Use this domain for words indicating that something exists.

Many languages have general words that indicate some kind of change of state. These general words may be used with a wide variety of specific meanings. For instance in English the word 'become' may be used to a change in identity, a change in characteristic, a change in nature, and many other ideas.

Many languages have several general words that are used to indicate a variety of relationships between two things. There are three such words in English:
"have," "of," and the possessive suffix "-'s." The basic meaning of these words in English is 'to own', but they can mean many other things too. For instance they can mean that I am related to someone (I have a brother), something has a part (birds have wings), and many other ideas. There is also a set of pronouns in English that are like nouns ending in -'s (my/mine, your/yours, his, her/hers, its, our/ours, their/theirs, whose). Use this domain for these general words.

Attributes often belong to a class of attributes (shape = straight, curved) or to a scale (length = long, short). The class or scale can sometimes be included in the expression, but does not mark the proposition itself. (The towel <feels> damp. The box <weighs> five kilos.)

Use this domain for non-volitional pro-verbs.

Use this domain for words referring to reacting or responding to something.

Use this domain for words referring to creating something--causing something to be that did not exist before.

Use this domain for words referring to designing something--to decide and plan how something new will look and work.

Use this domain for words referring to making something--joining things together to create something to be that did not exist before.

Use this domain for words referring to someone changing something.

Use this domain for words that indicate event propositions. Event propositions are similar in that they are normally expressed by a subject and a verb, possibly including an object, indirect object, or complement clause. However there are multiple ways in which a language can express an event, such as a passive construction, noun phrase, or subordinate clause. In addition each event type is different in its primary cases, and in the ways those cases are marked. Each event type has subtypes, such as intransitive, transitive, and bitransitive verbs. A great deal of research is needed in order to identify all the variations. Ultimately every verb must be investigated to determine how it behaves in each syntactic construction and how its case relations are marked. No two verbs are entirely alike.

Use this domain for words describing something that is physical--that you can touch and see, and for words describing something that is non-physical--that you cannot touch or see.

Use this domain for words referring to a situation--a particular time and place, and the things that are true about it.

Use this domain for pronouns that refer back to the subject of the sentence. These pronouns should be added to the chart of personal pronouns.

Use this domain for pronouns that do not refer to a definite person or thing, but can refer to anyone or anything. Some languages will not have all the sets of pronouns described below. Add each set you find in your language to the pronoun chart.

Use this domain for pronouns used in relative clauses.

Use this domain for pronouns used in questions.

Use this domain for demonstrative pronouns.

Use this domain for words that indicate that someone does something himself, rather than through someone else.

Use this domain to list all phrase level conjunctions--conjunctions that join two words within a phrase.

Use this domain to list all clause level conjunctions--conjunctions that join two clauses.

Use this domain to list all sentence level conjunctions--conjunctions that join two sentences.

Use this domain to list all classifiers.

Use this domain to list all verb affixes.

Use this domain to list all noun affixes.

Use this domain to list all derivational affixes. A derivational affix is joined to a root and changes it into a different word. Derivational affixes often change the root into a different part of speech. Adding a derivational affix usually changes the meaning of the root in a significant way.

Use this domain for words referring to a large degree.

Use this domain for words referring to a small degree.

Use this domain for words referring to a larger degree.

Use this domain for words referring to a smaller degree.

Use this domain for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate tense (also known as temporal deixis)--the time of a situation (event, activity, or state) in relation to a reference point, which is usually the time of utterance. The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Use this section for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate aspects of dynamic verbs. Aspects describe the temporal contours of a situation. They may be combined with any of the tenses, either in the same morpheme or in combinations of morphemes. The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Use this section for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate aspects of stative verbs. Aspects describe the temporal contours of a situation. They may be combined with any of the tenses, either in the same morpheme or in combinations of morphemes. The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Use this section for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate relational tenses. Relational tenses describe situations where the reference time is not the same as the moment of speech. They may be combined with any of the tenses, either in the same morpheme or in combinations of morphemes. The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Use this domain for words indicating that someone can do something.

Use this domain for words related to being incapable of doing something.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he thinks something must happen.

Use this section for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate imperatives. The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press. Use this domain for words and affixes that a speaker uses to indicate that he is making a command. English has no command word. Some languages change the form of the verb by adding an affix. Some languages have special verbs that are only or normally used as commands. Those verbs could be classified here.

Use this domain for ways of saying that someone should do something. If I say someone should do something, I think it is good that he does it.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he is asking a question. English has no question word, but other languages such as Japanese do.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he thinks something is certainly true or is certain to happen.

Use this domain for words related to being sure that something is true.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he thinks something is probable or likely to occur.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he thinks something is possible. Maybe implies that the speaker doesn't know something.

Use this domain for words that indicate that no one is certain that something is true, or when it is impossible to be certain that something is true.

