| Wilhelm Vocabulary | |
| ================== | |
| ![GitHub last commit badge][GitHub last commit] | |
| ![GitHub workflow status badge][GitHub workflow status] | |
| [![Apache License Badge]](https://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0) | |
| Data Format | |
| ----------- | |
| The data that serves [wilhelmlang.com](https://wilhelmlang.com/). They are written in YAML format, because | |
| 1. it is machine-readable so that it can be consumed quickly in data pipelines | |
| 2. it is human-readable and, thus, easy to modify | |
| 3. it supports multi-lines value which is very handy for data of natural languages | |
| How Data (Vocabulary) is Stored in a Graph Database | |
| --------------------------------------------------- | |
| ### Data Model | |
| Graph data representation assumes universal connectivity among world entities. This applies pretty well to the realm of | |
| languages. Multilanguate learners have already seen that Indo-European languages are similar in many different ways. | |
| What's missing is connecting the dots using Graph Databases. | |
| __Language represented as a graph reveals lots of interesting information__. To accomplish such representation, each | |
| word (`term`) is presented in the following way | |
| ### Definition | |
| _The meaning of a word is called the `definition`__ | |
|  | |
| [German](./german.yaml) | |
| ----------------------- | |
| ### YAML Schema | |
| ```yaml | |
| vocabulary: | |
| - term: string | |
| definition: list | |
| declension/conjugation: application-specific table | |
| ``` | |
| - The `conjugation` is the inflection paradigm for a German verb and `declension` the inflection for nouns and | |
| adjectives. Only one of the two is present for a term. | |
| - The type of the word can be inferred using the following rule | |
| - `term` with a _definite article_ of __der__/__die__/__das__ signifies a __noun__. For instance | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: die Wissenschaft | |
| definition: the Science | |
| ``` | |
| - Those with `conjugation` field denotes a __verb__; its definition also begins with an _indefinite form_, i.e. | |
| "to ..." | |
| - The rests are explicitly stated in the `definition` field. For example, | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: ob | |
| definition: | |
| - (conj.) if | |
| - (conj.) whether | |
| ``` | |
| means "ob" is a **conjunction** in this case and | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: denn | |
| definition: | |
| - (adv.) then, thus | |
| - (conj.) because | |
| ``` | |
| tells that "denn" can be __adverb__ or __conjunction__ | |
| > [!TIP] | |
| > | |
| > The parenthesized value at the beginning of each `definition` item played an un-ignorable role: it is the label of the | |
| > relationship between `term` and `definition` in graph database loaded by | |
| > [Wilhelm SDK](https://github.com/QubitPi/wilhelm-graphdb-python). For example, both German words | |
| > | |
| > ```yaml | |
| > - term: denn | |
| > definition: | |
| > - (adv.) then, thus | |
| > - (conj.) because | |
| > ``` | |
| > | |
| > and | |
| > | |
| > ```yaml | |
| > - term: nämlich | |
| > definition: | |
| > - (adj.) same | |
| > - (adv.) namely | |
| > - (adv.) because | |
| > ``` | |
| > | |
| > can mean "because" acting as different types. This is visualized as follows: | |
| > | |
| >  | |
| > | |
| > __Visualzing synonyms this way presents a big advantage to human brain__ who is exceedingly good at memorizing | |
| > patterns | |
| ### German Noun Declension | |
| The declension table employees an [application-specific YAML](https://stackoverflow.com/q/30894438/14312712) that looks like the following: | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: ein | |
| definition: (article) a, an | |
| declension: | |
| - ["", masculine, feminine, neuter, plural] | |
| - [nominative, ein, eine, ein, N/A ] | |
| - [genitive, eines, einer, eines, N/A ] | |
| - [dative, einem, einer, einem, N/A ] | |
| - [accusative, einen, eine, ein, N/A ] | |
| ``` | |
| The declension table above is equivalent to | |
| | | masculine | feminine | neuter | plural | | |
| |:--------------:|:---------:|:--------:|:------:|:------:| | |
| | __nominative__ | ein | eine | ein | N/A | | |
| | __genitive__ | eines | einer | eines | N/A | | |
| | __dative__ | einem | einer | einem | N/A | | |
| | __accusative__ | einen | eine | ein | N/A | | |
| > [!NOTE] | |
| > | |
| > - A list under `declension` is a table row | |
| > - All rows have the same number of columns | |
