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Whitaker's WORDS JSONisator

The main purpose of this Python script is the conversion of each dictionary and inflection entry into an appropriate JSON representation.

WORDS

The late col. William Whitaker created a large dictionary of the Latin language, which contains about 39500 entries gathered from various sources. He also made a very useful program to aid in dictionary search.

Motivation

Whitaker wrote this program a long while ago, unaware of the technologies that we - for the better or the worse - deal with today. Thus, the original program has lots of room for improvement and modernisation, and as of this moment there are several independent projects doing exactly that. I have resolved to undertake one such project myself.

Therefore, I have found organising the data my first priority. The original version read the lines from the plaintext source files (DICTLINE.txt and INFLECTS.txt), processed them and finally saved them in a binary format for easy reading/writing from/to the disk.

Back then, when computers used to have major memory limitations, this was perfectly reasonable. Nowadays, there is no reason not to store all this data in a widely used and supported data format like JSON. This makes it easier to build a new, modern, more powerful implementation of WORDS; easily integrated in modern languages and technologies.

Structure

Each dictionary entry and each inflection represents a single JSON entry and each one of them has certain attributes which depend on the entry/inflection in question.

Below is a series of table documenting all entries with explanations for each attribute.

Common attributes

Common dictionary attributes

But first, there is a series of attributes which are the same for all dictionary entries. In the tables below, I shall omit them, but you should assume that all entries have them:

Attribute Description
pos Type of word
stems List of all stems the word has*
age Approximate time of word's origin
geography Approximate location word's usage
area Area of study the word pertains to
frequency How often the word appears in texts
source Dictionary the word was taken from
senses Word definitions and meanings

* Depending on word type, the number of stems ranges anywhere from 1 to 4. In the tables below, each table entry will have a detailed explanation.

Common inflection attributes

The same goes for attributes in the inflection entries:

Attribute Description
pos Type of word the inflection is applied to
stem Stem the ending should be applied to
characters How many characters the ending has
ending Ending itself
age Approximate time of inflection's origin
frequency How often the inflection appears in texts

Dictionary entries

Nouns

Attribute Description
stems(1) Nominative stem
stems(2) Genitive stem*
declension Noun declension
declension_variant Specific type of noun declension
gender Grammatical gender of the noun
noun_kind What the noun refers to

* May be empty for some (rare) nouns, such as abbreviations

Example entry:

    {
        "stems": ["abac", "abac"],
        "pos": "N",
        "declension": "2",
        "declension_variant": "1",
        "gender": "M",
        "noun_kind": "T",
        "age": "E",
        "area": "E",
        "geography": "X",
        "frequency": "C",
        "source": "E",
        "senses": "small table for cruets, credence, buffet;"
    }

Pronouns

Attribute Description
stems(1) Nominative stem
stems(2) Genitive stem*
declension Noun declension
declension_variant Specific type of noun declension
gender Grammatical gender of the noun
pronoun_kind Specific type of pronoun

* May be empty for some pronouns

Example entry:

{
        "stems": ["qu", "NO_STEM"],
        "pos": "PRON",
        "declension": "1",
        "declension_variant": "3",
        "pronoun_kind": "ADJECT",
        "age": "X",
        "area": "X",
        "geography": "X",
        "frequency": "A",
        "source": "O",
        "senses": "any; anyone/anything, any such; (after si sin/sive/ne);"
}

Verbs

Attribute Description
stems(1) First principal part minus -o*
stems(2) Second principal part (minus infinitive ending)
stems(3) Third principal part (minus -i)
stems(4) Fourth principal part (minus -us/um)
conjugation Verb conjugation
conjugation_variant Specific type of conjugation
verb_kind Type of action the verb represents

* May be the only stem in (rare) Biblical/Aramaic verbs

Example entry:

{
    "stems": ["put", "put", "putav", "putat"],
    "pos": "V",
    "conjugation": "1",
    "conjugation_variant": "1",
    "verb_kind": "TRANS",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "X",
    "senses": "think, believe, suppose, hold; reckon, estimate, value; clear up, settle;"
}

Adjectives

Attribute Description
stems(1) Nominative stem
stems(2) Genitive stem
stems(3) Comparative stem*
stems(4) Superlative stem*
declension Adjective declension
declension_variant Specific type of adjective declension
gender Grammatical gender of the noun
comparison Comparison this adjective is in

* Some adjectives are incomparable and therefore have no 3rd and 4th stems

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["bon", "bon", "meli", "opti"],
    "pos": "ADJ",
    "declension": "1",
    "declension_variant": "1",
    "comparison": "X",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "O",
    "senses": "good, honest, brave, noble, kind, pleasant, right, useful; valid; healthy;"
}

Adverbs

Attribute Description
stems(1) Positive stem
stems(2) Comparative stem*
stems(3) Superlative stem*
declension Adjective declension
declension_variant Specific type of adjective declension
gender Grammatical gender of the noun
comparison Comparison this adverb is in

* Adverbs that are derived from adjectives are comparable and have all three stems. Other adverbs are incomparable and have only the 1st stem.

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["bene", "melius", "optime"],
    "pos": "ADV",
    "comparison": "X",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "O",
    "senses": "well, very, quite, rightly, agreeably, cheaply, in good style; better; best;"
}

Prepositions

Attribute Description
stems(1) Preposition
case Case it determines

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["ad"],
    "pos": "PREP",
    "case": "ACC",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "O",
    "senses": "to, up to, towards; near, at; until, on, by; almost; according to; about w/NUM;"
}

Interjections

Attribute Description
stems(1) Interjection

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["vae"],
    "pos": "INTERJ",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "B",
    "source": "X",
    "senses": "alas, woe, ah; oh dear; (Vae, puto deus fio. - Vespasian); Bah!, Curses!;"
}

Numbers

Attribute Description
stems(1) Cardinal number stem*
stems(2) Ordinal number stem
stems(3) Distributive stem
stems(4) Numerical adverb stem
declension Numeral declension
declension_variant Specific type of numeral declension
numeral_sort Specific type of number
numeral_value Value the number holds (an integer)

* Depending on the number, some may have all stems while others will lack some.

