community dictionary

[conchubhar1]

well html is disabled so.......

www.irishdictionary.org

please add to this if you can!

[Micilin Muc]

Ní thuigim fiúntas an tionscadail seo. Cén fáth a bhfuiltear ag iarraidh foclóir ar líne eile a chur ar fáil?? Agus é ar fáil i bhfoirm .pdf??

I don't understand the point of this project. Why do we need another online dictionary??And in form of a .pdf document?? I see this as mis-spent energy.

[conchubhar1]

it is ''open source''.

anyone can add - with modding.

it is a community dictionary.

if this becomes the main online dictionary - personaly i think fiontar and irishgaelic and focloirbeag

should all come together and make a perfect, huge, full online downloadable and editable irish dictionary

that with the new govt print dictionary that is long overdue and still in development would be great for the language....

it can be saved offline and used - like i use it as much as my english dictionary on my macbook

so so so so so handy and good for my irish

[Micilin Muc]

Originally Posted by conchubhar1

anyone can add - with modding.

it is a community dictionary.

That's what Focal.ie is. You e-mail An Coiste Téarmaíochta with a term that isn't already on Focal.ie and when they come up with an Irish equivalent, then they add it to Focal.ie. Any new words will be added to the new An Gúm dictionary too when it's published.

Originally Posted by conchubhar1

full online downloadable and editable irish dictionary

that with the new govt print dictionary that is long overdue and still in development would be great for the language....

it can be saved offline and used - like i use it as much as my english dictionary on my macbook

so so so so so handy and good for my irish

Gléacht is an offline dictionary. That should be available to download for free.

I still can't see irishdictionary.org going anywhere, it has no authority and has no endorsement from Foras na Gaeilge/An Coiste Téarmaíochta. As a teacher for adults and 3rd level students I wouldn't recommend it to my students. A comprehensive dictionary with full grammatical information is what every serious language student needs.

[conchubhar1]

no they may add it - and later if they do.


well i suppose this is down to if you like open ''software''


this is open, editable - and unlike wikipedia it will not get spammer as the base of irish speakers is relatively low.



well i am a serious learner - this along with the several other online dictionaries, print dictionaries, specialised dictionaries etc are all very useful...



oh foras funding - like foinse???

[Kwekubo]

There is also Vicífhoclóir, the Irish version of Wiktionary. It runs on the same wiki software as Wikipedia, and is "open source" under a Creative Commons licence. A nice feature is that it accepts Irish-language definitions for words of any language, not just English or Irish - so it aims to become the "universal" dictionary for Irish speakers.

[Micilin Muc]

Originally Posted by conchubhar1

no they may add it - and later if they do.

They do add them and it takes a while because they have a rigorous process to create new terms.

Originally Posted by conchubhar1

oh foras funding - like foinse???

I said endorsement from Foras na Gaeilge/An Coiste Téarmaíochta, not funding. Acmhainn.ie has endorsement from An Coiste Téarmaíochta, but isn't funded by FnaG.

What's the benefit of irishdictionary.org being open sourced? I think it's a bit like launching an open-sourced version of Notepad to compete with Open Office or MS Office.

[conchubhar1]

okay - my bad on the wording.


Em - well that is up to the person. I would personally prefer the alternative as it can be made better and is free and open......

win win?

[Micilin Muc]

I don't think open-source will do the language any favours until the dictionary is of a high enough quality. I think a dictionary is best left to lexicographers rather than a language community.

Open-source is great for software: Firefox, Open Office and GIMP as prime examples of software that was built by the community. But they are very organised projects that have quality control measures. Also, they don't release a downloadable version until it's ready.

I'd sooner campaign for Gléacht to be available for free download.

[conchubhar1]

Good point.

Of course - I would prefer if gléacht was free or at least cheaper = or if I could find it beside on amazon.


There will be a cd drom of the new english irish dictionary in 2012 - but that is 17 months or more away...

and grossly overpriced I would imagine or though i have no basis for that

[Kwekubo]

Originally Posted by Micilin Muc

I don't think open-source will do the language any favours until the dictionary is of a high enough quality. I think a dictionary is best left to lexicographers rather than a language community.

Open-source is great for software: Firefox, Open Office and GIMP as prime examples of software that was built by the community. But they are very organised projects that have quality control measures. Also, they don't release a downloadable version until it's ready.

I'd sooner campaign for Gléacht to be available for free download.

Of course downloadable versions of open-source software are released before they are finished. Ever heard of beta versions?

Gléacht/FGB is of course the most definitive and comprehensive resource out there, but it is not complete. Open-source projects like Wikipedia/Wiktionary are not definitive (yet), but they are very useful as starting points for research - even more so when they are cross-referenced with primary sources like FGB/focal.ie - and they have the potential to cover much more. Moreover, others can re-use the content to create new tools - for example, software like spell-checkers or translators.

[Micilin Muc]

Aren't betas usually released to a group of experts rather than be made available on the front page of the website? I think this dictionary isn't good enough to be available publicly, even as a beta.

Maybe one of the problems I have with this dictionary is that it doesn't seem to have many active collaborators. Does it even have more than one moderator? As far as I know it was launched in January 09. It claims to have 300 collaborators. It has around 1500 headwords. That's an average of five words per collaborator over a 7 month period. That doesn't seem to be very well organised. Could the organisers seek support from An Coiste Téarmaíochta? If not, how about a project manager to co-ordinate it? A project manager or a management committee could be organised on a voluntary basis.