| > - Each element of the list corresponds to a table cell | |
| > [!TIP] | |
| > | |
| > __The declension tables for all nouns are sourced from | |
| > [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/ein#Declension_2)__ | |
| ### German (Attributive) Adjective Declension | |
| > [!TIP] | |
| > | |
| > - Predicate adjectives (e.g. kalt in mir ist kalt "I am _cold_") are undeclined | |
| > - An adjective can both be predicative (a _brave_ boy) or attributive (The boy is _brave_). Only attributive | |
| > adjectives are declined. | |
| There are 3 types of declensions for German adjectives | |
| 1. [strong declension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension#Strong_inflection), | |
| 2. [week declension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension#Weak_inflection), and | |
| 3. [mixed declension](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_declension#Mixed_inflection) | |
| Each type bears a separate declension table. __To master German adjectives, we will need to memorize all of the three__. | |
| There is also [adjective comparison](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_adjectives#Adjective_comparison) which throws | |
| in potentially 6 more tables. But the | |
| [rules for comparative and superlative forms are quite universal](https://www.reddit.com/r/German/comments/i5mfrq/how_do_you_remember_adjective_declension/) | |
| so we __ignore the two and focus only on the positive form__, which is the basic form of the adjective. | |
| Here is an example of the adjective declension used in this repository: | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: unterschiedlich | |
| definition: (adj.) different | |
| declension: | |
| - strong declension (without article): | |
| - ["", singular, singular, singular, plural ] | |
| - ["", masculine, feminine, neuter, "" ] | |
| - [nominative, unterschiedlicher, unterschiedliche, unterschiedliches, unterschiedliche ] | |
| - [genitive, unterschiedlichen, unterschiedlicher, unterschiedlichen, unterschiedlicher] | |
| - [dative, unterschiedlichem, unterschiedlicher, unterschiedlichem, unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [accusative, unterschiedlichen, unterschiedliche, unterschiedliches, unterschiedliche ] | |
| - weak declension (with definite article): | |
| - ["", singular, singular, singular, plural ] | |
| - ["", masculine, feminine, neuter, "" ] | |
| - [nominative, der unterschiedliche, die unterschiedliche, das unterschiedliche, die unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [genitive, des unterschiedlichen, der unterschiedlichen, des unterschiedlichen, der unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [dative, dem unterschiedlichen, der unterschiedlichen, dem unterschiedlichen, den unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [accusative, den unterschiedlichen, die unterschiedliche, das unterschiedliche, die unterschiedlichen] | |
| - mixed declension (with indefinite article): | |
| - ["", singular, singular, singular, plural ] | |
| - ["", masculine, feminine, neuter, "" ] | |
| - [nominative, ein unterschiedlicher, eine unterschiedliche, ein unterschiedliches, (keine) unterschiedlichen ] | |
| - [genitive, eines unterschiedlichen, einer unterschiedlichen, eines unterschiedlichen, (keiner) unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [dative, einem unterschiedlichen, einer unterschiedlichen, einem unterschiedlichen, (keinen) unterschiedlichen] | |
| - [accusative, einen unterschiedlichen, eine unterschiedliche, ein unterschiedliches, (keine) unterschiedlichen ] | |
| ``` | |
| > [!TIP] | |
| > | |
| > __The declension tables for all adjectives are sourced from | |
| > [Wiktionary](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/unterschiedlich#Declension)__ | |
| ### German Verb Conjugation | |
| There are __3__ persons, __2__ numbers, and __4__ moods (indicative, conditional, imperative and subjunctive) to | |
| consider in conjugation. There are __6__ tenses in German: the present and past are conjugated, and there are four | |
| compound tenses. There are two categories of verbs in German: | |
| [weak and strong](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_strong_verb)[^1]. In addition, | |
| [strong verbs are grouped into 7 "classes"](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Germanic_strong_verb#Strong_verb_classes) | |
| [^1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_verbs#Conjugation | |
| The conjugation table of German verb on Wiktionary is hard to interpret for German beginner. It does, however, presents | |
