Stage 3: Observation
From Latin observāre (“to watch over, attend to, guard”). The elevation of observation to scientific method—systematic attention to phenomena, freed from prior assumption—defines the empirical revolution. “Nullius in verba,” declared the Royal Society: take nobody's word for it; observe and verify. The botanist examining specimens under magnification. The astronomer charting planetary motion. The philologist scrutinizing textual evidence for patterns of meaning.
Within the editorial lifecycle, Observation constitutes the analytical core: each attestation undergoes rigorous multidimensional examination. This stage transforms raw attestations into structured linguistic data, systematically evaluating semantic density, morphological interest, etymological transparency, and a constellation of other lexicographic criteria. The goal is not merely to read but to interrogate—to extract every dimension of value a passage might yield.
Process
- Analysis: Each attestation is examined through a comprehensive evaluative framework, informed by the reference material assembled during Nomination.
- Scoring: Multiple dimensions of lexicographic significance are independently assessed and quantified.
- Extraction: Key linguistic features—candidate definitions, sense distinctions, grammatical properties—are identified and articulated.
- Structuring: Findings are organized into a consistent data representation for downstream processing.
Evaluative Dimensions
The analytical framework encompasses over twenty distinct dimensions: semantic density (how much meaning is packed into the usage), morphological interest (unusual forms, productive affixes), sense distinctiveness (does this illuminate a new nuance?), diachronic value (historical first or notable shift), collocational patterns, register markers, domain specificity, and more. Together, these form a comprehensive significance matrix—a multidimensional portrait of each attestation's lexicographic worth.
Methodology
Advanced language models perform the analytical work, guided by structured prompts and informed by the contextual annotations assembled during Notation. This synthesis—computational capacity united with accumulated lexicographic knowledge—enables analysis at throughputs impossible for human editors alone. Yet the approach remains principled: structured evaluation criteria ensure that each assessment follows a consistent, reproducible method.