MobileRead Forums - Dictionary FAQ

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- - Dictionary FAQ (https://www.mobileread.com/forums/showthread.php?t=131137)

Quote:

Originally Posted by JacquesTati (Post 2835040)

Sometimes, tapping on the past participle of a verb, the look-up dictionary gives me the meaning of the noun only. That’s quite irksome! And a waste of time, as well.

Unfortunately, the resolution of inflected word forms is hard-coded in the dictionary and couldn't be changed by a hack.
You could only change this behavior by installing a different dictionary. Maybe one of the Collins dictionaries is better suited for your needs. However, they got mixed reviews.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu (Post 2835071)

Thanks, Doitsu.
I hope they’ll fix it in the next update.

Can some1 write me inflection for dictionary but not the simple one that can be found.
A more complex will be best
THX

I have long used the excellent Larousse Spanish-Spanish dictionary on my old Kindle Touch. Now I have a shiny new Kindle Paperwhite and all my books transferred fine. A few DRM'd ones went in via Kindle App and Calibre with the de-DRM plugin. So far so good. Unfortunately the Kindle does not recognise the Larousse as a dictionary. I spent 20 hours converting the mobi file to AZW3, sent it to the device (using Calibre), but no good, the only Spanish dictionary I can use as I read is the truly awful Merriam-Webster thing and an almost equally inferior "Diccionario electronico".

I messed around a lot using Finder to move the file from a folder named "Unknown" to "Dictionaries", tried it with an empty folder named SDR (like 2 other dictionaries that work), IN the "SDR" folder, just in Documents, then in all 3 folders. When I try to read it on the Kindle it tells me there is something wrong with the file; I can read in in Calibre's e-Reader but it takes a LONG time to open. But I don't want to read a dictionary, I want to use it to look up meanings as I read. Metadata has "dictionaries" as a Tag and Spanish as "language".

Any ideas?? thanks in advance

Presumably you bought this from the Kindle Store in the first place? I'd suggest getting in touch with Kindle CS, and seeing if an updated version of the dictionary is available.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2984548)

I have long used the excellent Larousse Spanish-Spanish dictionary on my old Kindle Touch. Now I have a shiny new Kindle Paperwhite and all my books transferred fine.

Calibre cannot handle Kindle dictionaries. If you convert them with Calibre, they'll be converted to regular Kindle books, which is not what you want.
Simply copy them directly to the \document\dictionaries folder on your new PW.
(You'll have to DeDRM them, if they're DRM-protected and you don't want to register your new PW with Amazon.)

Thanks, Doitsu and HarryT. I bought the Larousse from a Spanish site I can no longer find; if Amazon had a good Spanish-Spanish dictionary I would be happy to buy it (I bought the "Diccionario electronico espanol" which does not have half the words I look up reading novels).

I have pasted the mobi and AZW3 files into the "Dictionaries" folder to no avail. I used "MobiMetaEditor" someone kindly posted on this forum, to set the input and output languages as Spanish. The Larousse shows up as a book and I can open it, but the Kindle does not know it is a dictionary despite the Tag.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2984601)

I bought the Larousse from a Spanish site I can no longer find; if Amazon had a good Spani.sh-Spanish dictionary I would be happy to buy it (I bought the "Diccionario electronico espanol" which does not have half the words I look up reading novels).

Amazon offers the Kindle edition of the DRAE for free for all Kindle owners, which should be more than enough for your needs.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2984601)

I have pasted the mobi and AZW3 files into the "Dictionaries" folder to no avail. I used "MobiMetaEditor" someone kindly posted on this forum, to set the input and output languages as Spanish.

Simply adding input and output languages doesn't turn a mobi book into a dictionary. Most likely your book doesn't contain the required tags or if it did contain them it was most likely converted with Calibre. You can test whether your book is actually a dictionary by unpacking it with KindleUnpack. (If it is indeed a dictionary, you should see lots of <idx:entry> and <idx:orth> tags.)

Doitsu, I am amazed! the DRAE would be wonderful, I have been all over their site and Amazon and cannot find it offered, free or otherwise, as an e-book. Could you kindly send me a link?

many thanks
Ted G

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2984658)

Doitsu, I am amazed! the DRAE would be wonderful, I have been all over their site and Amazon and cannot find it offered, free or otherwise, as an e-book. Could you kindly send me a link?

If your PW is registered, you can send the DRAE to your PW via your Amazon account web site:

Digital Contents > Manage Your Contents and Devices > Books > Dictionaries & User Guides > el Diccionario de la lengua española

You can also download this dictionary with the Kindle for PC version (or other Kindle apps). Simply open a Spanish Kindle book with it, look up a word, click the cogwheel button in the upper right corner of the dictionary window and select el Diccionario de la lengua española.

