Making a new dictionary?

["Hart, Geoff" <Geoff-H -at- MTL -dot- FERIC -dot- CA>]

Edison Astudillo has just started  a project to create <<...a new  Spanish
English / English Spanish [dictionary] ... designed to be used by Spanish
tutors to teach.>>

Before you get too deeply into this project, ask yourself why the existing
dictionaries aren't good enough. Given the vast number of English<-->other
language dictionaries available, I'd be very surprised if there isn't
already one in existence that meets your needs. I have a small pocketbook
dictionary at home that seems reasonably complete the few times I've used
it, and it would certainly meet my needs as a student of the language. You
should plan your approach to resolve the problems with the existing
dictionaries.

Second, and probably more important, you need to be aware that creating a
dictionary isn't simply a matter of rewording the definitions from someone
else's dictionary. My Webster's New Collegiate lists more than 30 staffers
(in addition to those who didn't get named), and these people were working
from existing (older) versions of the same dictionary. And that's just in
one language. What makes you think you could tackle such a huge task
yourself--once for each language?

<<What I planning to do is to use some other dictionaries, copy and change
the words needed, add my own examples contract a professional to correct
whatever errors there and that's all.>>

I know we're not supposed to critique each other's writing style on this
list, but I'll make an exception this time: the way you wrote this query to
techwr-l (for example, this last sentence) shows that either your English
needs some polishing (it should be flawless and indistinguishable from a
native speaker if you're going to tackle a dictionary project) or that
you're working too fast to take the time to do it right (and creating a
dictionary requires a scrupulously methodical and careful approach). Because
most of us don't carefully edit our e-mails, I may be misjudging your
skills, but I felt obliged to point out that creating a useful dictionary is
a job for the best of the best, not just for someone who sees a need for the
work.

<<I think should be others choices I have not considered, isn't it?>>

One good approach might be to offer to work with a publisher of an existing
dictionary. As noted above, the staff that creates a dictionary is quite
large, and if you can persuade them you have identified serious flaws in
their current dictionary, it's quite likely that you can get them to hire
you to help resolve those flaws. Another approach might be to create
vocabulary lists or "dialogues" that show the use of these words; a
dictionary is great for learning words, but isn't much use for learning to
speak in a language. For that, you need examples of how the words are used
to create sentences and how sentences are used to create conversations.
Since you're an experienced teacher, creating such aids for other teachers
might be a far better use of your time.

<<On the other hand, how does the copyright work about dictionaries? Can you
just copy here and there, change one word here and there and then it becomes
your work?>>

No, you can't. You have to create your own definitions, in your own words,
and in your own style. Don't forget that large dictionary publishers have
large legal staffs, and even if they might lose a lawsuit, they could keep
you in court long enough to bankrupt you. You might eventually win, but it
would be a pyrrhic victory.

--Geoff Hart, geoff-h -at- mtl -dot- feric -dot- ca
Forest Engineering Research Institute of Canada
580 boul. St-Jean
Pointe-Claire, Que., H9R 3J9 Canada 

"Work is of two kinds: first, altering the position of matter at or near the
earth's surface relative to other matter; second, telling other people to do
so. The first is unpleasant and ill-paid; the second is pleasant and highly
paid."--Bertrand Russell


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