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WordSurv aids in the collection and analysis of word lists. It is primarily a tool for the dialect surveyor who is concerned with gaining a present-day picture of the language situation in a given area.
WordSurv calculates lexical similarity percentages based on user groupings of phonetic transcriptions.
WordSurv also has a module for calculating phonetic similarity. First the user aligns the data by inserting characters so that corresponding phones will appear directly above and below each other. The user can also adjust the weighting of phonetic degrees of distance between phones.
A Comparativist's Assistant module is included to help users determine the genetic relationship between languages, though WordCorr is recommended for more in-depth comparison. Using CompASS users can also verify the groupings used for calculating the lexical similarity percentages.
