kantord/angloform/lexicon-definitions

Writing Angloform lexicon definitions

A definition is not a sentence. It is a fragment, checked by its own grammar entry point — parse_definition in crates/grammar/src/lib.rs, on the def-grammar-entry-points branch (worktree /home/kantord/repos/minglish-def-grammar — not yet merged to main; that is where the code below actually lives right now). Full round-by-round history and rationale for every rule here: docs/lexicon-authoring-format-2026-09-07.md.

Shape, by category

The genus NP may carry one optional adjective (a human group) and one optional of <bare plural or NP> (a group of people). Every shape may carry one optional and/or/but tail joining a second predicate/verb phrase to the same genus or headword (a thing, which builds a thing or removes a thing) — binary only, never a third.

Structural bans, already enforced, don't fight them: no trailing period; the headword itself cannot appear in its own definition; a domain-model term (Name, Seed, …) cannot appear in any definition.

The process

1. Draft using the most general noun/verb that stays true — reach for

a thing / a person / a result / a group of people before an invented or narrower noun. A definition that is only true of one project-specific use of the word is wrong, even if it parses.

1. Confirm every content word is real before using it:

grep -iP '^word\t' lexicon.tsv. Never assume a word exists or guess its tag — the tag decides which branch of the grammar it can fill.

1. Test it — add a case to

crates/grammar/tests/definition_grammar.rs and run cargo test -p grammar --test definition_grammar, or call parse_definition directly. A definition that "should" parse and hasn't been run is not a finished definition.

1. **On rejection, read the parser error to localize the failing

production**, then diagnose which of three things happened, in this order: wrong word choice (fix and retest) → missing vocabulary (grep for a real synonym before giving up) → a genuine grammar gap (check the list below first; if it's not there, name the gap plainly in the design doc rather than forcing an awkward workaround).

1. Check for an accidental collision with another word's definition

before accepting it — a duplicate is only acceptable when the language truly has no expressible differentia (delete/remove, documented as a known gap); otherwise a real differentia exists and is worth finding (create vs. produce → make a **new** thing).

1. Run `cargo test --workspace` before calling a grammar change to

support a definition done — a fix for one word must never regress the rest of Angloform.

Confirmed grammar gaps — checked, not guessed

Each of these was hit and verified directly against the grammar during this format's design; don't spend time re-discovering them:

• No infinitival to V anywhere in Angloform (to make a thing doesn't

parse; merge parts into a thing does).

• No NP-level "or" at a subject/genus position (a person or thing doesn't

parse). Predicate-level "or"/"and"/"but" is available, binary only (see Shape above) — reach for a disjunction of two concrete verbs instead of one missing abstract one.

• The copula (be/become) is only ever inflected, bound to subject

agreement — usable inside a NounDef's differentia (a thing, which is wrong) but never as a VerbIntransDef's own head (be in the world doesn't parse).

• No bare singular/mass noun without a determiner (holds data doesn't

parse — data needs "the"). Bare plural is fine (holds items does).

• of is the only preposition a genus noun can carry directly

(a group of people). with and every other preposition exist only attached to a verb, never to a noun (a group of people with a goal doesn't parse).

• Relative clauses are subject-gapped only — the genus must be the subject

of what follows "which"/"who", never its object (a thing, which a person uses doesn't parse; flip it — a thing, which helps a person).

• No embedded wh-clauses — "how" isn't an Angloform word at all.
• No indefinite pronouns (something, nothing, another) — use a thing,

a specific bare plural, or an ordinal (a second copy) instead.

• No negation on a subjectless verb phrase (`does not exist without a

thing doesn't parse — negation always needs a person-agreeing do auxiliary, which conflicts with a definition's subjectless form). Find a real positive verb instead (need a thing, not does not exist without a thing`).

• No nominalized gerund — an -ing form is a participle only, never usable

as a noun (the result of failing doesn't parse).