Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary of the year 1913 is in the public domain.
de mkj1887, 24 d’abril de 2017
Missatges: 1
Llengua: English
mkj1887 (Mostra el perfil) 24 d’abril de 2017 20.51.09
I’m pointing this out because I think many people might be unaware of that fact, and the fact that it could benefit Esperanto. It’s available at Project Gutenberg, here.
One thing I would like to see happen is for there to be a true English-Esperanto dictionary – that is, one that assumes no knowledge of English, and which defines the English entries using Esperanto, and which contains separate entries for all inflected forms (such as ‘feet’). When I found out that the copyright of Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary of the year 1913 is expired, it occurred to me that a simple solution (or, at least a first draft) would be to translate the definitions of this old Merriam-Webster edition into Esperanto, and add entries for the inflectional forms. In fact, except for the inflectional forms, we could have the best of both worlds: give the original entry and then the Esperanto translation right after it. I did this for two words: ‘considerate’ and ‘fain’, but then realized this must be a very long-range goal (such progress being at a snail’s pace for a lone individual), and so decided that for now I would just provide cross-referencing and occasional commentary in an Esperanto-hosted environment. So, that is where I am coming from in regard to my website, fyi.
Anyway, the bottom line of this post is that that old edition of Merriam-Webster is out there for whatever use anyone wants to make of it, and that some such use could seriously support Esperanto.
One thing I would like to see happen is for there to be a true English-Esperanto dictionary – that is, one that assumes no knowledge of English, and which defines the English entries using Esperanto, and which contains separate entries for all inflected forms (such as ‘feet’). When I found out that the copyright of Merriam-Webster’s unabridged dictionary of the year 1913 is expired, it occurred to me that a simple solution (or, at least a first draft) would be to translate the definitions of this old Merriam-Webster edition into Esperanto, and add entries for the inflectional forms. In fact, except for the inflectional forms, we could have the best of both worlds: give the original entry and then the Esperanto translation right after it. I did this for two words: ‘considerate’ and ‘fain’, but then realized this must be a very long-range goal (such progress being at a snail’s pace for a lone individual), and so decided that for now I would just provide cross-referencing and occasional commentary in an Esperanto-hosted environment. So, that is where I am coming from in regard to my website, fyi.
Anyway, the bottom line of this post is that that old edition of Merriam-Webster is out there for whatever use anyone wants to make of it, and that some such use could seriously support Esperanto.