ISO 1951:2007

Overview

ISO 1951:2007 - Presentation/representation of entries in dictionaries - specifies a formal, media‑independent model for representing and presenting dictionary entries in both print and electronic formats. Focused on monolingual and multilingual, general and specialized dictionaries, the standard follows a lemma‑oriented approach (not concept‑oriented) and aims to facilitate the production, merging, comparison, extraction, exchange, dissemination and retrieval of lexicographical data.

Keywords: ISO 1951:2007, dictionary entry structure, lexicographical data, electronic dictionaries, XML encoding, lexicography.

Key topics and technical requirements

• Formal generic structure: Defines a computable model for dictionary entries that is independent of output media to ensure consistent representation across print and digital products.
• Data elements and compositional elements: Standardizes units such as lexical units (headwords, variants, translations) and compositional elements (blocks, containers, groups) to encode relationships unambiguously.
• Formal grammar: Uses formal syntax (Extended Backus‑Naur Form in the XmLex model) to describe high‑level structures and content models so entries can be parsed and validated automatically.
• Content models and qualifiers: Specifies content elements, embedded elements and general qualifiers to control permitted values and element relationships.
• Presentation aids: Recommends layout aids and compacting mechanisms (abbreviations, repeated headword handling, nesting, lexicographical symbols) to support readable print and electronic presentations.
• XML implementation examples: Informative annexes provide XML/XSL/XHTML examples (XmLex_V00) and validation approaches to guide practical encoding and transformation.
• Objective compliance language: Uses "shall"/"should"/"can" to indicate requirements, recommendations and informative guidance.

Applications and practical value

• Enables single‑source lexicography where one structured data repository can generate multiple outputs (print, web, mobile apps).
• Facilitates interoperability and data exchange between publishers, lexicographical toolchains, translation memory systems and lexical databases.
• Supports automated tasks: merging dictionaries, inverting bilingual dictionaries, extracting datasets for NLP, searching and retrieval of lexicographical data.
• Guides publishers and developers in implementing consistent presentation and encoding practices for electronic dictionaries and hybrid publishing workflows.

Who should use ISO 1951:2007

• Lexicographers and dictionary publishers
• Language resource engineers and NLP developers
• Software developers building dictionary editors, converters or publishing pipelines
• Terminologists, librarians and digital humanities professionals involved in lexical data management

Related standards

• ISO 704 (Terminology work - principles) - concept vs. lemma distinction
• ISO 1087‑1, ISO 12620, ISO 16642 and ISO/IEC 11179 - referenced for terminology, data categories and related models

ISO 1951:2007 is a practical standard for anyone needing standardized, exchangeable, and media‑independent dictionary entry structures and presentation methods.