Global Basic Lexicon (GloBasLex)
Links to the project
The Global Basic Lexicon (GloBasLex) project collects and documents basic vocabularies of the world’s languages on the basis of published dictionaries. Its aim is to build an openly accessible database of parallel word lists for 1,000 basic concepts, covering nearly all sufficiently documented languages worldwide. With around 1,500 languages from all continents, GloBasLex will constitute the most comprehensive resource of its kind.
The lexical entries are provided in standardized phonetic transcription (IPA) and enriched with information on morphological structure. All data are published in simple, machine-readable formats. This creates a reliable foundation for comparative research in lexical, morphological and phonological typology, as well as for data-driven historical linguistics.
Symbolic illustration of different languages and their writing systemsGlobal Basic Lexicon (GloBasLex)
Host Academy
Heidelberg Academy of Sciences and Humanities
Location and federal state
Tübingen, Baden-Württemberg
Type
Dictionaries
Historical and Foreign Language Dictionaries
Project number
I.B.23
A central focus lies on achieving broad and balanced representation across the world’s language families and regions, including smaller families and isolates, for which comparable digital resources have so far been scarce.
GloBasLex brings together lexical data on an unprecedented scale and makes it available in a consistent and interoperable form. The resulting resource enables systematic cross-linguistic comparison and opens up new empirical perspectives on language diversity and language change. It will support a wide range of linguistic and interdisciplinary research—from lexical semantics and phonology to cognitive science and the study of human cultural and population history.
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