Re: Dictionary formats
| From: | Andreas Johansson <and_yo@...> |
|---|
| Date: | Sunday, March 31, 2002, 13:38 |
|---|
A trouble with dictionaries (mine at any rate) is that they make everything
look like a relex. F'rinstance, the Tairezazh words _gravun_ and _elkergast_
refer to quite different state structures, yet both are translated to
English as "empire"*! And of course there are plenty of words that can with
good justification be equated with a certain English word, yet when seen in
a dictionary that rather obscures the fact that within Tairezazh culture it
may have quite different connotations.
* An _elkergast_, meaning litterally "emperor-rule-ing", refers basically to
a centralized hereditary monarchy, while _gravun_, from Vaikin _geraviun_
"alone-rule" usually refers to shortlived, militarily expansionistic
empires. In these terms China 's been a _elkergast_ for most of it's
history, whereas the Mongol Empire was a _gravun_, altho' your average
Tairezan 'd find it laughable to apply either term to a state not even
encompassing the whole of a single planet.
Andreas
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Constructed Languages List
> > [mailto:CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU] On Behalf Of Aidan Grey
> > Sent: Saturday, March 30, 2002 9:28 PM
> > To: CONLANG@LISTSERV.BROWN.EDU
> > Subject: Re: Dictionary formats
> >
> >
> > Just wondering:
> >
> > Those of you with detailed dictionaries (are there any of
> > you?), how do you list everything in your notes? Everyone
> > here can't be making one-to-one wordlists. So how do you make
> > comments indicating various usages, compounds, and so on?
> >
> > For example, looking in my Latin dictionary here,
> >
> > bed: lectus, cubile; (in a garden) areola; (of a river)
> > alveus ; to go to _: cubitum ire; to make the _: lectum sternere
> >
> > Do you do anything to make sure that you're not
> > relexifying, e.g. use WordNet, or another language's dictionary?
> >
> > Aidan
> >
> >
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