A Web-based Interactive Etymological Dictionary of Lepontic

This project combines two separate aims: a. to design a web-based interactive frame-work programme to host etymological dictionaries and lexicons of Indo-European and other languages; b. to write an etymological dictionary of the Lepontic language entitled `Lexicon Leponticum (LexLep)`. Lepontic is an ancient Celtic language (spoken in northern Italy and southern Switzerland between the 6th-1st centuries BC) that is known from inscriptions. No etymological dictionary for it exists. The dictionary will put Lepontic into a perspective with its Celtic sister languages, as well as with Indo-European and with neighbouring non-Indo-European languages. The project will apply the most up-to-date methods in Indo-European and Celtic linguistics (laryngeal theory, latest theories of derivational morphology) to Lepontic. The technologically innovative and revolutionary aspect of this project, however, will be to publish the etymological dictionary not in the traditional way as a printed book, but to build a web-based interactive etymological dictionary. The basis for it will be the freeware programme MediaWiki. It is the aim to experiment with such a system and test it for further use with large-corpus languages. The biggest advantage of such a lexicon over traditional printed books is its openness and that there is no limitation in space. It will be open in several domains, in regard to a) extent, b) content and c) contributors: The lexicon can always be augmented to if new material should appear (as in the case of Lepontic) and entries can be corrected if progress should be made in scholarship. The subject matter of the lexicon can easily be expanded, e.g. by editions of texts, by grammatical sections, by cultural information of a general nature, etc. All kinds of information can be linked to internal and external sources, thereby achieving an added, multidimensional value. Ideally every interested and competent person can participate in the work, but for practical reasons strict guidelines will apply as to who may contribute. The entries can be marked up with hypertext-tags, thereby supplying additional information. It is free of charge for all users and thus follows guidelines for open-access policy.

This project combines two separate aims: 1. to design a web-based interactive frame-work programme to host etymological dictionaries and lexicons of Indo-European and other languages; 2. to write an etymological dictionary of the Lepontic language entitled "Lexicon Leponticum (LexLep)". Lepontic is an ancient Celtic language (spoken in northern Italy and southern Switzerland between the 6th -1st centuries BC) that is known from inscriptions. No etymological dictionary for it exists. The dictionary will put Lepontic into a perspective with its Celtic sister languages, as well as with Indo-European and with neighbouring non-Indo-European languages. The project will apply the most up-to-date methods in Indo-European and Celtic linguistics (laryngeal theory, latest theories of derivational morphology) to Lepontic. The technologically innovative and revolutionary aspect of this project, however, will be to publish the etymological dictionary not in the traditional way as a printed book, but to build a web-based interactive etymological dictionary. The basis for it will be the freeware programme MediaWiki. It is the aim to experiment with such a system and test it for further use with large-corpus languages. The biggest advantage of such a lexicon over traditional printed books is its openness and that there is no limitation in space. It will be open in several domains, in regard to a) extent, b) content and c) contributors: The lexicon can always be augmented to if new material should appear (as in the case of Lepontic) and entries can be corrected if progress should be made in scholarship. The subject matter of the lexicon can easily be expanded, e.g. by editions of texts, by grammatical sections, by cultural information of a general nature, etc. All kinds of information can be linked to internal and external sources, thereby achieving an added, multidimensional value. Ideally every interested and competent person can participate in the work, but for practical reasons strict guidelines will apply as to who may contribute. The entries can be marked up with hypertext-tags, thereby supplying additional information. It is free of charge for all users and thus follows guidelines for open-access policy.