Bridging Dictionary

Exploring LLM capabilities to explain concepts/definitions to various audiences

The goal of the Bridging Dictionary project is to build an interactive web-based tool and a companion hardcopy reference book to help people understand linguistic differences across regions, demographic groups, and ideological groups within the United States. On the web tool, a user can compare how two communities use a word or phrase with respect to frequency, sentiment, and topical context. This gives journalists, researchers, and other interested writers a more nuanced understanding of regional communication styles and perspectives. Like a thesaurus, the tool identifies potential substitutions that might appeal more even-handedly to both communities; these can be useful for those seeking "bridging" language about the underlying concept. The hardcopy reference book offers an algorithmically curated set of dictionary entries focused on a particular community comparison.