Additional Dictionaries for Kindle Paperwhite

Buddhaxe · 07-06-2013, 04:02 PM

Hi All,

I have just bought a Kindle Paperwhite and it seems to be a great reader. Only one major disappointment for me => Limited language support.

I would love to have a Dutch dictionary (which was default on my Sony PRS-T1). I have contacted Amazon support but they say that they cannot help me.

I have found a Dutch EPUB dictionary and after a whole day of trying, I have been able to convert it to mobi format (Calibre couldn't handle a file with so many indexes).

However, my kindle does not recognize this file as a dictionary. Is there any way to change this?

Or does anybody know how to find / add / create a dictionary in languages other than those supported by Amazon?

I would be so grateful for your help! :-)

Thanks!

HarryT · 07-06-2013, 04:04 PM

Are there no Dutch dictionaries in the Kindle store?

Buddhaxe · 07-06-2013, 04:14 PM

Thanks for your quick reply.

Surprisingly, there are no Dutch dictionaries available on Amazon :-(

There is one basic dictionary that translates English to Dutch but that is not what I would need. I would need Dutch explanatory dictionary or at least Dutch to English. But none available. Amazon Support also looked for me.

GoSharks · 07-06-2013, 04:38 PM

You might try posting in the German Amazon forum here....someone may be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck. Welcome to MR!

Doitsu · 07-07-2013, 03:01 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddhaxe

I have found a Dutch EPUB dictionary and after a whole day of trying, I have been able to convert it to mobi format (Calibre couldn't handle a file with so many indexes).

However, my kindle does not recognize this file as a dictionary. Is there any way to change this?

Mobi dictionaries require two special non-standard <x-metadata> entries in the .opf file. For example, for a Dutch-English dictionary, you'd need the following entries:

Code:

<metadata>
...
	<x-metadata>
		...
		<DictionaryInLanguage>nl</DictionaryInLanguage>
		<DictionaryOutLanguage>en</DictionaryOutLanguage>
	</x-metadata>

</metadata>

Without these .opf entries dictionaries will be treated like any other Kindle book. Also dictionary entries need to be wrapped in special <idx:entry> and <idx:orth> dictionary tags.

A minimal Dutch-English dictionary looks like this:

Code:

<html>
<body>

<idx:entry>
	<b><idx:orth>boek
	<idx:infl>
		<idx:iform value="boeken"/>
	</idx:infl>
	</idx:orth> </b> 
	<i>substantief</i> <br/>
	book (n)
</idx:entry>
<br/><br/>
<hr/>

</body>
</html>

I.e. simply converting epub dictionaries usually won't work.

mgmueller · 07-07-2013, 03:15 AM

I haven't tried on Paperwhite.
But on the Kindles before (DX, Keyboard, ...) this has been working for me:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...85&postcount=2
You don't have to buy from Amazon of course.
And here would be a Dutch dictionary, that should be working: http://www.amazon.de/An-Electronic-D...tch+dictionary

Buddhaxe · 07-07-2013, 06:19 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GoSharks

You might try posting in the German Amazon forum here....someone may be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck. Welcome to MR!

@GoSharks: I will try that as well. Would I have to post in German? :-) Thanks!

Quote:

Originally Posted by mgmueller

I haven't tried on Paperwhite.
But on the Kindles before (DX, Keyboard, ...) this has been working for me:
https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...85&postcount=2
You don't have to buy from Amazon of course.
And here would be a Dutch dictionary, that should be working: http://www.amazon.de/An-Electronic-D...tch+dictionary

@mgmueller: Thanks for your post. I have seen that dictionary on Amazon and it is already a solution for translating Dutch to English but I would still need a simple Dutch dictionary - not a translation dictionary (which I have but not in the right format). I have tried looking for mobipocket dictionary in Dutch but it doesn't seem to exist.

