have a formula in the monosyllables sheet that keeps track of how many morphemes use that particular syllable.

I want to create tables for valid disyllables etc. as well.

[lsd]

with a language with semantic primes,
the lexicon is composed on the fly...

like a true natural language,
the cerebral lexicon is the only one that counts...

in other words, there's no storage,
just memorized operating modes,
that are regularly used or forgotten...

[WeepingElf]

Relevant.

I keep my conlangs in simple, hand-coded HTML files, i.e. just pretty-printed text. The simplest and IMHO the best solution.

[TBPO]

I keep my conlangs either in Google Sheets or on paper. Google Sheets are easier to format, but paper is accessible even if you haven't access to phone or computer.

[prettydragoon]

The lexicon of Rireinutire lives in an Excel file. One sheet is sorted by the Rireinutire word, and that is the mother sheet where I first add each new word or gloss. When I have enough new words, I copy them to another sheet which is sorted by the Human English gloss. Often, there is no one-to-one correspondence between Rireinutire and Human English words, which means there are more lines in the second sheet; almost twice as many, as a matter of fact.

Under the spoiler you can see what that looks like at this point in time.

In both screenshots, the first line is the same:
toki n. 1. state, condition;

Spoiler:

Fig. 1. Rireinutire to Human. Column A contains Rireinutire orthography wherein each character is represented by a two-digit code, to be converted to actual Rireinutire script Real Soon Now. Column B contains each of the glosses from Column E that will get its own line in the second sheet.


Fig. 2. Human to Rireinutire. Column A from previous sheet is omitted, making its Column B the new Column A. Column A now contains only one gloss on each line and the whole table is sorted alphabetically by Column A.

[Snyexarosha]

Relevant.

Man, I could not disagree more with this blogger. I can't help but feel like they have never used Excel? My dictionary is on a spreadsheet right now, and I can describe in full detail all the semantic complexities of each entries perfectly well. The only difference is that I can also encode every piece of data in a much more legible, manipulable way, I can encode more data, and I can easily run everything through a program at any time. Just because the default size for a cell is quite small, doesn't mean you are restricted in any way in what you write in it.

[Dormouse559]

I used spreadsheets (Apple Numbers) to record my vocabulary for Faux Phrygian, and I find I rather enjoy it. One of the most helpful parts is using cell formulas to reference other entries. For example, in the entry for ákelos “finger”, I note that it has a synonym, angoússas, by referencing the latter’s entry. Should I ever change how I spell angoússas, the reference in the ákelos entry will automatically update. I also like being able to filter based on things I add columns for, like declension type and gender.

I do feel that aesthetic pull toward keeping glosses short, but I try to counter that in a few ways. I review how my inspiration languages divvy up the semantic space, I sometimes make the “definition” field wider so it can fit more characters in one line, and I have a “notes” field for extra info. The other downside is that references to other cells can be fragile; if I sort the entries according to a feature (as opposed to filtering), that can break links, so I eventually need to reverse the sort.

[All4Ɇn]

For Ởnh·Vú I just use a really long google doc that’s gotten so big it won’t open on my phone anymore and with the words randomly assorted as they were added. I should someday make something more systematic but the more words I add the harder it gets to organize

[Arayaz]

For Ởnh·Vú I just use a really long google doc that’s gotten so big it won’t open on my phone anymore and with the words randomly assorted as they were added. I should someday make something more systematic but the more words I add the harder it gets to organize

I've fallen into that trap before, and can advise you: organize now. It may not be fun, but it won't be any more fun later.

[All4Ɇn]

]I've fallen into that trap before, and can advise you: organize now. It may not be fun, but it won't be any more fun later.

I'll start looking into how Chinese dictionaries work. Part of why I haven't done it yet is I'm not even sure how to organize a dictionary of hanzi. It'll be a lot of work but you're totally right. The sooner the better

[Snyexarosha]

One of the most helpful parts is using cell formulas to reference other entries. For example, in the entry for ákelos “finger”, I note that it has a synonym, angoússas, by referencing the latter’s entry. Should I ever change how I spell angoússas, the reference in the ákelos entry will automatically update.

WHAT I never thought about doing that! That's super useful...

In other news, I found some nice templates on Overleaf templates and am going to try this one out.

[Kesshin]

I usually use google docs for Daas, but that cell reference point is a really great idea, so iḿ starting a new conlang using Sheets.