View source for Yezur Wiki:Ambiguous glosses

A working list of Dictionary entries whose English glosses do not distinguish
them. It is the counterpart to a ruling the operator made on 2026-08-21 over
''calf'' and ''bone'': where a language has two words and English has one, the
one-word gloss inherited from the [[#How the list was made|export]] hides the
distinction rather than recording it, and the entries read as free variants when
they are not.

Each row names the language, the competing lemmas, what their definitions
currently say, and a suggested split. '''The suggestions are suggestions'''
— the operator rules, and the ruling is what gets written.

== How the list was made ==

Every row of the '''Lexemes''' table was grouped by language, part of speech and
gloss; any group holding more than one lemma is a collision. Of 3,752 lexemes,
44 groups collided. Inflected-form pages, which carry no gloss, were excluded.

The collisions fall into three kinds, handled separately below: glosses where the
definitions already draw the distinction and only the gloss field was stale;
lemmas that genuinely need a ruling; and one case that is not an ambiguity at all
but a mistake in an etymology.

== Settled without a ruling ==

In these the entry already said the right thing and only the one-word
<code>gloss=</code> field — which is what the collision check reads — was stale.
Corrected 2026-08-21.

{| class="wikitable"
! Language !! Lemma !! Was !! Now !! Because
|-
| Besoh || {{l|YCQ-BE|o'}} || fingernail || claw || The definition already reads "claw, talon (of beasts) — the human nail is {{l|YCQ-BE|kio'}}".
|-
| Besoh || {{l|YCQ-BE|go}} || ten || whole, full || The numeral sense is already marked ''archaic'' on the entry; it has passed to {{l|YCQ-BE|göj}}.
|-
| Besoh || {{l|YCQ-BE|bë}} || right || right (hand) || ''bë'' is the right hand and strong side; ''mon'' is right as in correct.
|-
| Besoh || {{l|YCQ-BE|mon}} || right || right (correct) || As above.
|-
| Proto-North-Andusian || {{l|YCP-XA|gira}} || play || game || From Proto-Andusian {{m|YCP-XX|gida}} ("dance"), and glossed "contest, game" on the entry. The plain verb is {{l|YCP-XA|gidz}}.
|}

[[Dictionary:mum]] was also repaired in passing: its two Proto-South-Andusian
etymologies had their part-of-speech headings at the same level as the
etymologies, so neither nested under its own.

== Part one: ruled and applied ==

''The operator ruled every row on 2026-08-21 and the rulings are carried into the entries; the Notes column holds the ruling itself.''

=== Herta-Olaic: one etymon, two reflexes ===

Thirteen Gaillean lemmas descend in pairs from a single Proto-Herta-Olaic word
and reach Middle Airananwe still paired, with the same gloss on both. Two
reflexes of one etymon is a normal thing for a language to have — but the pair
almost always divides the sense-field between them, and here nothing records how.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Proto !! Gaillean !! Middle Airananwe !! Suggested split !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 1 || stone || {{m|YAP-XX|o:jig͡ɣ}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|oiat}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|oisie}} || {{l|YAR-AI|oyte}} / {{l|YAR-AI|oysye}} || Stone as a material against a stone as an object — the split already ruled for ''bone''. || '''applied''' ||oisie: piece of stone, oiat: material
|-
| 2 || sea || {{m|YAP-XX|kɸaɲɛx}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|piecia}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|qangha}} || {{l|YAR-AI|piecie}} / {{l|YAR-AI|qangyaa}} || The sea as an expanse against a named body of water; or inshore water against open water. || '''applied''' ||synonyms
|-
| 3 || child || {{m|YAP-XX|ᵐbilwə}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|mbila}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|theste}} || {{l|YAR-AI|mbile}} / {{l|YAR-AI|these}} || A young person against someone's offspring, of any age. || '''applied''' ||mbila: a child
theste: offspring
|-
| 4 || burn || {{m|YAP-XX|rkaʒtə}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|awarei}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|reghazhtei}} || {{l|YAR-AI|ooeree}} / {{l|YAR-AI|regyasytee}} || Intransitive (to be alight) against transitive (to set alight). || '''applied''' ||awarei: be on fire
reghazhtei: transitive
|-
| 5 || live || {{m|YAP-XX|ruo:ʃt}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|rocettei}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|videi}} || {{l|YAR-AI|rocetee}} / {{l|YAR-AI|vindestee}} || To be alive against to dwell, to reside somewhere. || '''applied''' ||rocettei: dwell
videi: be alive
|-
| 6 || they || {{m|YAP-XX|aɪʃxe}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|aecei}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|icei}} || {{l|YAR-AI|aycee}} / {{l|YAR-AI|ecee}} || Animate against inanimate; or, given the pair below, the same distinction the singular makes. || '''applied''' ||icei is female, aecei is male/generic.
|-
| 7 || he/she/it/etc || {{m|YAP-XX|xmɑtʲe:}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|athe}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|hima}} || — || As above. The gloss "he/she/it/etc" is itself worth replacing with whatever the ruling settles. || '''applied''' ||hima is female, athe is male/generic.
|-
| 8 || you || {{m|YAP-XX|ixaβ}} (pl.) / {{m|YAP-XX|nwijɔ}} (sg.) || {{l|YAQ-GA|ihav}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|nio}} || {{l|YAR-AI|hyaave}} / {{l|YAR-AI|nie}} || '''Already answered upstream:''' the proto distinguishes plural from singular and Ancient Hertic labels its pair {{l|YAQ-HE|ιαπα}} (plural) / {{l|YAQ-HE|νου}} (singular). Gaillean and Middle need the same labels. See the error below. || '''applied''' ||yes, clearly ihav and hyaave are plural, and nio/nie are singular.
|-
| 9 || in || {{m|YAP-XX|ho:tβ}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|hoth}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|ou}} || {{l|YAR-AI|hoth}} / {{l|YAR-AI|uue}} || Static location (in) against motion (into). || '''applied''' ||hoth: inside of, contained by
ou: more generically "at a location" -> in England.
|-
| 10 || at || {{m|YAP-XX|uztk}} || {{l|YAQ-GA|sou}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|uzh}} || — || Place against time; or a general locative against a precise one. || '''applied''' ||sou: time
uzh: place
|}