Doitsu, this is exciting. I opened the Kindle app on my Mac and indeed it downloaded. but it seems to be in the background and cannot be sent to my Kindle. however the link worked a charm and I am THRILLED. thank you SO MUCH for your very efficient help.

now how about a Modern Greek dictionary??

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2984724)

now how about a Modern Greek dictionary??

AFAIK, there's isn't one, but MR has a classical greek dictionary.

Can't read the papers with Classical Greek, sadly. at least my Spanish needs are met thanks to you! I searched and searched for the DRAE to buy, and there it was for free all the time. it's a strange world as the feller says.

I would like to get the Larousse back in a usable format if anyone knows how?

thanks again

Quote:

Originally Posted by tedgorton (Post 2985073)

If you look at the "Manage Your Kindle" page on Amazon's web site, you'll see a list of all the dictionaries that are available to you. There are about 13 of them in total.

It's great that Amazon has finally made the default dictionary feature available outside of the e-ink devices. It works on the iPad/iPhone app, and now on Kindle Fire, at long last.

I have a Fire HD 7 4th generation, and when you tap a word for lookup, you get the new "Smart Lookup" interface. This shows Wikipedia lookup initially, but if you swipe right twice, you see the dictionary definition. From there, you can tap on a "Change Dictionary" button to set the default dictionary.

It seems you have to have Fire OS 4.x installed to get this feature. I know 1st generation Fires can't get that software update, and I believe that to be true of 2nd generation devices as well (though I'd love to be wrong about that).

Does anyone know if this feature now works on Fire 3rd generation devices with the latest software? I'm not clear if 3rd gen devices can be updated to Fire OS 4.

Quote:

Originally Posted by intangible (Post 3135754)

Does anyone know if this feature now works on Fire 3rd generation devices with the latest software? I'm not clear if 3rd gen devices can be updated to Fire OS 4.

AFAIK, the latest Kindle for Android app offers the same features. I.e., hard-core Kindle dictionary aficionados with Kindle Fire devices that don't support Fire OS 4.x, could sideload and install the Kindle apk file from an APK mirror site and enjoy the same features. (This doesn't apply to the first two Kindle Fire generations, because the app requires at least Android 4.x.)

The usual caveats for side-loaded apps apply.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Difermo (Post 2720933)

found solution "tab2opf.exe -utf dict.txt

thanks, you saved my life

Hello! I created a new thread (i'll quote it below) asking if it is possible to convert a Kindle dictionary file into .bgl.

If moderators don't oppose to it, I would keep the thread since it could be easily find by other members who want to do the same thing. In case someone here knows how to do it and answer in this post, I'll go to my thread and post the answer there to help other users.

Quote:

Hello all!!

I was wondering if there is a way of converting a Kindle dictionary into a .bgl (or similar) file. I bought a French-Portuguese dictionary (Porto Editora) at Amazon.com and I would like to use it with Golden Dict and Anki Droid android apps.

I can't even find the dictionary file when i plug my Kindle in my PC, but supposing i realize how to do that (in a quick search in the forum I saw that there is some threads about how to do it), there is a way of converting this file into a bgl file?

Thank you in advance!
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...d.php?t=269689

Quote:

Originally Posted by mendesitba (Post 3238446)

I was wondering if there is a way of converting a Kindle dictionary into a .bgl (or similar) file. I bought a French-Portuguese dictionary (Porto Editora) at Amazon.com and I would like to use it with Golden Dict and Anki Droid android apps.

AFAIK, there is no automated solution. You'd have to do the following:

DeDRM the book.
Unpack it with KindleUnpack.
Open the main html file in a text editor that can handle very large files.
Using regular expressions, change the existing entry format to the GLS format* or a two-column excel spreadsheet.
Use Babylon Glossary Builder to generate the .bgl file.

As you can see this involves so much work that it's not really worth it.

* The GLS format is

Code:

headword1|synonym1|synonym2

Definition of headword1 in a single line



headword2|synonym1|synonym2

Definition of headword2 in a single line

Quote:

Originally Posted by mendesitba (Post 3238446)

Moderator Notice

Please do not double-post.

If you find a good solution and feel it is worthy of its own thread, I guess you could create a new "Tutorial" thread.
But as it is, you simply asked the same thing in two different places. That is not the best use of anyone's time...

Custom dictionary - are there workarounds for numbers and accented letters?

I have a Kindle Paperwhite and I am making a custom dictionary for it. However, I am meeting some issues and hoping someone can help.

