Followers of my Twitter feed will be aware that I am currently undertaking some more work based around the frequency of occurrence of French words in newspaper articles and other contemporary sources.
As a spin-off of this work, approximately 1,500 words used in newspaper articles which are currently missing from the dictionary have been identified. As expected, various of these relate to recent politically oriented words, as well as new discoveries or names of what were once rarer fields of science etc which have now become relatively mainstream.
Watch this space (or follow BitterCoffey on Twitter) for updates as these new words are added to the dictionary.
Showing posts with label French dictionary. Show all posts
Showing posts with label French dictionary. Show all posts
November 11, 2011
June 20, 2011
English-French revision continues...
Readers may have seen from my various tweets that I am currently revising many of the English-French entries in the dictionary, particularly those that are currently in the form of an "index". Look out for improvements over the coming weeks. Suggestions for missing words that you would like to see included are always welcome.
June 6, 2011
English-French dictionary update
Today's update to the dictionary focuses primarily on the English-French side of the dictionary and improves on various French translations of common English words.
January 19, 2011
Improvements to the French dictionary
Some improvements have been made to make the French-English dictionary cope a little better with lookups of feminine and plural forms. In most cases, looking up a feminine or plural form will now direct you to the entry for the base form. (In total, around 20,000 extra plural forms and around 6,000 feminine forms are now accepted in this way.)
Further work is underway to improve the dictionary's ability to recognise feminine and plural forms of nouns and adjectives and these improvements are due to be released over the coming days.
Further work is underway to improve the dictionary's ability to recognise feminine and plural forms of nouns and adjectives and these improvements are due to be released over the coming days.
January 3, 2011
Updates and fixes
As mentioned in a previous post, the French Linguistics site was moved to a new server over the weekend.
Following this move:
- The French dictionary is being updated to include the latest additions and corrections. This means that some dictionary entries may be temporarily unavailable today while the data is being uploaded.
- A few minor corrections have been made for problems caused by compatibility issues with the new server. In particular, automatic translation quotes should now function correctly provided that the document submitted to the system is in a format recognised (currently DOC and DOCX files are recognised; for a translation quote for a PDF file, you may still have to submit it by e-mail: see the main translation service page for more details).
- Other "housekeeping" tasks are currently underway on the new server, such as running checks on the database. These may have a slight impact on the performance of the site over the next day or so. Thank you for your patience!
Following this move:
- The French dictionary is being updated to include the latest additions and corrections. This means that some dictionary entries may be temporarily unavailable today while the data is being uploaded.
- A few minor corrections have been made for problems caused by compatibility issues with the new server. In particular, automatic translation quotes should now function correctly provided that the document submitted to the system is in a format recognised (currently DOC and DOCX files are recognised; for a translation quote for a PDF file, you may still have to submit it by e-mail: see the main translation service page for more details).
- Other "housekeeping" tasks are currently underway on the new server, such as running checks on the database. These may have a slight impact on the performance of the site over the next day or so. Thank you for your patience!
November 29, 2010
Now easier to link to dictionary entries
A change has been made to the French-English dictionary to make it easier to link to dictionary entries from your blog or web site, or to e-mail links to French dictionary entries to yourself or other friends/colleagues.
Many entries now have their own URL. After looking a word up in the dictionary, you can copy the URL from the address bar of your browser, and later use that URL to look up the entry. This therefore allows you to link to the entry from blogs and other web pages, e-mails etc.
Many entries now have their own URL. After looking a word up in the dictionary, you can copy the URL from the address bar of your browser, and later use that URL to look up the entry. This therefore allows you to link to the entry from blogs and other web pages, e-mails etc.
November 26, 2010
Correction suggester added to French-English dictionary
A correction suggester has been added to the site's French dictionary. Whenever you look up a word that is not found in the dictionary, the system will attempt to find words in the dictionary which would sound similar to the word that you entered.
This is the first version of the correction suggester, which will be improved over time. At present, it is designed primarily to cope with cases where you are not sure of the exact spelling, or where you are copying from a French document where the author has misspelt a word. Over time, it will be extended to cope more completely with other types of typos, e.g. where a letter is accidentally omitted or the key next to the intended letter pressed.
Feedback on the correction suggester is welcome in the form of comments to this blog entry.
This is the first version of the correction suggester, which will be improved over time. At present, it is designed primarily to cope with cases where you are not sure of the exact spelling, or where you are copying from a French document where the author has misspelt a word. Over time, it will be extended to cope more completely with other types of typos, e.g. where a letter is accidentally omitted or the key next to the intended letter pressed.
