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A 'bilingual dictionary' is a dictionary that is used to translate words or phrases from one language to another. Bilingual dictionaries can be ''unidirectional'', meaning that they list the meanings of words of one language in another, or can be ''bidirectional'', allowing translation to and from both languages. Bidirectional bilingual dictionaries usually consist of two sections, each listing words and phrases of one language alphabetically with their translation. Other features sometimes present in bilingual dictionaries are phrase books, usage and style guides, verb tables and maps.

Contents

Challenges for the bilingual dictionary

Reverse lookups

Bilingual dictionary formats

See also

External links

Challenges for the bilingual dictionary

Perhaps the most difficult aspect of creating a bilingual dictionary is the fact that lexemes or words cover more than one area of meaning, but these multiple meanings don't correspond to a single word in the target language. For example, in English, a 'ticket' can get you into the movie theater, or can be given to you by a police officer for exceeding the posted speed limit. In Spanish these two meanings are not covered by one word as in English, but rather there are several options: 'boleto' or 'entrada' and 'infracción'.

Reverse lookups

To combat the above problem, the user can perform a reverse lookup. In the above-mentioned example in English and Spanish of the word 'ticket', after finding that ticket is translated into ''boleto'' and ''infracción'' in the English-Spanish dictionary, both of those Spanish words can be looked up in the Spanish-English section to help to identify which one has the meaning being sought. Reverse lookups can usually be performed faster with Dictionary programs and online dictionaries.

Bilingual dictionary formats

Bilingual dictionaries are available in a number of formats, and often include a grammar reference and usage examples.

★ 'Printed dictionaries' - Printed dictionaries range from small pocket-sized editions to large, comprehensive multi-volume works.

★ 'Handheld Electronic dictionaries' - Electronic dictionaries are small devices that receive input via a miniature keyboard, voice recognition or a scanning device that reads printed text, and outputs the translation on a small LCD screen or speaks the translation audibly.

★ 'Dictionary programs' - Computer software that allows words or phrases to be input and translated.

★ 'Online dictionaries' - Online dictionaries similar to dictionary programs, these are often easy to search, but not always free to use, and in some cases lack the credibility of printed and electronic dictionaries.

★ 'Visual dictionaries' - A visual dictionary is a printed dictionary that relies primarily on illustrations to provide the user with a reliable way of identifying the correct translation. Visual dictionaries are often multi-lingual rather than bilingual-- instead of containing translations between two languages they often cover four or more languages.

See also

★ Computer-Assisted Translation

★ Dictionary

★ Translation dictionary

★ Machine Translation

★ Mariano Velazquez de la Cadena (Spanish-English bilingual dictionary author)

External links

''Sample bilingual dictionaries 'online'''

★ [1] 'Travlang' 18+ language pairs

★ [2] 'Tomísimo' Spanish <-> English

★ [3] 'Leo' German <-> English

★ [4] 'Sztaki' International languages to Hungarian and vice versa