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Lexicography has never been so accessible

There are hundreds of dictionaries on the Internet. What I find interesting is the emergence of user-based dictionaries, which allow us to add new words with their grammatical categories. My favorites among them are bab.la and Glosbe.

I should make it clear that I am very much apprehensive about the quality of translation on these websites. However, what makes things interesting for me is the opportunity to be in touch with new words. The user interface is very easy. Another interesting aspect is that the founders of these websites are not from the Anglophone world. Glosbe and bab.la are based in Germany and Poland respectively. It is good to see that we have dictionaries which have around 7000 languages. Interestingly, Glosbe also has dictionaries for some artificial languages. And if you are not surprised enough, let me say that Glosbe has a dictionary of the extinct Ancient Greek language too!

If you have an interest in languages and lexicography, you will find the concept of user-based dictionaries very interesting. I am a native speaker of Hindi. This language is not as rich as English in terms of terminology in specialized fields. This is the reason I want to add as many words as possible to online dictionaries. This will make things easier for future generations of translators.   

     



 


 

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