შეტყობინებები: 10
ენა: English
VocabGuy (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 7 იანვარი, 2013 20:01:39
I'm a relative newcomer to Esperanto and I was wondering... What do you think is the best Esperanto dictionary out there? I would prefer to buy one in book form. I already have one, actually, but the definitions tend to be one word or so. I was hoping to find a dictionary that went into a little more depth. Any recommendations? Thanks!
Chainy (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 7 იანვარი, 2013 20:24:48
VocabGuy:...but the definitions tend to be one word or so.That's how it goes for English-Esperanto dictionaries at the moment. The best one available is by John C. Wells, published by Mondial. This dictionary often gives some indication in brackets as to how the words should be used, but there are also many occasions when there is no indication.
Still, it's a very good dictionary, and if something is not clear, then you can look online in the Reta Vortaro (ReVo) or Vortaro.net in order to get a more detailed definition of the words. These are Esperanto-only dictionaries, but it's easy enough to understand the definitions.
In fact, in the case of ReVo, you can also enter English words in the search field, and you will often find a translation. Each entry has translations into various languages, and English is usually there, but not always.
tommjames (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 7 იანვარი, 2013 21:31:24
Chainy (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 7 იანვარი, 2013 22:06:27
tommjames:For example take the English verb "go". Wells gives this verb 5 lines, whereas Benson treats it to over a page and a half.That's interesting. So, the Benson dictionary actually gives example sentences!? That sounds pretty good.
To be honest, I've never seen the Benson dictionary. I was put off from buying it due to the reports about some of the dodgy translations, where Benson apparently just randomly makes up words.
But, as you say, detailed definitions and examples are indeed very useful. So, the 'best dictionary' is probably a combination of the two, along with online resources...
tommjames (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 7 იანვარი, 2013 22:33:49
Chainy:That's interesting. So, the Benson dictionary actually gives example sentences!?There are some short phrases given yes, but they're in English and are given as examples of the idea one wishes to translate. Most of the space for "go" is taken by the various idiomatic and phrasal verb usages, like "go about", "go after", "go all-out", "go back on", "go in for", etc.
RiotNrrd (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 8 იანვარი, 2013 00:17:40
Purely personal preference, of course.
pdenisowski (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 12 იანვარი, 2013 05:43:07
RiotNrrd:I have both the CEED and the Wells dictionary. I far prefer the CEED.Same here.
Purely personal preference, of course.
erinja (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 12 იანვარი, 2013 23:16:34
eojeff (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 15 იანვარი, 2013 02:55:22
erinja:Incidentally, if you plan on buying the CEED, I advise that you NOT do it now. It is currently in revision for a new edition, so unless you're totally desperate, I'd wait till the new edition comes out.I don't have a CEED, but I keep hearing rumors about the update from time to time. Is there a projected release date for the CEED? How about a blog or news letter related to its update progress?
erinja (მომხმარებლის პროფილი) 15 იანვარი, 2013 03:22:20
eojeff:I don't have a CEED, but I keep hearing rumors about the update from time to time. Is there a projected release date for the CEED? How about a blog or news letter related to its update progress?No, that would require a level of organization almost unheard-of in the Esperanto world.
The only thing I know is that last fall, someone asked me if I would like to help proofread the text. And I said that I didn't have a lot of time, but that I'd help if I could, and I asked what the timeline was for completing the editing. And that was the last I heard of it. The person who asked me may know something about it but I haven't asked him.