TextCritical.net

TextCritical,

Thank you for this project. I will paste in here a message I sent to Logos about a vocabulary tool I would find very useful.

From: Paul D. Nitz [mailto:pnitz@seelsorger.org]
Sent: 20 October 2012 11:19
To: suggest@logos.com
Subject: Vocabulary Tool

Logos,

ESL teachers have long seen the value of a core list of vocabulary. One nice tool on the web compares core vocabulary with any text. The tool generates a file in which words which are not on the core list are highlighted in Red. See http://www.lextutor.ca/vp/eng/.

Wilfred Major has come up with a 50% and 80% core list of vocabulary for Greek. In any Greek text, 50% of the words used will made up of words that are on the 50% list, a list of only 65 separate words. Likewise, in any text, 80% of the words used will made up of words that are on the 50% list, a list of only 1000 separate words.

See:
Major, Wilfred E. (2008). It’s Not the Size, It’s the Frequency: The Value of Using a Core Vocabulary in Beginning and Intermediate Greek. CPL Online, 4.1, 1-24.
http://www.camws.org/cpl/cplonline/Majorcplonline.pdf
Other versions of the list are found at:
http://www.dramata.com/

Now, wouldn't it be absolutely fabulous if Logos had a little tool that combined what Lextutor does with Major's list?
With a click of a button, you could view a Greek text on Logos and be able to see which words are on the 50 or 80% list. What a boon to learning vocabulary! What would be even better, is a 50 and 80% list that took into account frequently used NT words. This would be a vocabulary tool specifically for Biblical Greek teachers. I am working on such a list right now. I've been taking Voorst's work and comparing it to Major's work to create my own list. But Logos could do such a better job at this than I.

Logos has created vocabulary tools in the past (I still miss the old Libronix tool!). But this type of vocabulary tool would surpass anything previously developed. And, if I'm not mistaken, this would be a very easy tool for Logos to create. Having an editable "core list" would be a great feature. Teachers will have different opinions and needs when it comes to a core list vocabulary. For example, I need to include a number of words on my core list that are very useful for teaching Greek communicatively (TPR, TPRS), but are not on the 80% list (e.g. "move!, jump!, dance!").

Paul D. Nitz
Lilongwe, Malawi