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["undeviginti", "undevicesim", "undevicen", "undevic"],
    "pos": "NUM",
    "declension": "2",
    "declension_variant": "0",
    "numeral_sort": "X",
    "numeral_value": "19",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "D",
    "source": "X",
    "senses": "nineteen;"
}

Conjunction

Attribute Description
stems(1) Conjunction

Example form:

{
    "stems": ["ubi"],
    "pos": "CONJ",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "X",
    "senses": "where, whereby;"
}

Packons

(Artificial constructs used for the dictionary software. More specifically, they are used to represent all the -qu-/-cu- pronouns.)

Attribute Description
stems(1) -qu packon
stems(2) -cu packon*
declension Declension inflections required
declension_variant Variant of the inflections
packon_kind Which pronoun type it pertains to

* Some packons have no -cu stem.

{
    "stems": ["qu", "cu"],
    "pos": "PACK",
    "declension": "1",
    "declension_variant": "0",
    "packon_kind": "REL",
    "age": "X",
    "area": "X",
    "geography": "X",
    "frequency": "A",
    "source": "X",
    "senses": "(w/-cumque) who/whatever, no matter who/what, in any time/way, however small;"
}

Inflections

Nouns

Attribute Description
declension Noun declension the ending is applied to
declension_variant Specific declension variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents
gender Gender the ending represents

Example form:

{
    "pos": "N",
    "declension": "2",
    "declension_variant": "1",
    "case": "GEN",
    "number": "S",
    "gender": "X",
    "stem": "2",
    "characters": "1",
    "ending": "i",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

would correspond to the -i ending of the 2nd declension.

Pronouns

Attribute Description
declension Pronoun declension the ending is applied to
declension_variant Specific declension variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents
gender Gender the ending represents 
{
    "pos": "PRON",
    "declension": "4",
    "declension_variant": "2",
    "case": "NOM",
    "number": "P",
    "gender": "N",
    "stem": "2",
    "characters": "1",
    "ending": "a",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Verbs

Attribute Description
conjugation Conjugation the ending is applied to
conjugation_variant Conjugation variant for the ending
tense Tense the ending represents
voice Voice the ending represents
mood Mood the ending represents
person Person the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents

Example form:

{
    "pos": "V",
    "conjugation": "1",
    "conjugation_variant": "1",
    "tense": "PRES",
    "voice": "ACTIVE",
    "mood": "IND",
    "person": "1",
    "number": "S",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "1",
    "ending": "o",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Verb participles

Attribute Description
conjugation Conjugation the ending is applied to
conjugation_variant Conjugation variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
tense Tense the ending represents
voice Voice the ending represents
mood Mood the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents

Example form:

{
    "pos": "VPAR",
    "conjugation": "1",
    "conjugation_variant": "0",
    "case": "NOM",
    "number": "S",
    "gender": "X",
    "tense": "PRES",
    "voice": "ACTIVE",
    "mood": "PPL",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "PPL",
    "ending": "1",
    "age": "3",
    "frequency": "ans"
    }

Adjectives

Attribute Description
declension Adjective declension the ending is applied to
declension_variant Specific declension variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents
gender Gender the ending represents
comparison Adjective comparison the ending represents

Example form:

{
        "pos": "ADJ",
        "declension": "1",
        "declension_variant": "1",
        "case": "NOM",
        "number": "S",
        "gender": "M",
        "comparison": "POS",
        "stem": "1",
        "characters": "2",
        "ending": "us",
        "age": "X",
        "frequency": "A"
}

Numbers

Attribute Description
declension Number declension the ending is applied to
declension_variant Specific declension variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents
gender Gender the ending represents
numeral_sort Sort of the number this ending is applied to

Example form:

{
    "pos": "NUM",
    "declension": "1",
    "declension_variant": "1",
    "case": "NOM",
    "number": "S",
    "gender": "M",
    "numeral_sort": "CARD",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "2",
    "ending": "us",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Supines

Attribute Description
conjugation Conjugation the ending is applied to
conjugation_variant Conjugation variant for the ending
case Case the ending represents
gender Gender the ending represents
number Number (singular/plural) the ending represents

Example form:

{
    "pos": "SUPINE",
    "conjugation": "0",
    "conjugation_variant": "0",
    "case": "ACC",
    "number": "S",
    "gender": "N",
    "stem": "4",
    "characters": "2",
    "ending": "um",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Adverbs

Attribute Description
comparison Adverb comparison the ending represents

Example form:

{
    "pos": "ADV",
    "comparison": "COMP",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "0",
    "ending": "NO_ENDING",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

* Adverbs, prepositions, conjunctions and interjections are not inflected. Thus they all have NO_ENDING and barely any additional attributes.

Prepositions

Attributes Description
case Case the prepositions determines

Example form:

{
    "pos": "PREP",
    "case": "ACC",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "0",
    "ending": "NO_ENDING",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Interjections

Attributes Description
N/A N/A

Example form:

{
    "pos": "INTERJ",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "0",
    "ending": "NO_ENDING",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

Conjunctions

Attributes Description
N/A N/A

Example form:

{
    "pos": "CONJ",
    "stem": "1",
    "characters": "0",
    "ending": "NO_ENDING",
    "age": "X",
    "frequency": "A"
}

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Whitaker's WORDS, now in JSON

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