[lojban-beginners] Re: Firefox Add-on: Lojban Popup Dictionary

[m.kornig@sondal.net]

Selon Vid Sintef <picos.picos@gmail.com>:

> What exactly do you mean by "a dictionary/database"?

Hi Sid, I was thinking of a database system like Oracle or MySQL
or Access. But I'm not sure now whether this is actually needed.
Maybe you could even use spread sheets??

> > The gismu list I know of has a lot strange English
> > phrasings in it and would not be very helpful, I'm afraid.
>
> Those English phrasings are not meant to primarily confuse us, but
> rather to clarify the facts about the place structures. I've been
> using it for about 5 months now, and I've got a certain knack to be
> "intuitive" over those phrasings, appropriately abstracting what you
> can see as a seemingly complex string of words. (Such an ability of
> flexible abstraction is, I think, vital in every learning of a
> language. Having recourse to the gismu list does not mean you are a
> hidebound, inelastic learner of the language.)
>
> I'd like to examine your opinion. Let's take these as examples:
>
>    {vipsi}   x1 is a deputy/vice/subordinate in aspect [or
> organization principle] x2 (ka) to principal x3
>
>    {juryri'a}   x1 = rinka1 (cause), x2 = junri1 (serious), x3 =
> junri2 (subject), x4 = rinka3 (causation conditions)
>
> If these phrasings are unhelpful as you said, what is the helpful
> option you have in mind for elaborating these definitions of {vipsi}
> and {juryri'a}?

Sorry, I don't understand the definition of {juryri'a}.

Let's take {vipsi} then. In many cases the translation "deputy" or
"assistant" or maybe "deputy/assistant" would be sufficient, wouldn't it?
I would claim that just one or two words would be helpful in many cases.
Often not all places are needed. So why show the entire definition
by default?

The other day I was looking for the translation of "house". And
it took me some 10 minutes to find {zdani} in the gismu list (which
is described by "nest" if I remember correctly). This is what I mean
by *strange phrasing*.

> My intention was basically to find out if there in the Lojban
> community is somebody who have both the knowledge of JavaScript and
> spare time. Obviously FireFox is an open source; if we want to produce
> our own add-on, we don't really have to ask the Mozzila Foundation to
> do the job, since our programmer, if any, should be able to see how
> the browser is built up and how the add-on in question should be set
> in.

Yes, I forgot it's open source.

Cheers, Martin