About The International Dictionary Series

The Intercontinental Dictionary Series (IDS) is a database where lexical material across the languages of the world is organized in such a way that comparisons can be made. Historical and comparative studies and theoretical linguistic research can be based on this documentation. The IDS was conceived of by Mary Ritchie Key (University of California, Irvine) in the 1980s as a long-term cooperative project that will go on for the next generation or so and will involve linguists all over the world. It is aimed towards international understanding and cooperation. This is a pioneering effort that will have global impact. The purpose also contributes to preserving information on the little-known and "non-prestigious" languages of the world, many of which are becoming extinct.

The words are all coded by usage called "chapters" and correspond to the Wordnet "sense keys." The numbers in the third column shows the number of words in each chapter.

1	The physical world	72
2	Kinship	74
3	Animals	96
4	The body	149
5	Food and drink	80
6	Clothing and grooming	58
7	The house	43
8	Agriculture and vegetation	67
9	Basic actions and technology	71
10	Motion	80
11	Possession	45
12	Spatial relations	72
13	Quantity	37
14	Time	55
15	Sense perception	49
16	Emotions and values	48
17	Cognition	51
18	Speech and language	41
19	Social and political relations	34
20	Warfare and hunting	40
21	Law	26
22	Religion and belief	22