Syllable Lists
In this article we introduce how the syllable lists in the WordCreator are structured and how you can create or adapt your own syllable lists. If you have never worked with the WordCreator, we recommend to read the introduction first.
Der Wortgenerator verwendet immer die Silbenliste, die gerade im Hauptfenster in der Box "Verwendete Silben" eingestellt ist. Die Silben in dieser Box sind frei editierbar und können jederzeit geändert und bearbeitet werden.
Structure of Syllable Lists
Each line of the syllable list corresponds to a new syllable. The structure of each line is as following:
<Frequency><Space><Syllable>
First of all, there is a number indicating the frequency of the syllable (we will come to this soon). After that, there is a space dividing frequency and syllable. At last, that is the syllable itself. The syllable can consist of arbitrary characters including spaces. The syllable can be as long as you want.
Let us have a look at an example:
1 A
1 B
In this example, we would like to work with the elements "A" and "B", both elements should occur with the same frequency. Therefore, we have used the same number for both elements.
The numbers do not have to meet any criteria. It is neither necessary that they are all together resulting in a specific sum nor do they have to have a specific length or size. The only thing that is important is the relation between the numbers: If both numbers are the same, the syllables defined behind them will occur with the same probability, if both numbers are differing, the elements will accordingly occur with different frequencies.
In other words, the example above could also be written using higher numbers:
129 A
129 B
Here we are using the number 129 instead of 1. However, the created words would be similar because the relation is the same.
In the next example, we would like to weight two letters differently:
2 A
6 B
Here, the number for B is three times higher than number for A. Therefore, under ideal circumstances, B will occur three times more than A.
Provided, of course, the rules for readability do not restrict this. If you would like to create readable words and the only elements are A and B, it is only possible to create words with A and B alternating. Of course, this would lead to more words beginning with B compared to A, but especially in long words, both characters would appear nearly in the same frequency.
Hence, you will better see the probability distribution in longer lists. For example in the next example.
100 A
100 B
001 E
In this list, we have defined the elements A, B and E where A and B should occur with the same probability and E with much less frequency. With this list, you will get words like ABAB or BABA very often compared to words containing an E.
By the way, we have used leading zeros at "001" in the list above (the same applies to the lists available in the WordCreator). The leading zeros are only used because of clarity so that you can better see the letters at the same position under each other. You can also write 1 instead of 001 having the same effect.
As mentioned above, the length of the defined syllables does not matter and can be mixed like you want.
2 A
2 BE BU
2 COM
For example, in this syllable list we have defined the elements "A", "BE BU" and "COM". All elements should have the same probability and it does not matter whether the elements are containing spaces, only one letter or another number of letters.
Positions
Up to now, the position of a syllable within a word does not play a role. With all rules we have used so far, syllables are allowed at each position in a word.
However, it is also possible to define elements that are only allowed to appear at the beginning, at the end, in the middle or at another defined position within a word. How to do that can be seen in the next examples.
01 A
01 C
01 E
1B K
1M I
1E D
In this syllable list, all characters should be used with the same frequency. The letters A, C and E are allowed to appear at every position, the letters K, I and D are only allowed to occur at specific positions. As you can see, we have written "B" (begin) behind the number for K. This means, that K should only be set at the beginning of a word. Accordingly, M stands for middle and E for the end of a word.
Using this list, we are able to produce words like KID, CID, KECA, ECID or ECA, but no words such as DIK or ICE.
With the following rules, a direct positioning is possible:
1P1 K
1P2 I
1P3 D
1P4 O
The letter "P" followed by a number specifies the exact position within a word. In the example, the letters K, I, D and O should have the same probability. K should only at position 1 in a word (P1), I only at position 2, D only at the third place and O at the forth.
Using this list, it will only be possible to create the word "KIDO". With adding "1P1 L" to the list, the list will produce the words "KIDO" or "LIDO" but nothing else.
However, you can also define positions relatively from the beginning or the end:
01L1 A
01L2 C
01R2 I
01R1 D
0001 E
0001 F
L1 means that the element is allowed to appear at the first position (from the left), L2 means, that the element can appear at one of the first two positions. Accordingly, R1, R2, R3 and so on are standing for the positions from behind (from right). Using this list, words like ACID, CEFI or EFID will be produced. We have added the letters E and F (for each position) to be able to create readable words in each case.
Predefined and automatically created Syllable Lists
Of course, you do not have to create each syllable list manually. In the menu "Syllable Lists", you can find syllable lists with frequency profiles from different languages and you can create your own random lists out of arbitrary alphabets or own character lists. Additionally, in the settings of the syllable list, you can define in which form the lists should be loaded.
Furthermore, you can also use the counter in order to determine the frequency of letters from an arbitrary text. After that, you can just right click the result and select "Use as Syllable List" from the context menu in order to directly create new words from your results.