Manual

Linking Lexical Items

One of the key features of Personal Lexicon is the ability to link lexical items that have relationships. There are 5 types of links that a lexical item may have:

  1. Root links show that a lexical item has other items as roots
  2. Synonym links show that a lexical item is the synonym of another item
  3. Antonym links show that a lexical item is the antonym of another item
  4. Phonetically similar links show that two lexical items sound the same or almost the same
  5. Related links show a lexical item has some other meaningful relationship to another item

When editing a lexical item, you may add a link by typing the linked item's text into the corresponding text field. If the relevant text field isn't visible then you'll first need to click the appropriate add button. For example, if you want to add a synonym to a lexical item then click the Add Synonym button. Next, start typing the synonym's text into the synonym field. If the text is recognized then Personal Lexicon will make one or more suggestions for you. Simply select the lexical item you're looking for and the link will be established.

Note that synonym links are bidirectional, meaning that the lexical item you're linking to will also have its synonym list updated. In other words, the item you're editing will be added to the synonym list of the linked item. Antonym and phonetically similar links work the same way. This is in contrast to root and related item links, which are unidirectional. Adding a unidirectional link does not change the linked item.

You may be asking yourself, "What happens if the linked item isn't already in my lexicon? Can I type in a synonym that isn't recognized?" Yes, that's perfectly fine. Once you are finished typing the text, just hit Enter and you'll create an undefined link. Undefined links show up in yellow so they can quickly be identified. Later, if you want create a lexicon entry for the undefined link then simply right-click on its text while viewing the lexical item that contains it (not in edit mode). Select the create new item option from the popup menu and the program will go into edit mode with the appropriate fields already filled in.

Translate »
Scroll to Top