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The first chapter left us with a wish list. A word should be a point in a space with hundreds of directions, near its relatives, far from its strangers, with closeness that tells the truth. This chapter is that space, actually built.
Each token from the last chapter maps to a
Read them as coordinates. A point on a paper map needs two, an x and a y. A word needs hundreds, placing it somewhere in a
Nobody can picture hundreds of directions, and nobody needs to. Near and far still work exactly the way they do on a map.
What matters is where words land. Words used in similar ways end up close together, not because anyone arranged them, but because, as "wibble" showed us, words with similar meanings keep similar company.
The map on this slide is a sketch, with the hundreds of directions squashed down to two so we can look at them. But neighbourhoods like these are exactly what forms. Wander it: animals in one region, feelings in another, capitals huddled together. Distance finally means something.