linguexx

A standalone LaTeX package for linguistic examples, with a linguex-compatible input syntax and first-class support for accessible (tagged) PDF output.

linguexx reimplements the familiar dot-syntax of linguex (\ex., \a., \b., \z., \exg., \gll, \glt, \Next, \Last, …) on a fresh expl3 engine, with no dependency on linguex, cgloss4e, or xspace. It runs on pdfLaTeX, XeLaTeX and LuaLaTeX. A [legacy] option reproduces linguex's exact geometry for drop-in replacement; the default mode is a slightly tighter variant.

Accessibility

When the document enables the LaTeX tagging code, linguexx writes its examples into the PDF structure tree as genuine, accessible objects:

• examples are ordered lists — L → LI → Lbl → LBody, sub-levels nested, with valid per-level /ListNumbering (decimal / lower-alpha / lower-roman);
• examples inside footnotes keep a valid tree;
• grammaticality marks carry a spoken form (/Alt), so a screen reader says "ungrammatical" rather than "asterisk" — see \DeclareJudgment[spoken=…];
• interlinear glosses are grouped column by column, read word-bundle by word-bundle in the right order (not as loose text, and not as a table, which screen readers read in the wrong order);
• a gloss tier's language can be recorded (\GlossTierLang{1}{de} → /Lang);
• Leipzig category abbreviations carry their expansion (\lpzg{sg} → /E "singular"), so they are spoken in full while the page still shows SG.

Usage

\documentclass{article}
\usepackage[lazy]{linguexx}   % or [legacy], [gb4e], combinations thereof
\begin{document}
\ex. A first example.
\a. a sub-example
\b. *a judged sub-example

\exg. Der Hund bellte.\\ 
the dog barked.\\
\glt `The dog barked.'
\end{document}

For accessible output, add a \DocumentMetadata line before \documentclass; the simplest current form is

\DocumentMetadata{lang=en, tagging=on}

The full manual is linguexx-doc.pdf.

Installation

Put linguexx.sty where LaTeX can find it — the working directory for a single project, or TEXMF/tex/latex/linguexx/ (then texhash) for a system-wide install.

Requirements

• A reasonably current TeX Live (2023 or later; the tagging support tracks the LaTeX tagging project, which is still evolving — see the notes).
• expl3 (part of the LaTeX kernel).

Licence

LaTeX Project Public License 1.3c or later — see LICENSE.

Authors

Gerhard Schaden & Claude (Fable, Opus, Sonnet).