THE NEW OXICON TECHNOLOGY
with OXICON API UNITS
(API - APPLICATION PROGRAMMING INTERFACE)

About the New Oxicon Technology

The Oxicon development is a world's first. It is the one and only word reference system that has the capacity to return a multitude of words based on association and context rather than mere meaning, and is a new (online) lexical system invented right here in Australia.

The Oxicon vastly multiplies anyone's brain power by working just as the brain does when thinking about words - but it has a perfect memory and knows the entire language. It helps anyone think of words more easily, and is of particular relevance to students, who can now not only research and learn correct English language but also add clarity, precision and finesse in their written work. The Oxicon, then, provides much better access to words and ideas than was possible with previous language reference works. It is, of course, very important to have such access - words are the tools of thought, and being able to articulate and convey the subtleties of your meaning to others is a vital skill. Efficiency of word access is, in fact, directly proportional to thinking ability and idea formation.

Structure and Use: The Oxicon has, at its heart, a matrix consisting of a multi-linked mapping system of hundreds of concepts, each of which is divided into many finer meaning area groups, the whole in turn interlinked with a web of words - the complete language whose every word is tagged with meaning profile, definitions, usage examples, images, etc. This forms a virtual brain with billions of connections that, via an infinite "looping-in-on-itself" search mechanism mimicking our own thought process, returns every conceivable association in a word search. Thus one is quite literally given the ability to find any words at any time and for every occasion, and thus produce a professional and pleasing style of writing or speech.

The Oxicon is not a thesaurus, which is merely a provider of synonyms, but a powerful, multifaceted word-finding and sentence-compiling lexical system that allows the user to find any words, any time, for any sentence. This astonishing reference tool leaves the dictionary and thesaurus in a backwash of mediocrity.

John Brokenshire, the inventor of The Oxicon has spent 25 years perfecting this new lexical system. As a professional writer and lexicographer, John had become frustrated with the limitations and inadequacies of the dictionary and thesaurus. He decided to set up a glossary of lexical concepts and sub-concepts that, with development, continued to expand exponentially, and which, with time, became more and more unstoppable - he likened it to having experienced an uncontrollable obsession. The end-result after some twenty five years is The Oxicon - a multilinked mass of concepts and sub-concepts which, astoundingly, initially allows 190 million+ word combinations that in turn expands to infinity.

Future inclusions for The Oxicon would include safe web-search links for every word, and the provision of phonetic annotations and spoken pronunciation for each word. These extra facilities will greatly enhance Oxicon's capabilities, especially for overseas students.

Besides being an astonishing writing and educational aid that can be translated into many different languages, including the production of fully automated translation systems, other future applications for The Oxicon are quite mind-boggling. This vast database of interlinking Concepts and Sub-Concepts has the amazing potential to form the basis for A.I. (Artificial Intelligence) products for robotic logic systems, games software and a host of other applications, that will quite literally enable such entities to talk to and skilfully interact with, not only each other but more importantly, human beings.

A number of professional and academic people, have already articulated that The Oxicon may very well take the world by storm!

THIS IS WHAT THE OXICON INVENTOR JOHN BROKENSHIRE HAS TO SAY:

The Oxicon is a new style of lexical reference system that brings another dimension to language reference. Far transcending the dictionary/thesaurus mould, it can delve (or allow us to delve) right into the very depths of the language, and to navigate within it to any required location, to any word group, any word. The Oxicon enables you to "filter" the ocean of language to find what you need.

Three basic construction techniques were used to grow the core of the Oxicon:

1. sub-division of the language into Concepts (260) and Sub-Concepts (2200+);
2. adding links, or Association Paths, where applicable between the latter entities;
3. providing an ID - namely a "Word Profile" - for every word, showing the Sub- Concepts into which it fits.*
4. Various supplemental features were then incorporated - too many to describe here.

It should be pointed out that the Oxicon (1.0) demonstration as presented here on this page is very much a prototype and, even though it works exceptionally well, supplies only a part of the original system. This Oxicon demonstration version is simply set up to show the incredible potential of the Oxicon and is now seen as merely the first step towards a whole new range of software and website developments. Missing from the demonstration version however, are some vital facilities of the Oxicon (1.0); for instance, the ability to locate words by homing ("zooming") onto a target area in the language via Concept Maps, Related Sub-Concepts and the Specialized Item List. These maps and many links, the essential means to navigate Oxicon's web of meaning at all times, could not be included in the demonstration version simply because of increasing financial constraints. However, these additional maps and links are, of course, a part of the Oxicon API Units that will allow other companies and/or individuals world-wide to develop the Oxicon lexical reference system to all of its true multifaceted potentials. For additional and more comprehensive information please download the DEVELOPMENT AND REVIEW booklet (PDF, 1 MB). Note: the terms "Concept Map", "Sub-Concept", etc. pertain exclusively to Oxicon's internal entities: they are explained in the following Footnote*.

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* Sub-Concepts result from the semantic sub-division of a Concept; they hold words bound by the range of each Sub-Concept's meaning area definition. Every word is tagged, or profiled, with one or more of these entities. They may be compared to the grid references squares used in cartography, except that here they represent word sets rather than geographical areas. To date there are 2200 Sub-Concepts.