It doesn't work to look up numbers
Example:

Code:

<idx:entry name="french" scriptable="yes" spell="yes"> <idx:orth>Article 1234</idx:orth>Lorem ipsum</idx:entry>
It can lookup a word with an accented letter, but not two words where both words have accented letters.
Example:

Code:

<idx:entry name="french" scriptable="yes" spell="yes"> <idx:orth>arrêt de règlement <idx:infl> <idx:iform value="arrêts de règlement" /> </idx:infl></idx:orth>Lorem ipsum</idx:entry>

Does anyone know of a workaround for these two issues?

Russian Dictionary

Hello,:help:

I tried to find help in the forum but quite couldn't.

I have an old kindke device. I think it is the Kindle 4th Gen (it has only WIFI, no keyboard buttons but no touch either, and I bought it with special offers).

I want to use it with Russian Ebooks and dictionaries.

The books work just fine, but I have no dictionary for Russian. I tried to copy a free dictionary to the kindle folder and under Settings->Dictionaries I only have english and cannot change the setting for Russian (or add a new language). I tried to set the english language dictionary to the russian one but without success.

I tried both book with russian language metafile and english language metafile (same book, I changed the metafile using calibre).

How can I use Russian dictionary in popup in order to read properly? I don't mind buying a dictionary for a few dollars. I just want it to work.

Excuse me if I repeated previous questions.
Have a great week,
Rami

Quote:

Originally Posted by itfs (Post 3508127)

Nobody knows?

Take a look at the time of your first post.

Then weigh the cost you are paying for support vs. the time (and time of day) you allowed for an answer.

Plus, you are in the wrong forum, try:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/fo...play.php?f=168

@itfs: You might want to ask a moderator to move your post to the Dictionary FAQ topic where it belongs.

Kindle dictionaries definitely support accented characters, but unlike Mobipocket Reader, Kindles will only display the first match and depending on the dictionary attributes words with accented characters might be treated like words without accented characters or vice versa.

Also you can't look up multiple words with the popup dictionary.

Edit: I found out that it is possible to look up multiple words.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ramiv (Post 3503851)

Dictionaries have a specific Kindle format to enable lookup. There are also ebooks that are 'Russian-English dictionaries' but are not in the dictionary format, and cannot be used for lookup. They're just ebook editions of print book, and you have to navigate it just as any other ebook. Perhaps this is the issue here.

I have used a Russian-English dictionary on my Kindle Keyboard (some free one I found and can no longer find), so something should work on your 'K4' (I assume this is the one without keyboard and touchscreen). There is a Russian-English translation dictionary for sale in the US Kindle Store (https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007R1W9PO/), but it is not very good: you are lucky if one word in ten is found.

I would suggest getting a new Kindle - they include decent translation dictionaries for Russian, and you can also add Russian keyboard layout for entering text. Moreover, when you are online you can select phrases and entire paragraphs and it will translate the whole thing via Bing translate. These are not always great but usually good enough to get the gist. Fire tablets have this translate feature and also TTS voices for Russian. My Fire is a couple of generations back and does not have Russian dictionaries (or option to select Russian user interface), maybe this has changed with newer devices.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu (Post 3509177)

@itfs: You might want to ask a moderator to move your post to the Dictionary FAQ topic where it belongs.
Also you can't look up multiple words with the popup dictionary.

Weird! I didn't get any notifications that people had responded and only saw this by coincidence.

I can indeed look up a term with multiple words with the popup dictionary. I can look up terms with up to 4 words to be exact.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu (Post 3509177)

Kindle dictionaries definitely support accented characters, but unlike Mobipocket Reader, Kindles will only display the first match and depending on the dictionary attributes words with accented characters might be treated like words without accented characters or vice versa.

In fact the dictionary shows definition of the single form "arrêt de règlement", but not the definition of the plural form "arrêts de règlement".
It is the same with all terms with accented letters on multiple words. It works correctly with terms of multiple words without accents or terms of multiple where only one word is accented.

Quote:

Originally Posted by itfs (Post 3510294)

I can indeed look up a term with multiple words with the popup dictionary. I can look up terms with up to 4 words to be exact.

You're right. I re-tested it on my PW2 and was able to select multiple words. :o

Quote:

Originally Posted by itfs (Post 3510294)

Check the settings in your CP -

You want "subscribe all" on if you expect to be notified of responses to a thread that you start.

You can also select subscribe in the thread tools drop-down box if you want notifications of replies in threads that you did not start.

Your CP also has a section where you can manage your subscriptions (once you have at least one).

