Re: Modifiable Electronic Thesauri

[Robert Holmgren holmgren@xxxxxxxx]

> from time to time I would like to be able to add words to the thesaurus,
> either as primary words (e.g., the ones being searched on) or as
> synonyms. I like the Xywrite thesaurus and would like to continue using
> it, but I want to be able to expand it.

I like the wonderful, literate Roget International Thesaurus (1911), which
is in the public domain. It was converted into an Etext by Project
Gutenberg in 1991 (http://www.promo.net/pg/). It is organized like a
familiar hardcover thesaurus, with words grouped by broad concept. You
make many more serendipitous discoveries with this organization than with
the modern electronic wordlist style. You can browse freely and
profitably.

There are two versions, one with a lot of modern jargon added by an idiot;
you want the other, original version. I have a hand-edited copy, carefully
formatted for searching by an intelligent XyWrite front-end engine, which
strips prefixes and suffixes one-by-one
--
be,bi,com,con,dis,di,equi,ex,hyper,im,in,inter,lexi,macro,micro,multi,non,
out,over,pseudo,quad,semi,sub,super,supra,ther,trans,un
able,ary,ate,cal,dent,ere,ful,ial,ic,ient,ty,ity,ility,ing,ion,ional,al,io
us,ive,ize,less,ly,ment,ness,ogy,ope,opic,ure,ed,er,ers,ies,es,s;
--
and does a nifty job of finding root words and matches. Nothing prohibits
the user from adding to/editing the copy (although I have not altered
content in any way, beyond removing a few offensive "[obs.]" labels from
perfectly serviceable words).

Anyone who wants it can have both the wordlist and the front-end -- contact
me...


-----------
Robert Holmgren
holmgren@xxxxxxxx
-----------