Feedback on the correction suggester is welcome in the form of comments to this blog entry.
August 28, 2010
Update to the French dictionary
Today's minor update adds a few basic "declined" forms of words previously missing from the French dictionary.
August 16, 2010
French dictionary update
The site's French-English and English-French dictionaries have been updated today. As usual, the updates come in various forms:
- various corrections to minor spelling mistakes which users have pointed out over the last few months;
- new vocabulary has been added, particular in the field of computing and new technological developments (words such as biclef, jailbreaké, smartphone);
- expansion of the entries to some common and basic words.
As usual, your feedback on any of the entries is appreciated and helps to ensure that the site's French dictionary is being continually improved.
- various corrections to minor spelling mistakes which users have pointed out over the last few months;
- new vocabulary has been added, particular in the field of computing and new technological developments (words such as biclef, jailbreaké, smartphone);
- expansion of the entries to some common and basic words.
As usual, your feedback on any of the entries is appreciated and helps to ensure that the site's French dictionary is being continually improved.
January 24, 2010
Updates to the French dictionary and translation examples search
The site's French dictionary has been updated today. As usual, the update includes various corrections and expansions to entries, plus various new words. Many of the corrections have been made on the basis of users' feedback, and you are reminded that feedback on individual entries is always available via the feedback link that appears next to each one.
Users of the dictionary may also wish to know about an update to the translation examples search engine that was made earlier this week. You may now search for complete phrases as well as individual words. The phrase search is still a little primitive in that only exact matches will be found. However, it is hoped that this new feature will still be useful in getting ideas on how to translate a particular phrase or combination of words, and is expected to be improved in the future. It is still recommended that, when searching, you enter the word or phrase in question without accents.
Users of the dictionary may also wish to know about an update to the translation examples search engine that was made earlier this week. You may now search for complete phrases as well as individual words. The phrase search is still a little primitive in that only exact matches will be found. However, it is hoped that this new feature will still be useful in getting ideas on how to translate a particular phrase or combination of words, and is expected to be improved in the future. It is still recommended that, when searching, you enter the word or phrase in question without accents.
November 27, 2009
French 'SMS speak' decode reinstated
On the automatic French translation page, the "Decode SMS speak" function has been reinstanted. This function replaces some common SMS abbreviations used in French text messages so that the machine translator can understand them.
For example, c will be expanded to c'est; chuis to je suis; koi to quoi etc.
Certain more complex forms are also expanded: for example, jmappel will be expanded to je m'appelle. The SMS decoder is in constant development-- watch this space for further improvements!
Please note that the automatic translator is designed for translating whole sentences/paragraphs of text. For single words, it is still recommended that you use the French dictionary.
For example, c will be expanded to c'est; chuis to je suis; koi to quoi etc.
Certain more complex forms are also expanded: for example, jmappel will be expanded to je m'appelle. The SMS decoder is in constant development-- watch this space for further improvements!
Please note that the automatic translator is designed for translating whole sentences/paragraphs of text. For single words, it is still recommended that you use the French dictionary.
November 25, 2009
Today's French dictionary update
A number of new entries and improvements in both the English-French and French-English sides of the dictionaries have been uploaded today.
November 2, 2009
French dictionay update
As usual, today's update to the French dictionary adds various new entries and improvements to various English-French entries.
A question I've been asked a couple of times is whether I would like to be notified of missing entries. So I'd like to take this opportunity to ensure users that the dictionary system automatically notifies me of this and various other issues (including, for example, frequently consulted entries that contain few examples and are thus prime candidates for being expanded).
If you do find that the dictionary doesn't provide enough examples of a particular word, then remember that another useful resource is the translation examples site, which allows you to search a public domain database of translations between French and English (and various other language pairs).
A question I've been asked a couple of times is whether I would like to be notified of missing entries. So I'd like to take this opportunity to ensure users that the dictionary system automatically notifies me of this and various other issues (including, for example, frequently consulted entries that contain few examples and are thus prime candidates for being expanded).
If you do find that the dictionary doesn't provide enough examples of a particular word, then remember that another useful resource is the translation examples site, which allows you to search a public domain database of translations between French and English (and various other language pairs).
October 11, 2009
Dictionary update
Today saw another action-packed update of the French-English and English-French sides of the dictionary. Hurray!
September 14, 2009
French dictionary update
Today's update to the French dictionary includes a variety of new words and improvements to existing entries. Specific updates include:
Readers are also reminded that the French language forum is a useful source of information on a variety of topics, such as interpreting or translating a particular sentence of French.
- various new terms added in the fields of computing;
- various new terms of French and English legalese;
- improvements to various entries in the English-French side of the dictionary.
Readers are also reminded that the French language forum is a useful source of information on a variety of topics, such as interpreting or translating a particular sentence of French.
June 19, 2009
French dictionary update
Another small update to the French dictionary today to fix one or two minor typos and add a few more words and phrases. My thanks as usual to those who have written to me to mention typos that they have spotted and to make other suggestions. Your feedback is always welcome.
June 12, 2009
French Dictionary update
As usual, today's update to the French dictionary adds various new words and translations.
One interesting word that was missing, and is still missing from various of the large paper dictionaries, is étasunien, a neologism derived from États-Unis, and becoming increasingly common in journalistic writing. It came to my attention particularly this week as I was working on some translations for a UK newspaper. As rightly pointed out by my collaborator, although a slightly ugly word, it covers cases where a degree of "neutrality" is required: although the term américain is commonly used in French (as indeed the word American in English) to imply "from the US", there are various countries that consider themselves to be part of "America", but not part of the US. We were then faced with an interesting translation problem: where to draw the line between not wishing to express political or cultural bias, and avoiding a slightly awkward neologism where such a word was not present in the original text. When making a decision between, say, troupes américaines and troupes étasuniennes, there's some balance to strike between how well the text "reads" and politcal correctness. I hope in this case that we struck the right balance.
One interesting word that was missing, and is still missing from various of the large paper dictionaries, is étasunien, a neologism derived from États-Unis, and becoming increasingly common in journalistic writing. It came to my attention particularly this week as I was working on some translations for a UK newspaper. As rightly pointed out by my collaborator, although a slightly ugly word, it covers cases where a degree of "neutrality" is required: although the term américain is commonly used in French (as indeed the word American in English) to imply "from the US", there are various countries that consider themselves to be part of "America", but not part of the US. We were then faced with an interesting translation problem: where to draw the line between not wishing to express political or cultural bias, and avoiding a slightly awkward neologism where such a word was not present in the original text. When making a decision between, say, troupes américaines and troupes étasuniennes, there's some balance to strike between how well the text "reads" and politcal correctness. I hope in this case that we struck the right balance.
June 4, 2009
French Dictionary update
The latest update to the French-English dictionary adds various new words and terms, plus corrections to various entries.
Various improvements have also been made based on comments left by users on individual entries. I'd like to thank all those who have left comments.
Various improvements have also been made based on comments left by users on individual entries. I'd like to thank all those who have left comments.
May 24, 2009
Review: DK Visual French-English Bilingual Dictionary
A visual dictionary is an excellent way to learn or browse vocabulary by topic rather than alphabetically. The concept of a visual or pictorial dictionaries is nothing new: they've been around for a long time in technical spheres, for example.
The DK Visual French-English Bilingual dictionary, recently reviewed on the French Linguistics web site, strikes an excellent balance between range of vocabulary and avoiding too much detail or complication that could be daunting for intermediate learners. Rather than concentrating on technical topics, the dictionary covers many everyday topics such as travel, restaurants, the home, parts of the body etc, but with just that little more detail and ease of organisation compared to basic vocabulary books. As mentioned at the end of the review, modern technology means you can take the guesswork out of deciding if this dictionary is right for you. Use Amazon's the Look Inside option, and then click the Surprise Me! button to flick to a random page. Keep flicking to browse different topics and see if the dictionary looks right for you.
Interestingly, various other traditional dictionaries are also now available with this Look Inside option.
The DK Visual French-English Bilingual dictionary, recently reviewed on the French Linguistics web site, strikes an excellent balance between range of vocabulary and avoiding too much detail or complication that could be daunting for intermediate learners. Rather than concentrating on technical topics, the dictionary covers many everyday topics such as travel, restaurants, the home, parts of the body etc, but with just that little more detail and ease of organisation compared to basic vocabulary books. As mentioned at the end of the review, modern technology means you can take the guesswork out of deciding if this dictionary is right for you. Use Amazon's the Look Inside option, and then click the Surprise Me! button to flick to a random page. Keep flicking to browse different topics and see if the dictionary looks right for you.
Interestingly, various other traditional dictionaries are also now available with this Look Inside option.
April 12, 2009
Dictionary update
Today's update to the dictionary contains improvements to various English-French entries.
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