I'm trying to put new dictionaries on my Paperwhite, I'm reading Latin, Middle English, and Chinese (traditional characters. I've found the most recommended Latin dictionary online)over 150 vyears old, so no copyright issues), and think i can get in plaintext. hoiw do I get from plaintext to tab delimited in order to follow your instructiona about getting this to work as a dictionary on kindle. I can also get the plaintext of the Chinese dictionary I want to use. Amazon's built in Chhinese-English duictionariy doesn't recognize most characters i need. I've tried it often, with no success. But i'm reaDding Tang dynasty stuff and the built-in is Modern Chinese. I have two Middle English dictionaries in mobi and have been using them by exiting what i'm reading, pulling one of them up from the book list. and using the "search" feature to find the words needed. This is cumbersome and i'd like to have he instant lookup i get with the French and German dictionaries standard with my Paperwhite. i'm not a programmer so am looking for a a simple and layman-accessible solution. i tried Amazon Customer Service but they couldn't help.

Quote:

Originally Posted by stehk (Post 1513960)

Apparently there are a lot of problems with the dictionary support on the kindle fire and the k4s. This FAQ is not valid for them.
since there seem to pop up similar questions about dictionaries quite frequently i decided to write a little faq. maybe it contains some errors, but it might be useful to some people
Q: How does the kindle decide which dictionary to use
A: You can change the primary dictionary under menu -> settings -> menu -> change primary dictionary. This dictionary will be used for every book, with one exception:
Each book has a language-metadata entry. If a book is- say german- and you have a german dictionary on your device it will be used regardless of your dictionary.
Q: How can I look at / change the language metadata of a book.
A: Windows users can install mobihandler which will show the metadata file in your file explorer under properties. (note that dictionaries have a different language metadata which for example shows up in the mobipocket reader)
To change the metadata you best use the gui for the mobi2mobi perl script.
Q:Is it possible to use more than one dictionary for instant lookup at a time
A: No. But it is possible to have instant lookup for a dictionary -> press enter -> instantly look up within this dictionary from another dictionary.
Q: What does with / without inflections mean?
Ordinary dictionaries only show the infintive form of most words. Commercial mobi and prc dictionaries usually know inflections. So if you read: forbade, forbidden,... the dictionary will jump right to forbid)...
Self created dictionaries usually don't know inflections (unless someone has invested a lot of work)
Q: Where can I find dictionaries to buy/download for free
Most commercial dictionaries are drm protected and made for the old mobipocket reader (amazon bought mobipocket, used their software for the kindle and stopped developement on mobipocket).
So one of the best sources still is www.mobipocket.com keep in mind that you have to de-drm all books from that page (but still the best german to english/italian/spanish/french and vice-versa dicts- ). And of course the obvious www.amazon.com.
For free dictionaries look at this post:
Additionally:
Webster 1913: (according to arno schmitt it's fundamental to use a dictionary of the same era with the book you're reading- So I yearn to get this german classic on the kindle :) )
Some people even wrote inflections for their free dictionaries:
Spanish-English
French-romanian / English Romanian
Amazon has a free version of the quite extensive Duden UniversalwÃ¶rterbuch (german-german)- which you can download freely to your PC with kindle for PC. (They are having technical difficulties with the kindles themselves though). The downloaded book in this case is DRM protected and needs to be de-drm before it can be read on your kindle.
This list is not complete at all- just google
Q: Is it possible to create my own dictionary
Yes. If you have a tab deliminated txt file, or a stardict dictionary it's quite easy.
Or the mobipocket guide <-- Create a dictionary from scratch.
Q: How can I add inflections to my dictionary?
A: You need to modify the HTML source (after you convert your stardict/tab delimited txt). A minimal dictionary source file with inflections is demonstrated in this post.
Q: Where can I find a chinese/japanese dictionary?
A: While it is possible with the fonthack to display chinese and japanese fonts, it has been reported that dictionaries don't really work. Your best bet is the duokan firmware, which has stardict dictionary support.
Q: Is there dictionary support for pdf
The kindle 3 has dictionary support for pdf, the kindle 2 doesn't, but there's a hack for putting the firmware of the kindle 3 on your kindle 2
Q: Is it possible to use the dictionaries I have purchased for my kindle (or elsewhere) on my Android device / Iphone?
If your dictionaries are DRM-free there is one possibilty I know of (please post if you know any other):
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...1&postcount=10
(I don't know how well this works with dicts purchased in the amazon store, you have to de-drm and probably rename to .prc and then it may work)

Quote:

Originally Posted by Gregorius I (Post 3677755)

I'm trying to put new dictionaries on my Paperwhite, I'm reading Latin, Middle English, and Chinese (traditional characters.

I can't help you with the Chinese dictionaries, but I might be able to reformat your Middle English dictionaries so that you can use them as popup dictionaries, if the content is in the Public Domain. For best results you'll also need a text file with inflections for each headword. I'm not familiar with Middle English, but for Modern English the entry for go would look like this:

Code:

go, goes, went, going, gone

For Latin, you might find this free Kindle dictionary with inflection support helpful:

Whitaker Latin Dictionary

I read only in two languages: English and Spanish. My Kindle invariably selects the correct dictionary automatically.