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TshwaneLex is a professional commercial software application suite for the compilation of dictionaries ('dictionary writing system') or terminology lists. It contains many specialized features that allow any organisation producing dictionaries to dramatically reduce dictionary compilation time, increase the quality and consistency of their dictionaries, and manage larger projects with larger teams. These features include an integrated Corpus Query System, immediate article preview, full customisability, styles system, automatic cross-reference tracking, automated lemma reversal, online and electronic dictionary modules, export to MS Word and typesetting systems (such as InDesign and XPP), and teamwork (network / multi-user) support.

TshwaneLex supports Unicode throughout, allowing it to handle virtually all of the world's languages (over 6000 languages supported), and is based on the industry-standard XML format. TshwaneLex is, of course, also well-suited to smaller dictionary projects too.

TshwaneLex Overview (PDF)

Please read the detailed overview for more information.

TshwaneLex is currently being used by over 300 users worldwide. TshwaneLex and TshwaneTerm support every major world language, and literally thousands of other languages, thanks to extensive Unicode, right-to-left, IME "soft-keyboard" support and more.

The number of languages that we are aware of that TshwaneLex is currently being used for exceeds 150, and includes Afrikaans, Albanian, Alor Malay, Arabic, Acehnese, Bai, Balinese, Basque, Belarusian, Breton, Buginese, Bulgarian, Catalan, Chinese, Cilubà, Croatian, Czech, Danish, Dutch, East Javanese, English, Estonian, Finnish, French, Gaelic, German, Gimán, Haitian, Hmong, Iban, Icelandic, Indonesian, Inezeño Chumash, Irish, isiNdebele, isiXhosa, isiZulu, Italian, Jakarta Malay, Japanese, Javanese, Javindo, Kinyarwanda, Kiswahili, Korean, Kupang Malay, Ladino, Latin, Lingála, Low German, Macedonian, Madurese, Makassarian, Malay, Menadonesian, Minangkabau, Moluccan, Muna, Norwegian, Old English, Papiamento, Pashto, Petjoh, Picard, Polish, Polynesian, Portuguese, Romanian, Rotinese, Russian, Sahu, Sasak, Scots, Sesotho, Sesotho sa Leboa, Setswana, Singhalese, siSwati, Slovenian, Spanish, Sranantongo, Sundanese, Surinamese Javanese, Swedish, Tamil, Terik, Ternate Malay, Tshivenda, Ukrainian, Virgin Islands Creole English, Walloon, Welsh, and Xitsonga.

• Dictionary publishing houses
• Individual dictionary compilers
• Dictionary development teams
• Terminology managers and practitioners
• Government and other organisations compiling dictionaries or terminology lists
• Organisations with a need to produce, manage and distribute terminology internally (e.g. publish on intranet)
• For the production of:
  • Monolingual, bilingual or multilingual dictionaries (paper, electronic, online/intranet)
  • Multilingual terminology lists
  • Other explanatory dictionaries (e.g. economic terms, mining terms etc.)
  • Large historical dictionaries
  • Many other kinds of reference works, e.g. thesauri

Using dedicated dictionary compilation software rather than general-purpose tools such as word processors or generic XML tools provides significant benefits in terms of both dictionary development time and output quality for both individual lexicographers as well as lexicographic (or terminology compilation) teams:

• Reduced project completion time, thanks to (amongst others) various levels of automation, such as automatic numbering, lemma reversal, cross-reference tracking/updating and error checking
• Increased consistency in the treatment of articles, thanks to features such as the article filter
• Leads to more consistent and balanced treatment of both languages in a bilingual dictionary
• Improved teamwork and team communication
• More easily scalable to larger team sizes

• Fast
• User-friendly: TshwaneLex and TshwaneTerm do not require advanced computer literacy skills - if you can use Microsoft Word, you will be able to learn TshwaneLex/TshwaneTerm
• Automatic sense numbering
• Automatic homonym numbering
• Automatic cross-reference tracking and updating of homonym and sense numbers
• Immediate WYSIWYG (what you see is what you get) article preview
• Immediate preview of cross-referenced articles and cross-referencing articles
• Integrated corpus
• Full Unicode support - supports virtually all of the world's languages
• Easily enter any phonetic symbol (IPA ; phonetic extensions)
• Fully customisable and highly flexible (create any fields and structures relevant to your dictionary)
• Network and multi-user (team) lexicography support (supports all major database servers, e.g. MS SQL Server, Oracle, PostgreSQL)
• Management Tools: Assign tasks to users and monitor user or team progress
• Export to:
      Microsoft Word format, RTF, HTML, XML, CSV
      Corel WordPerfect and OpenOffice (via RTF format)
      Adobe InDesign and QuarkXPress
• Import from:
      Wordlists
      CSV (may also import corpus frequency counts)
      XML or word frequency counts from corpus query software
      CUSTOM: contact us for a quote for conversion of existing data in any format
• Various features for generating 'multiple dictionaries from one database'
• Customisable styles (font, colour etc.) for every field in the dictionary
• Customisable language of the meta-language
• Bilingual dictionaries: Automated lemma reversal
• Bilingual dictionaries: Side-by-side bilingual editing and "linked view" mode
• Bilingual dictionaries: "Translation Equivalent fanouts"
• Multimedia: Allows sound (e.g. pronunciation) recordings to be linked to any field
• Multimedia: Allows images to be added to entries
• Fast full-dictionary text search
• Filter: define criteria for viewing/exporting a subset of the dictionary based on specific characteristics
• Dictionary compare/merge feature: Integrate work done by different team members
• A unique Ruler Tool to ensure balanced treatment on multiple levels
• Automatic checking for various dictionary errors
• Electronic Dictionary (CD-ROM) software module available
• Place dictionaries online. Examples:
      Online dictionary module:
      · Swahili - English dictionary
      · Northern Sotho - English dictionary
      Direct export to "static HTML":
      · James Randi Encyclopedia
• Scripting language
• Customisable DTD (dictionary grammar editor)

TshwaneLex Product Overview (PDF)	A concise introduction to, and overview of, TshwaneLex.
Detailed overview	A detailed overview of TshwaneLex.
Dictionaries	A partial list of dictionaries produced with TshwaneLex.

Publications:

Download: euralex2004-TL.pdf (334 KB) (*)

Joffe, D. & G-M de Schryver. 2004. TshwaneLex – A State-of-the-Art Dictionary Compilation Program. In Williams, G. & S. Vessier (eds.). 2004. Proceedings of the Eleventh EURALEX International Congress, EURALEX 2004, Lorient, France, July 6-10, 2004: 99–104. Lorient: Faculté des Lettres et des Sciences Humaines, Université de Bretagne Sud. This document offers a lexicographic perspective on TshwaneLex, and is taken from the proceedings of EURALEX 2004, where TshwaneLex was presented.

Download: nlp-TL.pdf (265 KB) (*)

Joffe, D., G-M de Schryver & D.J. Prinsloo. 2003. Computational features of the dictionary application "TshwaneLex". Southern African Linguistics and Applied Language Studies 21/4: 239–250. This document elaborates on technical aspects of TshwaneLex, and is taken from a special issue of SALALS on 'Human Language Technology in South Africa: Resources and Applications'.

(*) Use Adobe Reader to view PDF documents

For more publications, see the Publications page.