=== Herta-Olaic: unrelated pairs ===

These three have no common etymon, so they are simply two words the export gave
one gloss.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Gaillean !! Middle Airananwe !! Suggested split !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 11 || by || {{l|YAQ-GA|ith}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|taw}} || {{l|YAR-AI|ith}} / {{l|YAR-AI|itaa}} || Agent ("written '''by''' her") against proximity ("'''by''' the door"). English merges these; most languages do not. || '''applied''' ||taw: nearby / ith: action done by
|-
| 12 || for || {{l|YAQ-GA|bell}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|wiu}} || {{l|YAR-AI|bel}} / {{l|YAR-AI|iyu}} || Benefactive ("'''for''' you") against purpose or duration ("'''for''' three days"). || '''applied''' ||bell: purpose / iyu: benefactive
|-
| 13 || step-mother || {{l|YAQ-GA|siquiba}} / {{l|YAQ-GA|velna-hwith}} || {{l|YAR-AI|siqie}} / {{l|YAR-AI|velan-huith}} || ''velna-hwith'' is transparently a compound and ''siquiba'' is not, which usually means one is the plain word and the other formal, legal or distancing. || '''applied''' ||siquiba is a more colloquial term, also meaning "adoptive mother" or "caretaker" or effectively "baby-sitter". velan-huith is the formal term.
|}

=== Andusian ===

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Languages !! Lemmas !! Suggested split !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 14 || he, she, it || Proto-Andusian and all three branch protos, and Besoh || {{l|YCP-XX|dʰɛ}} / {{l|YCP-XX|o}}, and their reflexes || Two third-person pronouns run the length of the family with no distinction recorded anywhere. Proximal against distal, or animate against inanimate, would both be ordinary. Whatever is ruled propagates to eight entries. || '''applied''' ||dhe: female
o: male
|-
| 15 || hail || Proto-South-Andusian, Besoh || {{l|YCP-XB|mum}} / {{l|YCP-XB|rɔts}}, {{l|YCQ-BE|mium}} / {{l|YCQ-BE|roc}} || ''mum'' comes from {{m|YCP-XX|muᵐb}} ("snow"), ''rɔts'' from a word already meaning hail and ice. Soft hail or graupel against the hard hailstone would follow the etymologies. || '''applied''' ||synonyms
|}

=== Besoh: superseded senses left unmarked ===

Besoh repeatedly coined a new word to escape a homophone — and in one case,
{{l|YCQ-BE|go}} / {{l|YCQ-BE|göj}}, the older entry says so plainly: ''"archaic:
ten — the numeral sense has passed to göj."'' Four more pairs did the same thing
without leaving the note, so both lemmas still claim the sense.

One ruling covers all four: whether the older word keeps the sense alongside the
new one, or is marked superseded the way ''go'' is.

