Reversing a Bilingual Dictionary: a mixed blessing? (original) (raw)

The presentation focuses on the experience of reversing a general Estonian-English dictionary of about 49,000 entries and 93,000 equivalents by means of the Tshwanelex dictionary compilation software. The reversal served two purposes. First, it seemed appropriate to reuse the established cross-linguistic equivalents in the Estonian-English dictionary for the B part of a new English-Estonian dictionary. Second, one also expected to enlarge and improve the reversed Estonian-English dictionary in the course of the post-editing phase. So far the post-editing phase of the English-Estonian dictionary has been highly rewarding. In fact, it could be regarded as simultaneous cross-fertilization of both dictionaries, especially with regard to additional meanings and a more balanced treatment of synonyms. On the other hand, the post-editing phase of a general dictionary has been more time-consuming than expected. It is also argued that, on the one hand, the reversal mercilessly reveals the dra...