Pranav, Thanks you. You mean it requires scripts to make it worth with Jaws, and someone's written them?this could be interesting. Thanks. . ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pranav Lal" <pranav.lal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 5:34 PM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries Yardbird, You can download the american heritage dictionary from http://dictionary.reference.com/go/http://www.houghtonmifflinbooks.com/eref/buy_HMAFF00004.jsp However, there is some jffw customisation you need to do. I will post about this under separate cover in a couple of days. Pranav on Sunday 11/6/2005 02:46 AM, Yardbird said: Hi, first of all, sorry to have left the "e" off the Latin infinitive. A typo. Anyway, all those usage examples of the verb are nice, but not what I am concerned about, and at the end of all those usage examples, I don't see any actual etymology. You said at the end of it all, just before my original message header? Maybe I missed something. But I didn't even see a breakdown of the prefix and the foundation verb, which is usually the beginning of the etymological tracery, let alone further breakdowns. Hmm. I don't know. Isn't there a CD version of the adult American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language? That would do. And no, I'm not into the O.E. D. as a primary source, however fascinating it can be (Oxford English Dictionary). I wouldn't mind having it available for a secondary reference or browsing, but not in first place for ordinary usage. Anyway. Did I miss something? Did you mean there seems to be some nod to word history with a couple of initials and stuff like that? I didn't "see" any shorthand aside from stuff like v for verb, tr. for transitive, and that sort of thing. Nothing to do with linguistics, only with usage. Grumble. Now that You've got me interested, I think I'll go online and google Am Her and see what I come up with. Or go to amazon.com to see if they sell CD ROM versions of other dictionaries, as well. Thanks again. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G.W. Cox" <gwcox2@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 12:57 PM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries I wasn't at all offended and if I wish to reply privately, I can do so. Since it is in that popular applications group, I assume that it was scripted by FS. It works fine with Jaws. As far as pronunciation goes, I can't attest to what I was thinking at the time I installed it, but perhaps I figured their synthesizer is but another synthesizer. The Latin verb to which you refer is "spirare". The dictionary has etymology but you have to interpret it carefully and some symbols just don't work. That's at the end of this. In spire (in sp#rÆ), v., -spired, -spir ing. -v.t. 1. to fill with an animating, quickening, or exalting influence: His courage inspired his followers. 2. to produce or arouse (a feeling, thought, etc.): to inspire confidence in others. 3. to fill or affect with a specified feeling, thought, etc.: to inspire a person with distrust. 4. to influence or impel: Competition inspired her to greater efforts. 5. to animate, as an influence, feeling, thought, or the like, does: They were inspired by a belief in a better future. 6. to communicate or suggest by a divine or supernatural influence: writings inspired by God. 7. to guide or control by divine influence. 8. to prompt or instigate (utterances, acts, etc.) by influence, without avowal of responsibility. 9. to give rise to, bring about, cause, etc.: a philosophy that inspired a revolution. 10. to take (air, gases, etc.) into the lungs in breathing; inhale. 11. Archaic. a. to infuse (breath, life, etc.) by breathing (usually fol. by into). b. to breathe into or upon. -v.i. 12. to give inspiration. 13. to inhale. [1300-50; ME inspiren < L insp#r!re to breathe upon or into, equiv. to in- IN-2 + sp#r!re to breathe] -in·spir·a·tive (in sp#rÆÃ tiv, inÆspi r!Åtiv), adj. -in·spirÆer, n. -in·spirÆing·ly, adv. ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 1:12 PM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries Hi Jerry, Sorry if you're offended by my having intruded to ask these questions when you wish to be communicating only with the other person, but thanks all the more for bearing with me. You don't say how accessible the normal functions, reading and searches are with jaws, but as you didn't complain, I'll assume it works with jaws. As far as the pronunciation goes, there are times when I'm curious to hear a conventional pronunciation of an unfamiliar word, and I don't at all trust Jaws to know how to phonetically parse many such things. Once I'm sure of the predominant pronunciation, *then* I can tweak the Jaws dictionary to say the word as I want it to. But I don't think there are words I don't know yet that Jaws knows how to pronounce. That's been my experience, so far. I don't hold it against Jaws. I enjoy playing with the dictionary to invent a spelling that will get Jaws to say things correctly. That's a fun challenge. Last, I was amused by your digging up "yardbird" from the dictionary, but I'm a little surprised, given the dictionary's virtual heft and the fact that it's American, for there to be no mention that this was the (very famous) nickname of the great jazz saxophonist, Charlie Parker. Honestly, that isn't culturally