Use this domain for words related to not feeling sure about something or someone.

Use this domain for words indicating that although something is true, it almost is not true.

Use this domain for words indicating that you think something is unlikely to be true or to happen.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses to indicate that he thinks something is impossible.

Use this domain for words indicating who is evaluating the proposition.

Use this domain for words that negate or deny the truth of something, or that answer a yes/no question in the negative.

Use this domain for words indicating that an affirmative answer is expected to a question.

Use this domain for words indicating that a negative answer is expected to a question.

Use this domain for words that mark the beneficiary of an event. The sentence "John built a house for his father" is ambiguous. If the house was for his father to live in, then "for" would mark the 'Beneficiary of a patient', meaning that the house was for the father. If, on the other hand, the father was intending to build the house to sell, but couldn't due to an injury, then "for" would mark the 'Beneficiary of an event', meaning the father benefited from the building of the house.

Use this domain for words that mark an instrument used to do something.

Use this domain for words indicating the means by which something is done.

Use this domain for words indicating the way or manner in which something is done.

Use this domain for words indicating the attendant circumstances in which something happened.

Use this domain for words indicating the spatial location of an event.

Use this domain for words indicating when two or more people each do the same thing and do it together, or when they do it separately.

Use this domain for words indicating a person who accompanied the subject of a proposition.

Use this domain for words indicating a person who does something with another person who is the subject of the sentence.

Use this domain for words indicating that two or more people do something to each other.

Use this domain for words indicating that the subjects of a clause do something in groups.

Use this domain for words that mark the beneficiary of the Patient of an activity. The Patient is often expressed as the object of a sentence. In the sentence
"John built a house for his parents," the house is the Patient. It is the house that benefits the parents, not the building of the house.

Use this domain for words that mark the recipient of the Patient of an activity. The Patient is usually expressed as the object of a sentence.

Use this domain for words that mark a second Patient that accompanies the primary Patient of an activity. In this type of sentence there are actually two Patients, but one of them has more prominence than the other. The primary patient is usually expressed as the object of the sentence. The second Patient may be marked by an oblique case or preposition/postposition. For instance it may be conceived as accompanying the first Patient.

Use this domain for words that indicate that you are adding another thought to a previous thought. Words in this domain may indicate a variety of relationships between words, phrases, clauses, or sentences. For instance the words may join two clauses that are the same except that the subjects are different, or the objects are different, or the verbs are different.

Use this domain for words indicating an alternative relation between two things or propositions.

Use this domain for words indicating an association between two things.

Use this domain for words indicating a combinative relation between two things.

Use this domain for words indicating a contrast between two thoughts that are different in some way.

Use this domain for words indicating a dissociation relation between two things or propositions.

Use this domain for words indicating that an event is distributed throughout a group, area, or time span.

Use this domain for words indicating equivalence between two things or propositions.

Use this domain for words indicating that something derives from another thing.

Use this domain for words indicating the topic that is being talked about.

Use this domain for words indicating relations involving correspondences--a situation in which one thing is the same or similar in some respect to something else.

Use this domain for words indicating that something is the basis for another thing.

Use this domain for words that indicate that someone or something is the cause for an event or state, that one event is the cause for another event or state, or that an event or state is reasonable (having sufficient cause). For instance in the sentence, "John caused David to fall," "John caused" is an enabling proposition that brings about the primary proposition "David fell."

Use this domain for words indicating that something is the result of another thing.

Use this domain for words indicating that something was done for the purpose of another thing happening.

Use this section for verbal auxiliaries, affixes, adverbs, and particles that indicate a clause in a conditional sentence (If this is true, then that is true). The following definitions are taken from Bybee, Joan, Revere Perkins, and William Pagliuca. 1994. The evolution of grammar. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press.

Use this domain for words indicating that the speaker is conceding a point in a debate.

Use this domain for conjunctions that simply move the discourse forward without any specific relationship indicated between what comes before and what comes after.

Use this domain for words that indicate that the phrase or sentence is particularly important.

Use this domain for words that are used to get someone's attention or direct the listener's attention to something. These may use a verb meaning 'look' or 'listen'. Some may be a word specifically referring to attention. Others may be a greeting. Others may be words that refer to non-verbal communication such as clearing your throat.

Use this domain for words that the speaker uses to refer to the person he is addressing. These words are usually used when you start talking to someone, but can be used during a speech or conversation to refer to the person you are talking to.

Use this domain for words that begin a clause that identifies a specific case or example of what has just been said, or that explains what has just been said. Specific case: I have just mentioned a general class of things or a general idea and want to give a specific example of what I am talking about. Explanation: I have just said something and I think people might misunderstand, so I want to explain what I mean. Digression: I am talking about a particular topic, but want to say something that does not fit into my topic, so I say something that is about a different topic.

