Download - VISL

In the VISL system, individual words are classified according to a small set of
WORD CLASSES. Each language chooses from the same “cafeteria” of word
classes (the VISL system for English, for example, uses 11 of these classes).
Each word class is assigned a unique color, most of which fall into either a
blue/green or a red/orange spectrum.
4.2.4.1 The blue/green spectrum (for noun-related word classes)
This group of colors is meant to suggest stability. It is “object-oriented”. The
prototypical member is the noun, but the group also includes those classes
which are typically associated with nouns:
o
o
o
o
o
n = noun (dark blue), e.g. table, courage, milk, leaves, Berlin,
Microsoft
pron = pronoun (light blue), e.g. him, my, yours, it, some, many,
all, each
adj = adjective (dark green), e.g. lovely, old, fierce, remarkable,
alone, medical
num = numeral (light green), e.g. three, forty-two, second, fifth,
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art = article (olive green), e.g. a, an, the
4.2.4.2. The red/orange spectrum (for verb-related word classes)
This group of colors is meant to suggest action and movement. It is “processoriented”.
The prototypical member is the verb, but the group also includes
those classes which are typically associated with verbs:
o
o
o
4.2.4.3. Other colors
v = verb (red), e.g. run, opened, fell, watching, driven, shall,
must, have, be, is, were, -‘ll, -‘ve, -‘re (as in, respectively, I’ll,
they’ve, we’re)
adv = adverb (yellow), e.g. often, regularly, up, out, clockwise,
already, not, -n’t (as in isn’t)
infm = infinitive marker (orange), to (as in to go)
The three members of this “group” have nothing in common, other than that
they do not belong to either of the preceding two groups.
o
o
o
intj = interjection (flesh colored), e.g. ow, ouch, oops, wow, yes,
no, OK
conj = conjunction (grey), e.g. and, or, but, (n)either, (n)or, that,
if, because, whether
prp = preposition (brown), e.g. in, on, between, over, up, out,
through, beside, near
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John M. Dienhart