Human note: No, if there is a superseded form we don't keep the word on the old. This isn't divergent, it's just a differing path. If anything, we also don't list "lost final consonant restored" or "escaping homophones"; those are bordering on out-of-character comments.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Sense !! Older lemma !! Replacement !! What the replacement's etymology says !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 16 || sharp || {{l|YCQ-BE|he}} (etymology 3) || {{l|YCQ-BE|heĥ}} || "the lost final consonant restored archaically" || '''applied''' ||
|-
| 17 || stone || {{l|YCQ-BE|ho}} (etymology 2) || {{l|YCQ-BE|hoĥ}} || "the lost final consonant restored archaically" || '''applied''' ||
|-
| 18 || spear || {{l|YCQ-BE|gö}} (etymology 3) || {{l|YCQ-BE|gön}} || "extended with ''-n'' to escape its homophones" || '''applied''' ||
|-
| 19 || new || {{l|YCQ-BE|ba'}} (etymology 2) || {{l|YCQ-BE|beza}} || "Origin uncertain" — so this pair may instead be a real split (''ba''' young, raw against ''beza'' new, fresh). || '''applied''' ||
|}

== An error, not an ambiguity ==

Gaillean {{l|YAQ-GA|ihav}} and its Middle Airananwe reflex {{l|YAR-AI|hyaave}}
both give their etymon as {{m|YAP-XX|nwijɔ}} — the '''singular''' — which is also
the etymon of {{l|YAQ-GA|nio}} / {{l|YAR-AI|nie}}. The plural
{{m|YAP-XX|ixaβ}} has no Gaillean descendant at all, though Ancient Hertic
{{l|YAQ-HE|ιαπα}} continues it and matches ''ihav'' in shape.

Reading ''ihav'' &lt; {{m|YAP-XX|ixaβ}} fixes the etymology, gives the plural a
reflex, and settles row 8 at the same time. It needs confirming rather than
ruling, but it is a content change either way.

Human note: Confirmed - ihav and hyaave are from ixaB.

== Part two: where English is the ambiguity ==

''Filed 2026-08-21, after the operator's rulings above.'' The first list found
places where '''one language had two words and English one gloss'''. This one
finds the other half of the same problem: '''glosses that are a single English
word which English itself splits'''. The operator's example is ''hair'' — the
hair on a person's head, or one hair. Nothing in the corpus says which, so the
gloss will eventually be translated wrong in both directions.

Every row of '''Lexemes''' was grouped by gloss; 258 single-word glosses are
carried by four or more languages. The rows below are the ones where the English
word does real damage, not the whole 258 — the rest are single-sense words
(''tooth'', ''snake'', ''five'') that need nothing.

=== Fixed without a ruling ===

Housekeeping, corrected 2026-08-21 — these were inconsistencies in the gloss
field rather than questions.

{| class="wikitable"
! Was !! Now !! Affected !! Why
|-
| <code>i</code> (Herta-Olaic) against <code>I</code> (Andusian) || <code>I</code> || 4 entries || The first-person pronoun. Lowercase reads as the name of the letter.
|-
| <code>left</code> / <code>left(-hand)</code> || <code>left (hand)</code> || 9 entries || The two halves of one family were glossed differently, and bare ''left'' can be read as a direction of travel or as "left over".
|-
| <code>right</code> / <code>right(-hand)</code> || <code>right (hand)</code> || 9 entries || As above.
|-
| <code>right</code> (the Andusian ''moᵑg'' family) || <code>correct</code> || 4 entries || These mean right as in correct, and now share the gloss the Herta-Olaic and Njeshan words for that sense already used.
|-
| <code>right</code> ({{l|YCP-XA|moᵑgets}}) || <code>the right, entitlement</code> || 1 entry || It is the noun — "the right / law" — not the adjective.
|}

=== Two different words, spelled alike ===

The ''calf'' case: English has two unrelated words and the corpus gave them one
gloss. If ruled, each takes '''an English entry with two etymology headings and
a table each''', the way [[Dictionary:calf]] now does.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Langs !! The two English words !! What the corpus has !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 20 || fly || 12 || The insect, and the verb. || Gaillean has both — {{l|YAQ-GA|connu}} (noun) and {{l|YAQ-GA|cehirei}} (verb) — each defined only as "fly". Every other language carries one or the other under the same gloss. || pending ||
|-
| 21 || stick || 9 || A stick of wood, and to stick or adhere. || All nine are the noun, but nothing says so. || pending ||
|-
| 22 || right || 11 || The hand or side, an entitlement, and correct. || Now split three ways in the gloss field (above), but the English entry, when it comes, needs the etymology headings. || pending ||
|-
| 23 || drink || 5 || To drink, and a drink. || || pending ||
|-
| 24 || dream || 4 || To dream, and a dream. || || pending ||
|-
| 25 || play || 5 || A game, music, and what children do. Most languages divide these. || Proto-North-Andusian already has two words, now ''play'' and ''game''. || pending ||
|}