Use this domain for words indicating that one of several things is in focus.

Use this domain for words that a speaker uses when he hesitates or pauses while he is speaking in order to think about what he is saying.

Use this domain for words that the speaker uses to show respect or a lack of respect to the person he is addressing. Some languages have elaborate systems of honorifics. Other languages have none. Languages with a stratified social structure often use honorifics. Egalitarian societies generally lack them, but some egalitarian societies may use them. For instance in Nahuatl there are four levels of honorifics. Level 1 is how one addresses intimates, small children, and pets. Level 2 is for strangers and persons treated formally. Level 3 is for respected persons, the dead, and God. Level 4 is for obsequious respect, as for the archbishop in an interview with a priest, and for ritual kin. (Jane H. Hill and Kenneth C. Hill. 1978. Honorific usage in modern Nahuatl: the expression of social distance and respect in the Nahuatl of the Malinche Volcano area, Language 54:123-155.) In Japanese, which has a stratified social structure, a person uses one set of words and affixes when speaking to someone below you in the social hierarchy, such as your wife, children, and pets. A different set of words is used when speaking to peers. Another set is used when speaking to a superior. A fourth set is used when speaking to the emperor. English used to have two pronouns for second person singular. 'Thou' was used for equals and inferiors, and 'you' was used for superiors. Your language may have special honorific words used as (1) pronouns, (2) affixes, (3) particles, (4) terms of direct address, (5) greetings (6) requests, (7) apologies.

Use this domain for those names that are given to people, that people use to call to each other and to talk about each other.

Use this domain for the proper names of the families that exist within the language community. If your culture does not use family names, just leave this domain empty.

Use this domain for the proper names of the clans that exist within the language community. The distinction between family, clan, tribe, and nation is based on politics and emotion. Our purpose here is not to make political statements, but merely to list the names. There may be no distinction between family and clan, in which case ignore this domain and use the domain 'Family names'.

Use this domain for the proper names of the tribes that exist around the language community, including the name of your own tribe. These tribal names may or may not correspond with the names of countries.

Use this domain for the proper names of the languages that are spoken in the area around the language community, including the name of your own language. These language names may or may not correspond with the names of countries. Do not try to include every language name in the world, only the neighboring and important ones. For instance you might want to include the languages that border your own and the national language. Give the form that you use. For instance the German people call their language 'Deutsch', but in English we call it 'German'.

Use this domain for common nicknames--an additional name given to a person later in life, often descriptive. Also include general names used to call or refer to someone when you don't know their name

Use this domain for terms of endearment--a name used by lovers or spouses to express love or intimacy. Some languages may have special names used by close friends.

Use this domain for the proper names of the countries that exist around the language community, especially those countries where your language is spoken. Include the name of your own country. Do not list every country in the world, unless your language has developed special names or pronunciations for those countries. Include any country that you refer to in your language, especially those names whose pronunciation you have adapted to fit your language. Give the form of the name that you use, rather than the official spelling. For instance the Japanese refer to their country as 'Nihon', but in English will call it 'Japan'. So
'Japan' is an English word and should go into an English dictionary. But 'Nihon' is not an English word and should not go in the dictionary.

Use this domain for the proper names of the regions within your country or language area. Some of these may be political regions. Others may be informal terms. Give the local pronunciation, rather than some foreign spelling. You may want to limit this domain to just those areas within your language area. However if you have special names for areas outside of your language area, for example 'the Mideast', you should include them.

Use this domain for the proper names of cities, towns, and villages in the language area. Include the names of important cities outside of the language area if your language has a special name for the city or a different pronunciation for it. It might be good to use a map for this. In fact it is good to include a map of the language area in a published dictionary. If your language area is very large, there may be hundreds or thousands of cities, towns, and villages. In this case you will have to decide which should be included in the dictionary. Or you could decided to list them in a special section.

Use this domain for the proper names of highways, roads, streets, and trails in the language area. If there are many such names, only include the important names (e.g. King's Highway) or commonly used names (e.g. Main Street).

Use this domain for the proper names of the heavenly bodies.

Use this domain for the proper names of the continents. Only include the names of continents if your language has borrowed or adapted the name and you talk about them in your language.

Use this domain for the proper names of the mountains in the language area. Only include the names of mountains outside the language area if your language has borrowed or adapted the name and you talk about them in your language.

Use this domain for the proper names of the oceans and lakes in the language area. Only include the names of oceans and lakes outside the language area if your language has borrowed or adapted the name and you talk about them in your language.

Use this domain for the proper names of the rivers in the language area. Only include the names of rivers outside the language area if your language has borrowed or adapted the name and you talk about them in your language.

Use this domain for words referring to the name of an animal. Some cultures give names to domesticated animals or to animals in stories. Think through each kind of domesticated animal.

Use this domain for words referring to the name of a building.