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Structure of the Indexing Language

Suitability for the LEMoN Armoury * Type of Indexing Language and
Pre-coordinate Headings vs. Post Co-ordinate Retrievial
Forms of Terms
Relationship Structures
Precision / Recall * Specificity * Exhaustivity * Weight of Aboutness vs. Meaning

*Forms of Terms
6.3 – Single-word vs. multiword terms
[6.3.1] Both single-word and multiword terms are used in the LAT, according to the standard. For example, we kept “wheel pommel” as a compound term because in this context, “wheel” refers to a type of pommel and not a separate object [7.5].

6.4 – Grammatical forms of terms
[6.4.1.1.] In accordance with the standard, we have used verbal nouns instead of infinitive verbs, e.g. “forging” rather than “forge” and “quenching” rather than “quench”.
[6.4.1.2.1] Premodified noun phrases have been applied where required, e.g. “false edge” and “true edge.”
[6.4.2.1] Occasionally, single adjectives have been used in a “nominal” way. For example, “one-handed” and “hand-and-a-half” are terms that may be used as adjectives to the word “sword,” though they refer specifically to sword wielding styles.  E.g., "This sword is a hand-and-a-half." This construction supports post-coordinate retrieval.

6.5 – Nouns
[6.5.1] Count nouns have been expressed in plural form unless a term qualifies as an exception (see next), e.g., “weapons,” “broadswords,” “long swords,” and “quillons.”
[6.5.1.1] We encountered some exceptions to the plural form of count nouns.  Much as in the example of biomedicine, where parts of the body are expressed in singular form, some parts of the sword are given in the singular:

• “true edge,” “point” – Defined as indivisibly part of a larger whole, and not something that can be produced on its own
• “counter-weight,” “OL,” “weight,” “centre of balance,”  – Defined as properties, not objects, and therefore kept in singular form [6.5.3.1]
• “forte” - Describes an area of the blade (i.e., the strongest part) but does not refer to a physical, detachable component or part

6.6 – Selecting the Preferred Form
[6.6.2] Spelling of most terms has been based on user/organizational warrant: since the organization is located in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canadian spellings are employed.  In cases where regional variants apply to terms, we have used Canadian spelling even where it may be less common in literary sources (e.g., “centre” or “armoury”).
[6.6.3.2] When confronted with abbreviations, initialisms, and acronyms, we have followed the standard’s advice on preference for full form; we believe that the full form of a term is the form most likely to appear in item descriptions in our database and product descriptions.
[6.6.6.1] We have used loanwords where they have been widely accepted in the domain as commonly used terms, e.g., “ricasso,” “forte,” “quatrefoils,” “quillons,” and “ferrules.”  These are direct loan words, not translated into English.
[6.6.6.3] Foreign-language equivalents were included not as preferred terms, but as lead-in or entry terms. For instance, “Claidheamh da laimh,” the Gaelic word for “Claymore,” was included as a UF term.

6.7 – Capitalization and Non-alphabetic Characters 
[6.7.1] Following the ANSI/NISO guidelines for capitalization in a thesaurus, we use lower case for common nouns.  Capitalization is used for proper nouns, e.g., “Highland,” “Lowland,” and “Scottish.”  It is also used according to literary warrant where proper nouns may not be so obvious, e.g., “Claymores.”
[6.7.2.2] Hyphens have been retained in found terms only if their removal would lead to ambiguity.  For example, we did not use a hyphen in “cross guard” but we did use one in “rat-tail tang.”  In the case of “rat-tail tang,” we cannot separate “rat” and “tail” without increasing confusion over which noun (“tail” or “tang”) is modified.  We have also used hyphens in adjective-noun phrases, e.g., “single-edged,” “double-edged,” and “two-handed.”