Kõrvalind

Kõrvalind is a term used to describe an auxiliary index that accompanies a primary index in various information-structuring contexts. In practice, a kõrvalind functions as a side reference that helps identify or contextualize a neighboring element without altering the core indexing scheme.

The word is formed from kõrval-, meaning side or adjacent, and ind., a common abbreviation for index. Its precise meaning and usage are not standardized across disciplines, and explanations may vary depending on the field and application.

Applications of the concept include computer science, linguistics, and data management. In programming and data structures, a kõrvalind can store offsets or pointers to elements adjacent to a given position, such as left and right kõrvalind values for an array index i (for example, i-1 and i+1, when those positions exist). This auxiliary information can support neighbor-aware algorithms, windowed computations, or rapid context lookups without changing the primary index.

In linguistic annotation or corpus work, a kõrvalind may annotate contextual cues that accompany a target token, such as nearby markers, discourse indicators, or morphosyntactic information that influences interpretation. In databases or search systems, a kõrvalind might refer to an auxiliary index used to speed up lookups for co-occurring or proximal records.

See also: index, adjacency, offset, neighbor reference.