Also, the book you mention cannot be bought from Amazon. It says "This book is currently not available because there is a problem with the description, the content or formatting of the book"

Buddhaxe · 07-07-2013, 06:25 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Doitsu

Mobi dictionaries require two special non-standard <x-metadata> entries in the .opf file. For example, for a Dutch-English dictionary, you'd need the following entries:

Code:

<metadata>
...
	<x-metadata>
		...
		<DictionaryInLanguage>nl</DictionaryInLanguage>
		<DictionaryOutLanguage>en</DictionaryOutLanguage>
	</x-metadata>

</metadata>

Without these .opf entries dictionaries will be treated like any other Kindle book. Also dictionary entries need to be wrapped in special <idx:entry> and <idx:orth> dictionary tags.

A minimal Dutch-English dictionary looks like this:

Code:

<html>
<body>

<idx:entry>
	<b><idx:orth>boek
	<idx:infl>
		<idx:iform value="boeken"/>
	</idx:infl>
	</idx:orth> </b> 
	<i>substantief</i> <br/>
	book (n)
</idx:entry>
<br/><br/>
<hr/>

</body>
</html>

I.e. simply converting epub dictionaries usually won't work.

@Doitsu: Thank you for your reply! This is valuable information and it looks like this is the direction I need to go in order to solve my problem. However, how would I have to add the code you mention? The format I have is EPUB (though I managed to convert it to MOBI format via a website). I guess I should unpack the mobi file first? And then edit the opf file with notepad? Where should I add the code you mention? At the end or the front? I'm not too experencied with editing metadata of ebooks you see

Also, I found this post which looks like it could be a solution to my problem. Only, it requires me to execute a pearl script. I can't get it to work. Maybe any of you have tried the procedure mentioned already:

https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...81#post2562381

again to all for your kindness!

Doitsu · 07-07-2013, 01:59 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddhaxe

Also, I found this post which looks like it could be a solution to my problem.

That post won't help you much, because the tools can only be used to convert a tab-delimited text file to an .html file that can be compiled with KindleGen.
If you found an .epub version of a Dutch dictionary, it most likely already contains html tags and can therefore not be used as a source file for the tools mentioned in the other thread.

In order to use your source file(s), you'd have to globally replace all tags until the structure more or less matches my example file. E.g. if the dictionary definitions are enclosed in <div></div>, you'd have replace <div> with <div><idx:entry> and </div> with </idx:entry></div>; you'd have to make sure that each headword is enclosed by <idx:orth></idx:orth> etc.

Buddhaxe · 07-08-2013, 07:38 AM

Thanks Doitsu. I will not try that suggested solution any further then as it seems to be very complicated.

Could you assist me with your earlier suggestion though? Or is there another solution to make my epub dictionary to work on my Kindle PW ?

Doitsu · 07-08-2013, 12:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddhaxe

Thanks Doitsu. I will not try that suggested solution any further then as it seems to be very complicated.

Could you assist me with your earlier suggestion though? Or is there another solution to make my epub dictionary to work on my Kindle PW ?

As I already explained in great detail in my other posts, unless you reformat the .html source file(s) and modify the .opf file your epub dictionary will never work as a Kindle dictionary when you compile it with KindleGen.
(You cannot generate Kinde dictionaries with Calibre.)

Buddhaxe · 07-09-2013, 03:13 PM

Hi Doitsu, sorry for my limited understanding of these matters.

I extracted the epub in two different ways. I have one where it is divided in different folders (like content and METAINF), of which the content folder contains a lot of html files. If I edit one of the html files I see the following code for one word (and its explanation - not translation):

Code:

<p class="ww"><sub>qaalbes</sub></p>
<p><span class="gc">aa</span>
<span class="gag">l·bes</span> 
<span class="gm">(</span><span class="gm">de</span><span class="gm">)</span>
<br/>1. rode <span class="g6_s">bes</span> die in trossen aan een struik groeit
<br/>♦ betekenisverwante termen
<br/><span class="g5">hyperoniem: </span><span class="g6_s">bes</span>
<br/><span class="g5">hyponiem(en): </span><span class="g6_s">wijnbes</span>
<br/>2. struik van het geslacht Ribes waar rode bessen aan groeien
<br/>♦ betekenisverwante termen
<br/><span class="g5">hyperoniem: </span><span class="g6_s">heester</span>
<br/></p>

That's a lot of code for one word and I would have no clue how to edit this to make it resemble your example code.