esoteric, not by a long shot. But whatever, as we say. One last question: Thinking of other sorts of words, not slang like that one, does the thing provide etymology, or not? You didn't say. You know what I mean? Say, take the word "inspire." An etymology would explain that the word's derived from the prefix "in" plus the Latin "spirar," to breathe (and therein is the earliest meaning of the word, the idea that a brilliant insight or creative idea was gotten by metaphorically or actually breathing in the spirit and the breath of the gods), and from there it would relate those syllables (morphemes, actually) to their earlier origins in earlier languages and language groups, back to proto Indo-European, where you could see more connections. Does it have this sort of stuff? This isn't an academic question. A good dictionary always includes etymology, and it doesn't have to be big enough to need a stand in a library for that. Thanks again. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G.W. Cox" <gwcox2@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 11:25 AM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries Firstly, I was responding to Pranav, but that's OK. My guess is it is the equivalent of those behemoths that libraries put on a pedestal. If you look in popular applications with Jaws in the help menu, you'll find it under Random House. There is another one which I believe is like the collegiate and coupled with a thesaurus. I don't know how well the pronunciation works. I think I may not have installed that since I would have Jaws running anyway. As far as looking up a word, I got as far as y a r d b and it echoed back yardbird for this definition-- bird (yärdÆbûrdÅ), n. Slang. 1. a convict or prisoner. 2. an army recruit. 3. a soldier confined to camp and assigned to cleaning the grounds or other menial tasks as punishment for violation of the rules. [1940-45, Amer.; YARD2 + BIRD, by analogy with JAILBIRD] I guess the only detraction may be that some phonetic symbols translate poorly in Jaws. Jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Yardbird" <yardbird@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 11:55 AM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries Jerry, I just took a look at the listing online, and it does appear to be more the sort of "serious" dictionary" of which several different versions are sitting in one of my bookcases, untouched except for dusting for more years than I care to enumerate at this point. So far, so good but, and here there may be a Catch-22, I'm aware-- do you have experience with this, using Jaws? If so, how accessible is it in most of its uses, except of course for the illustrations? Does the search function work okay with Jaws? Do the definitions read and navigate all right? Does the pronunciation feature speak without conflicting with Jaws or being silenced by its presence? Thanks a lot. ----- Original Message ----- From: "G.W. Cox" <gwcox2@xxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 10:34 AM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries I believe you meant Francis. The one I'd talked about was the Random House Webster's Unabridged at http://www.randomhouse.com/catalog/results.pperl?title_auth_isbn=webster%27s+unabridged+dictionary It is the CD version, about $20 and the equivalent of the 2,256-page hardcover. Jerry ----- Original Message ----- From: "Pranav Lal" <pranav.lal@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> To: <jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> Sent: Saturday, November 05, 2005 9:37 AM Subject: Re: Seeking accessible offline dictionaries Jerry, The description states: How does this compare to a standard dictionary? Well, a standard desktop dictionary contains about 110,000 words with definitions and is about 800 pages. However, the UTD also includes sentences using each defined word in context, for every "sense (meaning)" of the word. PL] Is this feature in the demo? If yes, I cannot find it. Try the following words hubris Bowdlerize definition exquisite Finally, the lookup word combo box does not seem to support copy and paste? I have tried pasting text into it and nothing happens. Pranav --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pranav -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. 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Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- Internal Virus Database is out-of-date. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.6/151 - Release Date: 10/28/2005 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Pranav -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx -- No virus found in this incoming message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- No virus found in this outgoing message. Checked by AVG Free Edition. Version: 7.1.362 / Virus Database: 267.12.8/161 - Release Date: 11/3/2005 -- To post a message to the list, send it to jfw@xxxxxxxxxxxxx To unsubscribe from this mailing list, send a message to jfw-request@xxxxxxxxxxxxx with the word unsubscribe in the subject line. Archives located at: //www.freelists.org/archives/jfw If you have any concerns about the list, post received from the list, or the way the list is being run, do not post them to the list. Rather contact the list owner at jfw-admins@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx