Comments on New Online Irish Dictionary?

[Micilín Mac Měchúra]

Since we're in the business of critiquing dictionaries, let me air a point about irishdictionary.ie (also known as englishirishdictionary.com). This dictionary has been online for some time and I agree that it is useful. I have certainly used it many times myself. But the issue I have with it is that the website doesn't actually say anything about itself. There is no mention on the website of who owns it, no name or address, and there is no explanation of where they got their data from. Have they written the dictionary themselves? If so, what method did they use, what was their approach? Or did they licence the data from somewhere? It's all shrouded in mystery, and I find that really strange. If these people have created such a useful resource, why aren't they telling us who they are? If anybody knows the answers to these questions, please share them.

Michal

> ------------ Původní zpráva ------------
> Od: Caoimhin O Donnaile <caoimhin at SMO.UHI.AC.UK>
> Předmět: Re: Comments on New Online Irish Dictionary?
> Datum: 23.9.2008 18:21:10
> ----------------------------------------
> > Although it is true that focal.ie* serves us well on specialized
> > vocabulary and terminology, there is currently no online dictionary
> > with a good treatment of the general, non-specialized vocabulary of
> > Irish. Eoin deserves credit for (1) recognizing that the gap exists
> > and (2) doing something to fill it.
> 
> I agree entirely.  www.irishdictionary.ie is a wonderful resource.
> It is the one I most use to check spelling and grammar and usage
> when I am in a hurry typing e-mails, etc.  The other two Irish Gaelic 
> dictionary resources I most use are focal.ie, and An Foclóir Beag.
> 
> An Foclóir Beag is great for grammar, but would be a lot more useful if 
> the interface were improved slightly - It has currently got the 
> collation order wrong for example - All the accented characters
> sort to the end of the alphabet after 'z'.
> 
> www.irishdictionary.ie has a lot of similarities with the Manx
> Gaelic facility at  http://www.mannin.info/Mannin/fockleyr/e2m.php
> which I also find wonderful.
> 
> Caoimhín
> 
> 
>