Concept Map Keyboards are, basically, "floor plans" for every Concept. Each one pertains to a Parent Concept and, like a telephone exchange, links the user to various entities in the Oxicon, notably:

• Associated Concepts - Concepts with obvious association or affiliation with the Parent Concept
• Sub-Concepts and their meaning range definitions
• all the other (Parent) Concept Map Keyboards - there are 260 of these, one for each Concept

On each (Parent) Concept Map Keyboard, the Concepts are arranged in alphabetical order, each with two buttons for linkage to maps and definitions. The Associated Concepts are highlighted. Clicking any LH (left-hand) Concept button displays that particular Parent Concept Map Keyboard; clicking the RH Concept button displays the pertinent Sub-Concept definitions.

"Word Profile" for each word contains all the Sub-Concepts' meaning areas in which that particular word sits.

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Viable Fields of Application for the Oxicon

• Computer Science, e.g., Computational Linguistics
• Software Engineering, e.g, Search Engines, Data Acquisition Systems
• Language Processing, e.g, (A.I.) Artificial Intelligence
• Language and Meaning, e.g., Semantic Categorization
• Phonology and Phonetics, e.g., Pronunciation, Sound Grammar
• Speech and Writing Skills, e.g., Vocabulary, Syntax, Prose Style, Association
• Everyday Communication, e.g., Word Use, Semiotics, Metaphor
• Second Language Tuition, e.g., (English) as a Second Language, TESOL
• Translation & Multi-Language Services, e.g., Cross-Language Reference Systems for Translation
• Clinical Science, e.g., Speech Therapy
• Psychology & Neuropsychology, e.g., Language Acquisition, Language Loss
• Human Neurobiology, e.g., Neurolinguistics, Psycholinguistics

Computational Linguistics & The Oxicon

THE SCIENCE OF COMPUTATIONAL LINGUISTICS (CL)

Computational Linguistics (CL) is related both to linguistics and computer science, and deals with the computational aspects of human language and computational models of human cognition. It is closely associated with Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) theory and applications

CL, LANGUAGE & THE INTERNET

Language is the fabric of the internet. The rapid growth of the latter and the emergence of the information society have increased the need for better devices to extract and manage knowledge. Although the latest technology and systems combine text, graphics, sound and pictures, the whole world of information can only be structured, categorized and indexed through the use of language. For browsing, navigating, filtering and processing the information on the web, we need software that can delve into the contents of documentation.

WEB TECHNOLOGY ENHANCEMENT USING CL & THE OXICON

Language technology for content management is a necessary precondition for turning the wealth of digital information available on the internet into a collective knowledge bank. The increasing number of languages used on websites makes this difficult, and drives the production of better software to handle such diversity, as does the need to overcome the language barrier in order to allow e-commerce, social and business communication, education and international cooperation to flourish. These needs can only be fulfilled with the help of multilingual tools for searching, browsing, profiling, indexing and navigating. Thus, the Oxicon is well-suited to contribute in this process of web technology enhancement. With a Concept-based categorization/reference system, it is quite capable of overcoming the complex multilingual transcription problems that bog down programmers working to produce better software in this area.

LANGUAGE EMULATION USING CL & THE OXICON

Computational linguistics (sitting as it does in the broader realm of linguistics and cognitive science) and Oxicon technology both have a role to play in language generation and comprehension devices essential for a myriad of practical computer-based applications. The methodology, in theory, is to simulate aspects of human language processing and instil them into computer programmes. It is interesting that the Oxicon was built upon the same idea and resulted in the powerful reference system that we have today.

AIMS OF CL & THE OXICON FOR COMMUNICATION PROGRAMMING

One of the main aims of CL is to create software products that have some knowledge of human language for two-way human-to-machine discourse. Such products are going to change our lives. As is generally the case, the main obstacle to such interaction is ineffectiveness of communication. After all, computers do not understand our language and most of us, conversely, find computer languages or even the binary system hard to grasp - which is no wonder, seeing as these languages do not correspond to our natural mode of thought. Even though some specialized computers may have been programmed to thinly "understand" some bits of language and to metallically "speak" a little, their domain of discourse is so narrow that their use in communications is very limited. Producing a version of the Oxicon that will help enhance communication programming in this realm is already in the Oxicon's API development plan, and is sure to be of benefit in such programme construction. Maybe we can actually turn the machine into a partner. A combination of the Oxicon and CL would certainly make a good starting point.

CL & THE OXICON:
AID TO SPEAKERS OF DIFFERENT LANGUAGES AND TRANSLATORS

Much older than communication problems between humans and machines are those between humans and humans who speak different languages. One of the original goals for both CL and The Oxicon has been to achieve such inter-language communication, including the production of fully automated translation systems. Already, computational linguists have created software systems that simplify the work of human translators, and have thus improved their efficiency. Also, existing automatic translation systems, while very basic and often inadequate, can help information seekers search through large amounts of text in foreign languages. In the future, with the use of both CL and Oxicon technology, development of better software may provide greater clarity, accuracy and competence in electronic language translation for all concerned.