=== Mass against count — the ''hair'' case ===

Here English uses one form for the stuff and for a piece of it. A language need
not, and several in the corpus already do not.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Langs !! The split !! What the corpus has !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 26 || hair || 5 || The hair on a head, against one hair. || Proto-Andusian {{l|YCP-XX|mamgob}} says "hair (of the head)" and so is the mass; Proto-Herta-Olaic {{l|YAP-XX|eɑkʲiəθ}} and its three reflexes say only "hair". || pending ||
|-
| 27 || stone || 13 || The material, a stone, a hailstone, a tool-stone, a grindstone. || Gaillean and Middle Airananwe are now split by ruling 1. The other nine are unqualified, and their definitions fan out across all five readings. || pending ||
|-
| 28 || bone || 10 || The substance, against a bone. || Split for Gaillean and Middle Airananwe (''ettuz'' / ''eunduz''); the rest unqualified. || pending ||
|-
| 29 || wood || 7 || The material, against a wood or grove. || Andusian {{l|YCP-XX|sim}} is "wood, timber; firewood" — the material. English ''wood'' also means a small forest, and the corpus has a separate ''forest'' gloss, so the two could collide. || pending ||
|-
| 30 || fruit, grass, rope, sand, ash, dust, salt, fat, meat, skin, snow, ice || 4–10 each || Same shape throughout: the stuff, against one piece of it. || Unqualified. One ruling could set the house convention for all of them. || pending ||
|}

=== Where the word covers a different extent ===

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Langs !! The question !! What the corpus has !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 31 || hand || 6 || Does the word stop at the wrist? || Proto-Andusian {{l|YCP-XX|ᵐbu}} is explicitly "the hand and forearm"; the four Herta-Olaic words say only "hand". If they mean the same thing, the gloss lies; if not, the English box is listing two different body parts. || pending ||
|-
| 32 || earth / ground || 11 + 5 || English ''ground'' translates both. || Andusian {{l|YCP-XX|tse}} is "earth, soil; the ground as substance" and {{l|YCP-XX|lem}} is "ground, floor; the low place, bottom". A translator reaching for "the ground" has no way to choose. || pending ||
|-
| 33 || tree / wood || 9 + 7 || Adjacent glosses on near-identical forms. || Andusian {{l|YCP-XX|ciᵐb}} "tree" and {{l|YCP-XX|sim}} "wood" fall together in the daughters — Proto-South-Andusian has ''ʃim'' "tree" beside ''sim'' "wood", Besoh ''śim'' beside ''sim''. Whether that near-homophony is intended is worth a look. || pending ||
|-
| 34 || breast || 10 || The chest, against a woman's breast. || Unqualified. || pending ||
|-
| 35 || head || 10 || The body part, a leader, and the top of a thing. || Unqualified. || pending ||
|-
| 36 || ear || 4 || The organ, against an ear of grain. || Unqualified. || pending ||
|}

=== Adjectives running on two axes ===

Each of these is one English word doing two jobs. Languages very often split them,
and the corpus has no way to record which job a given word does.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Langs !! The two axes !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 37 || big || 10 || Size, against importance. || pending ||
|-
| 38 || long || 9 || Extent in space, against duration in time. || pending ||
|-
| 39 || short || 5 || Length, height and duration — three, not two. || pending ||
|-
| 40 || old || 8 || Aged, of a living thing, against not-new, of an object. Many languages have separate words. || pending ||
|-
| 41 || new || 11 || Lately made, against not met with before. || pending ||
|-
| 42 || dull || 10 || Blunt, not bright, and uninteresting. The Swadesh sense is blunt; nothing says so. || pending ||
|-
| 43 || thick / thin || 5 each || Of a board (depth), of a rope (girth), of a person, of a liquid. || pending ||
|-
| 44 || heavy || 5 || Weight, against hard to bear. || pending ||
|-
| 45 || full || 5 || Filled, against complete. Besoh {{l|YCQ-BE|go}} is already "whole, full; the complete count". || pending ||
|}

=== Distinctions English lacks, which the corpus may want ===

Not ambiguities in the gloss so much as decisions never taken. Listed because
the answer changes what a translations box may contain.

{| class="wikitable"
! # !! Gloss !! Langs !! The distinction !! Verdict !! Notes
|-
| 46 || we || 10 || Inclusive against exclusive — "we, including you" against "we, not you". Very common; none of the ten is marked. || pending ||
|-
| 47 || know || 10 || To know a fact, against to know a person. Split in a great many languages. || pending ||
|-
| 48 || say || 10 || To say something, to tell someone, to speak a language. The corpus has ''say'' alone. || pending ||
|-
| 49 || smell || 9 || To give off an odour, against to perceive one. One gloss covers both. || pending ||
|-
| 50 || come / go || 5 each || Whether motion is reckoned toward the speaker. The Andusian ''go'' family is now ruled as depart; ''come'' is unexamined. || pending ||
|}

== See also ==

* [[Yezur Wiki:Dictionary structure]] — the settled decisions, including the per-sense translations rule and the reciprocal-link rule
* [[Yezur Wiki:Daily routine/Report]] — the maintenance routine's own flag table

[[Category:Yezur Wiki]]
[[Category:Dictionary maintenance]]