Further testing the Sambahsa - English dictionary on GoldenDict

Wednesday, April 18, 2012

I mentioned in yesterday's post that the newly-created dictionary for Sambahsa on GoldenDict (a kind of dictionary software) is best for reading content that has already been created, and with a bit of time today I tested this out. Using Le Petit Prince / The Little Prince in Sambahsa, I have looked up every word in the dedication while pretending to be an English speaker that does not know much or anything about other languages (least of all Sambahsa) to see how easy it is to go through a story like this with dictionary in hand.

The quick conclusion: quite good, and will be much better with further tweaking. Verb conjugation is the biggest problem here (ho appears a lot but does not have its own entry), plus some rough edges here and there such as entries like quan(do) which technically do not bring up a search result for either quan or quando.

Also, reading Sambahsa in this way is way, way more enjoyable than otherwise (a .txt file on a large page in Firefox using ctrl-f to search). Words like im and ei I really do not enjoy learning in grammatical tables as I much prefer to see words in context, and seeing them in practice is much nicer.

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Here it is word by word:

Ad Léon Werth

ad = at

Beudo pardon im magven ob dedievs tod buk uni balirh. 
buedo = ?
pardon = pardon
im = to them
magv = child
ob = because of
dedievs = ? may recognize dedie (dedicate)
tod = this
buk = book
uni = to a(n)
balirh = adult

Ho un serieus excuse : 
ho = ?
un = an
serieus = serious
excuse = excuse

so balirh est is sellst prient ho tienxia. 
so = that
balirh = adult
est = is
is = the
sellst = ? but may recognize sell (good)
prient = friend
ho = ?
tienxia = everywhere

(Question for Olivier: Sambahsa doesn't need od here? is sellst prient od ho tienxia...)

Ho alyum excuse : 
ho = ?
alyum = ?
excuse = excuse

so balirh ghehdt prete quant, hatta buks promagvens. 
so = that
balirh = adult
ghehdt = ghehdt doesn't exist but ghehd (can, is able) is obvious enough.
prete = understand
quant = all
hatta = even
buks = books
pro = for
magv = child, as above.

Ho un trit excuse : 
ho = ?
un = a
trit = ?
excuse = excuse

so balirh weict in France quer is paytt ob hungher ed srigos. 
so = that
balirh = adult
weict = ? the nearest entry is Weicmen, meaning "inhabited Earth, ecumene".
in = in
France = France
quer = where
is = he
paytt = suffer
ob = because of
hungher = hunger
ed = and
srigos = not in dictionary, but srig = cold. Reader may wonder if Léon Werth is frequently ill.

Is want husur. 
is = he
want = ? reader will probably assume 'want'.
husur = comfort

Sei quant ta excuses ne sont kafi, 
sei = if
quant = all
ta = these, those
excuses = excuses
ne = not
sont = are
kafi = enough

io accepte dedie tod buk ei magvi qui so balirh buit prevst. 
io = I
accepte = accept
dedie = as above
tod = this
buk = book
ei = to him
magvi = dictionary has magv, child
qui = ":masculine singular nominative singular pronoun ; undetermined plural nominative ; accusative interrogative ; relative pronoun" -- probably confusing to the reader.
so = that
balirh = adult
buit = he was
prevst = once, before

Vasyi balirhs buir magvi prever (bet pauks ex i mehme to). 
vasyi = not in dictionary, but vasyo (all) is there
balirhs = adults
buir = they were
magvi = as above
prever = former
bet = but
pauks = not in dictionary. pau (few) exists.
ex = out of
i = them
mehme = not in dictionary, but mehmen = remembrance.
to = that

Corrego ghi mien dedication : 
corrego = not in dictionary, but correg for correct (vt) is there.
ghi = "has no definite meaning, it often appears in second position in a clause and serves to emphasize the"
mien = my
dedication = dedication

Ad Léon Werth quan is eet un lytil pwarn
ad = to
quan = quan(do) has 'when'.
is = he
eet = he was
un = a
lytil = little
pwarn = boy

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