Summary

  • Anyone may file a singular/plural notification during the 30 days immediately after String Confirmation Day, but the filing needs a qualifying dictionary and page-level provenance.
  • Without a notification, a grammatical pair proceeds without this rule placing it into contention; a confirmed notice can produce no impact, contention, or an inability to proceed, depending on the counterpart.

A dictionary page can become part of an ICANN decision record, but only if the rest of the record arrives with it. The 2026 Round Applicant Guidebook allows anyone—not only another applicant—to notify ICANN that two strings may be singular and plural forms of the same word in the same language. Legitimate notifications are publicly archived.

The mechanism is not automatic linguistic matching. It is a notification procedure with a 30-day filing window immediately after String Confirmation Day. Absent extraordinary circumstances, ICANN will not consider notifications outside that window.

The source is a bundle, not a citation

The notification must state which of two bases applies: the applied-for strings are singular and plural forms in the same language in the same round, or the applied-for string is the singular or plural of a delegated gTLD, a prior-round string still in process, or a Blocked Name.

The dictionary must have been published no earlier than 1 January 1970. For international or national languages it must be an authoritative reference work from a reputable publisher or institution. The notice must include the dictionary title, language, ISBN, publisher, year and place of publication, the page on which the word appears, and a place where the work can be acquired or consulted. Images of the ISBN, cover, imprint and relevant word pages are also required.

That makes provenance operational. A word-page image without the edition, ISBN and imprint may not allow ICANN to verify the claim. ICANN may independently verify the submitted source material, and incomplete information can result in the string being processed without consideration of the asserted issue.

No notification means no automatic contention under this rule

The Guidebook is explicit about the dependency. If same-round strings are singular and plural forms but ICANN receives no notification, both proceed without being put into a contention set through this mechanism. Likewise, an applied-for string that is the singular or plural of a delegated TLD, a prior-round string in process or a Blocked Name proceeds unless ICANN receives the prescribed notice.

This is distinct from String Similarity Evaluation. The singular/plural process asks for grammatical evidence in one language and depends on a filed notice. It should not be described as an automatic extension of visual similarity review.

Three outcomes follow verification

If the issue is not confirmed, the application experiences no impact from the notice. If two same-round applied-for strings are confirmed as singular and plural forms of the same word in the same language, both are placed into contention. If the counterpart is a delegated TLD, a prior-round string in process or a Blocked Name, the applied-for string cannot proceed.

These are program consequences, not a declaration that the notifying party owns a word. Nor does the notice alone prove final delegation or non-delegation; it begins a defined assessment with one of the specified outcomes.

The challenge is one-time and bounded

An applicant has one opportunity to challenge the evaluation through the application system within 21 days of notification. The applicant must supply all facts needed to demonstrate the rationale and may not use the challenge to materially change the application by substituting new information for the original submission.

ICANN reviews whether it made a factual or procedural error in determining the linguistic relationship or whether the submitted dictionary met the Guidebook criteria. The challenge uses a clearly erroneous standard: the determination stands unless ICANN failed to follow appropriate procedures or failed to consider or solicit necessary material evidence or information. ICANN says it will communicate the conclusion within 30 days of the challenge filing.

Keep the advice boundary visible

BTW recommends a page-level provenance ledger linking each claimed word form to the precise edition, bibliographic fields and required images. That ledger is editorial advice. ICANN specifies the information and images to submit, but it does not mandate this internal record format.

Sources