Types of lexical information structure

The microstructure or micromodel of a lexicon, in particular of a hyperlexicon, is the information structure associated with each lexical entry.

The information structure can be any of the following:

• an abstract vector,
• a database record,
• an attribute value structure,
• a DATR node,
• a set of Prolog clauses associated with a Prolog prediate,
• . . .

The macromodel or macrostructure of a lexicon, in particular of a hyperlexicon, is the data structure into which lexical entries are inserted, for example:

• a linear list, as in a traditional lexicon;
• a concept hierarchy, as in a traditional thesaurus;
• a type inheritance hierarchy, as in HPSG;
• a default inheritance hierarchy, as in most DATR lexica.