| a very good Philology reference. For example, it tells us which of the 7 "classes" a strong verb belongs to. __We, | |
| therefore, leave the Wiktionary links to the conjugation table of that verb for data processing in the future__, for | |
| example, | |
| ```yaml | |
| - term: aufwachsen | |
| definition: to grow up | |
| conjugation: https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/aufwachsen#Conjugation | |
| ``` | |
| and advise user to employ a much more practical method to learn daily conjugation as follows. We take "__aufwachsen__" | |
| as an example. | |
| > [!IMPORTANT] | |
| > I'm not advertising for any organizations. I'm simply sharing good resources. | |
| [Netzverb Dictionary](https://www.verbformen.com/) is the best German dictionary _targeting the vocabulary inflections_. | |
| [Search for "aufwachsen"](https://www.verbformen.com/?w=aufwachsen) and we will see much more intuitive conjugation | |
| tables listed. | |
| This pretty much serves our needs, but what makes Netzverb unpenetrable by other alternatives is that _every_ verb comes | |
| with | |
| 1. [A printable version that looks much better than the browser's Control+P export](https://www.verbformen.com/conjugation/aufwachsen.pdf) | |
| - There is also a "Sentences with German verb aufwachsen" section with a | |
| [link](https://www.verbformen.com/conjugation/examples/aufwachsen.htm) that offer a fruitful number of conjugated | |
| examples getting us familiar with the inflections of the verb | |
| 2. [An on-the-fly generated flashcard sheet](https://www.verbformen.com/conjugation/worksheets-exercises/lernkarten/aufwachsen.pdf) | |
| which allows us to make a better usage of our random free time | |
| 3. [A YouTube video that offers audios of almost every conjugated form](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCtUrSn030A), | |
| which helps with pronunciations a lot | |
| > [!TIP] | |
| > - __It is, thus, strongly recommended to study the conjugation through | |
| > [Netzverb Dictionary](https://www.verbformen.com/) separately__ | |
| > - Netzverb Dictionary, however, lacks a programmable API. Wiktionary [has a good one](https://dumps.wikimedia.org/) | |
| > instead. This is why we left the conjugation link to Wiktionary for now and it will definitely serve us well as I'm | |
| > trying to make it happen | |
| Classical Hebrew (Coming Soon) | |
| ------------------------------ | |
| The vocabulary is presented to help read and understand [Biblical Hebrew](https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/pt00.htm#mp3). A | |
| [complementary audio](https://mechon-mamre.org/p/pt/ptmp3prq.htm) helps well with the pronunciation. | |
| [Ancient Greek](./greek.yaml) | |
| ----------------------------- | |
| ```yaml | |
| vocabulary: | |
| - term: string | |
| definition: list | |
| ``` | |
| [Wiktionary is the best source for Attic pronunciation](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%B1%E1%BD%90%CF%84%CF%8C%CF%82#Pronunciation), | |
| although [some words are missing the audio](https://en.wiktionary.org/wiki/%CE%BA%CE%B1%CE%AF#Pronunciation). Due to the | |
| scarcity of the audio resources among AG lerners, [a separate project](https://github.com/QubitPi/ancient-greek-reader) | |
| has been initiated to expand the audio practice materials by AI | |
| [Latin](./latin.yaml) | |
| --------------------- | |
| ```yaml | |
| vocabulary: | |
| - term: string | |
| definition: list | |
| ``` | |
| [Korean](./korean.yaml) | |
| ----------------------- | |
| 中国人学习韩语有先天优势，加之韩语本身也是一门相当简单的语言，所以这里将语法和词汇合并在一起； | |
| 每一项也只由 `term`（韩）和 `definition`（中）组成， | |
| ```yaml | |
| vocabulary: | |
| - term: string | |
| definition: list | |
| ``` | |
| 不用费太多功夫记牢简单的语法和词汇，剩下的就是拿韩语字幕剧不停练习听说读写既成。 | |
| > [!NOTE] | |
| > | |
| > 韩语不属于汉藏语系，因其所属语系非常狭小，无法和其它语言产生足够关联，因此其数据暂时不被存入图数据库进行数据分析 | |
| License | |
| ------- | |
| The use and distribution terms for [wilhelm-vocabulary]() are covered by the [Apache License, Version 2.0]. | |
| [Apache License Badge]: https://img.shields.io/badge/Apache%202.0-F25910.svg?style=for-the-badge&logo=Apache&logoColor=white | |
| [Apache License, Version 2.0]: http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0.html | |
| [GitHub last commit]: https://img.shields.io/github/last-commit/QubitPi/wilhelm-vocabulary/master?logo=github&style=for-the-badge | |
| [GitHub workflow status]: https://img.shields.io/github/actions/workflow/status/QubitPi/wilhelm-vocabulary/ci-cd.yaml?branch=master&logo=github&style=for-the-badge | |