Re: The Smithy of Words by Tejas Harad

[augusto pinto]

This lovely article by Tejas Harad appeared recently in the EPW. 

I totally agree that the dictionary websites and the mobile dictionary app has changed the way we use dictionary. Whereas in the past one had to laboriously open the dictionary or thesaurus to search for a word, which made one hesitate using these tools, nowadays one can do that in seconds. It's made writing so much more easier.

One thing I miss is a Konkani dictionary website, which as a translator I find makes work so much slower. Maybe Konkani lexicographers like Damodar Ghanekar and Prakash Thaly should think of starting one. I would not mind even  paying for it if it is well designed and user friendly.

Augusto

On Mon, Jun 15, 2015 at 8:06 PM, augusto pinto <pint...@gmail.com> wrote:

The Smithy of Words 

The utility of dictionaries has increased with new technology and internet apps making reading a better experience for both native and non-native speakers of English. Tejas Harad I n school, whenever I read the Times of India I would come across many words that were unintelligible to me. So I would inevitably turn to my coveted bilingual (English to Marathi) dictionary that I had forced my parents to buy for me. But looking up the meaning of every diffi cult word slowed down my reading pace so much that I eventually gave up using the dictionary. And since then I have always found it cumbersome to search for a word in the big fat tome that a dictionary is. (Pocket dictionaries are generally useless because, to fi t your pocket, they contain only the most common words.) 

A friend of mine, a part-time teacher, narrated an incident that happened in her tuition class. She was teaching her students how to use a dictionary when a bright young girl asked, “Why search so much through the book? I just go on to the dictionary app on my phone and I get not only the meaning but the audio pronunciation as well.” Well, I can’t agree more with that girl’s pragmatic approach. For lazy bums like me, the dictionary app has been a real boon. 

The most renowned and authoritative dictionaries in the world, such as the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) and the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, are also available as smartphone apps. Since the first monolingual English dictionary was published in 1604 by Robert Cawdrey (containing around 2,500 entries), we have come a long way. 

But lexicographers have toiled for centuries for dictionaries to reach their current stage. Samuel Johnson—probably one of the two most famous lexicographers in the world (the other being Noah Webster)—took nine years to complete his dictionary, while the work on the OED’s first edition went on for 70 years. (Coincidentally, 15 April 2015 marked the 260th anniversary of Samuel Johnson’s A Dictionary of the English Language, which was published in 1755 in London.) 

Dictionary-making is a dead serious business. New words are added after rigorous vetting, and sources spanning centuries are constantly checked to fi x the correct etymology of words old and new. Samuel Johnson had famously defined a lexicographer as “a writer of dictionaries; a harmless drudge that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signifi cation of words.” 

But when we unshackle the dictionary from its printed pages and put it on the World Wide Web, it has the potential to transform itself magically. Urban Dictionary, a crowd-sourced initiative which started as a fun project in 1999, is the best example. Urban Dictionary is a place where you will often fi nd the quirkiest, funniest and sometimes very offensive definitions of words. That’s because it does not have any lexicographers, editors or any kind of gatekeepers on its staff. Word entries are submitted by the users and vetted by the users. So a neologism which may take years to appear in OED—or may never appear—can find place of pride in Urban Dictionary almost overnight. Consider these few word entries to sample the ingenuity of Urban Dictionary’s users-cum-amateur lexicographers: 

College: an expensive daycare centre 

Stupid: someone who has to look up “stupid” in the dictionary because they don’t know what it means 

Tequila: a Spanish word meaning, “I don’t remember doing that...” 

Aaron Peckham, the company’s founder and chief executive, told the Guardian, “Most dictionaries are objective. Urban Dictionary is completely subjective. It’s not presented as fact, (but) as opinions. I think that can be a lot more valuable.” The robustness and the tongue-in-cheek nature of a project like Urban Dictionary is possible only in the internet era. Though the immediacy, cheekiness and exuberance of Urban Dictionary are exciting traits, they are not desirable in a standard dictionary. But that doesn’t mean standard dictionaries have not been able to “win the internet.” They are present as stand-alone websites, on social media, and in smartphones. The great thing about the Web is that dictionaries do not face space constraints, and updating old entries or adding new ones is very easy. It is possible that OED’s third edition—on which a team of 70 philologists, including lexicographers, etymologists and pronunciation experts, has been working for the past 20 years—may not be printed at all. Nigel Portwood, the chief executive of Oxford University Press, told the Telegraph as much. “The print dictionary market is just disappearing, it is falling away by tens of percent a year,” he said. Asked if he thought the third edition would be printed, he said: “I don’t think so.” 

New technology has significantly reduced the time gap between encountering a difficult word and finding its meaning. Many internet-based products and services dealing with words come with pre-installed dictionaries. Amazon’s Kindle e-book reader has a functionality which allows you to tap on a word for a few milliseconds before its dictionary definition appears. Features like this, which have their genesis in the internet age, are making reading a better experience for not just non-native English speakers but native speakers as well. 

[augusto pinto]

[augusto pinto]

It seems that someone has been listening to my plea for a Konkani dictionary website :)

Augusto

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/city/goa/Soon-help-with-Konkani-words-will-be-a-phone-call-away/articleshow/47726168.cms

Panaji: Soon you will be able to pick up your phone and call for help if you are stuck with a word or phrase in Konkani, as the Goa Konkani Akademi is keen to create a helpline for Konkani lovers as part of its three-year vision. The organization will strive to become a research centre, president Madhav Borkar said.

The government-backed organization conveyed its future plans at a press conference called to announce the Goyenbab Jayanti festival which will be held on June 23 at Bicholim. The one-day festival will see panel discussions, quiz competitions and open discussions taking place.

In a bid to improve the quality of Konkani literature and build a readers' base, the Goa Konkani Akademi will create a writers group across the state where writers can submit their manuscripts for feedback and proofreading, writer Jose Lourenco said while speaking at the press conference.

The Akademi is also making a strong push on the digital front. As part of its move to go online, the Goa Konkani Akademi will explore developing a dictionary and online websites to help readers access Konkani literature through their phones.

"Very few websites host Konkani literary works and we must endeavor to improve the availability of Konkani literature online because today nearly 50% of reading is on phones," Lourenco said.

The Goa Konkani Akademi is also keen to expand its library and incorporate audio books and video footage. It is also eager to get literary works translated into English and other languages as well as translate English literary masterpieces into Konkani.

"The works of old masters, if they can be translated into abridged versions... some works by Konkani writers are not even available today if you want them," president Madhav Borkar said.

Goa Konkani Akademi plans to have its executive committee in place by early August and it will have a 10-12 member team. The institute's search for better office premises and its wait for an official vehicle continues.