Gloss
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:''This article is about the literary term. For other uses, see [[Gloss (disambiguation)]].''
{{Refimprove|date=December 2007}}
:''This article is about the literary term. For other uses, see [[Gloss (disambiguation)]].''
A '''gloss''' is a brief summary of a word's meaning, equivalent to the dictionary entry of that word, but only a word or two in length. It is typically used for the meaning of a word in another language, and hence a simple translation.
A gloss can often spefically refer to a note made in the margins or between the lines of a [[book]], in which the meaning of the text in its original [[language]] is explained. As such, glosses can vary in thoroughness and complexity, from simple marginal notations of words one reader found difficult or obscure, to entire interlinear [[translation]]s of the original text and cross references to similar passages.
A collection of glosses is a ''[[glossary]]'' (though ''glossary'' also means simply ''a collection of specialized terms with their meanings''). A collection of medieval legal glosses, made by so called [[glossators]], commenting legal texts, is called an ''apparatus''. The compilation of glosses into glossaries was the beginning of [[lexicography]], and the glossaries so compiled were in fact the first [[dictionary|dictionaries]].
==In theology==
{{main|Glosses to the Bible}}
Glosses were a primary format used in medieval Biblical [[theology]], and were studied and memorized almost upon their own merit, without regards to the author. Many times a Biblical passage was heavily associated with a particular gloss, whose truth was taken for granted by many theologians.
==In law==
{{see also|Glossator}}
A phenomenon similar to that which occurred in theology also occurred in medieval law: the glosses on [[Roman law]] and [[Canon law (Catholic Church)|Canon law]] created for many subjects standard starting points of reference, a socalled ''sedes materiae'' (literally: seat of the matter). In [[common law]] countries, the term "judicial gloss" refers to what is considered an authoritative or "official" [[Statutory interpretation|interpretation]] of a statute or regulation by a [[judge]].<ref>[[Black's Law Dictionary]], 7th ed.</ref> Judicial glosses are often very important in avoiding contradictions between statutes, and determining the [[constitutionality]] of various provisions of law.
==In philology==
[[Image:Codiceemil.jpg|thumb|The [[Glosas Emilianenses]] are [[gloss]]es added to this Latin codex that are now considered the first phrases written in the [[Castilian language]].]]
Glosses are of some importance in [[philology]], especially if one language—usually, the language of the author of the gloss—has left few texts of its own. The ''Reichenau glosses'', for example, gloss the [[Latin]] [[Vulgate]] [[Bible]] in an early form of one of the [[Romance languages]], and as such give insight into late [[Vulgar Latin]] at a time when that language was not often written down. A series of glosses in the [[Old English language]] to Latin Bibles give us a running translation of Biblical texts in that language; see ''[[Old English Bible translations]]''. Glosses of Christian religious texts are also important for our knowledge of [[Old Irish language|Old Irish]]. Glosses frequently shed valuable light on the vocabulary of otherwise little attested languages; they are less reliable for [[syntax]], because many times the glosses follow the word order of the original text, and translate its [[idiom]]s literally.
==In linguistics==<!-- This section is linked from [[Gujarati language]] -->
{{main|Interlinear gloss}}
In [[linguistics]], a simple gloss in running text is usually indicated in single quotation marks, following the transcription of a foreign word. For example:
* A [[Cossack]] longboat is called a ''chaika'' ‘seagull’.
* The [[moose]] gains its name from the [[Algonquian languages |Algonquian]] ''mus'' or ''mooz'' (‘twig eater’).
A longer or more complex transcription requires an ''interlinear gloss''. This is often placed between a [[text corpus|text]] and its translation when it is important to understand the structure of the language being glossed.
A semi-standardized set of parsing conventions and grammatical abbreviations is explained in the [http://www.eva.mpg.de/lingua/resources/glossing-rules.php Leipzig Glossing Rules].
===Glossing signed languages===<!--this section is linked from other articles-->
[[Sign language]]s are typically transcribed word-for-word by means of an English gloss written in all capitals. [[Prosody]] is often glossed as superscript English words, with its scope indicated by brackets.
{{quotation|''[I LIKE]<sup>NEGATIVE</sup> [WHAT?]<sup>RHETORICAL</sup>, GARLIC.''
<br><br>"I don't like garlic."}}
[[Fingerspelling]] is transcribed directly; this is commonly indicated with either a pound sign (#WIKI) or by hyphenation (W-I-K-I).
==In sociology ==
[[Talcott Parsons]] used the word "gloss" to describe how mind constructs reality. We are taught how to "put the world together" by others who subscribe to a [[consensus reality]] — which many disciplines, [[Zen]] for example, strive to overcome. Studies have shown that our brains "filter" the data coming from our senses. This "filtering" is largely unconsciously created and determined by biology, cultural constructs including language, personal experience, belief systems, etcetera. Different cultures create different glosses.
==References==
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Documents]]
[[Category:Lexicography]]
[[Category:Linguistics]]
[[Category:Book design]]
[[cs:Glosa]]
[[de:Glosse]]
[[eo:Gloso (leksikologio)]]
[[fr:Glose]]
[[gl:Glosa]]
[[nl:Glos]]
[[pl:Glosa]]
[[pt:Glosa]]
[[ru:Глосса]]
[[sv:Glosa]]
http://www.byk.com/instruments/applications/4_1_US.php