I have also managed to convert the epub into one big html file but there the code per word looks even more complicated:

Code:

<p width="0" align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF"><sub>qaalbes</sub></font></p>
<p width="0" align="left"><span><b><u>aa</u></b></span><span><b>l·bes
</b></span> <span><i>(</i></span><span><i>de</i></span><span><i>)</i></span><br/>1. rode <span><font color="#472565">bes</font></span> die in trossen aan een struik groeit
<br/>♦ betekenisverwante termen
<br/><span><font color="#3B3B3B">hyperoniem: </font></span><span><font color="#472565">bes</font></span>
<br/><span><font color="#3B3B3B">hyponiem(en): </font></span><span><font color="#472565">wijnbes</font></span>
<br/>2. struik van het geslacht Ribes waar rode bessen aan groeien
<br/>♦ betekenisverwante termen
<br/><span><font color="#3B3B3B">hyperoniem: </font></span><span><font color="#472565">heester</font></span>
<br/></p>

How would I have to edit the examples above? I'm not experienced with programming but I'm trying to understand here

After that I guess I could use a "replace all" command and then compile/convert the html with KindleGen.

Doitsu · 07-09-2013, 04:38 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddhaxe

How would I have to edit the examples above? I'm not experienced with programming but I'm trying to understand here

You'll need to insert <idx:entry> before each entry and </idx:entry> after each entry. You'll also need to replace the tags around the headword as follows:

Code:

<p width="0" align="left"><font color="#FFFFFF"><sub>aalbes</sub></font></p>

Code:

<idx:orth value="aalbes" />

If you still don't understand what to change, have a look at the updated HTML code in the .zip file. (To generate the .mobi file put .opf and .html files and KindleGen in the same folder and open the .opf file with KindleGen.)

Buddhaxe · 07-10-2013, 07:52 AM

It worked! Jeez, I'm so grateful for this! Thanks Doitsu!

Wooooohoooooo!

bevm · 08-14-2013, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Buddhaxe

It worked! Jeez, I'm so grateful for this! Thanks Doitsu!

Wooooohoooooo!

Does that mean you have a working dutch dictionary?

thx, bev

07-06-2013, 04:02 PM	#1
Buddhaxe Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Additional Dictionaries for Kindle Paperwhite Hi All, I have just bought a Kindle Paperwhite and it seems to be a great reader. Only one major disappointment for me => Limited language support. I would love to have a Dutch dictionary (which was default on my Sony PRS-T1). I have contacted Amazon support but they say that they cannot help me. I have found a Dutch EPUB dictionary and after a whole day of trying, I have been able to convert it to mobi format (Calibre couldn't handle a file with so many indexes). However, my kindle does not recognize this file as a dictionary. Is there any way to change this? Or does anybody know how to find / add / create a dictionary in languages other than those supported by Amazon? I would be so grateful for your help! :-) Thanks!

07-07-2013, 03:15 AM	#6
mgmueller Member Retired Posts: 3,308 Karma: 13024950 Join Date: Nov 2008 Location: Augsburg (near Munich), Germany Device: 26 Readers, 44 Tablets	Adding dictionaries I haven't tried on Paperwhite. But on the Kindles before (DX, Keyboard, ...) this has been working for me: https://www.mobileread.com/forums/sho...85&postcount=2 You don't have to buy from Amazon of course. And here would be a Dutch dictionary, that should be working: http://www.amazon.de/An-Electronic-D...tch+dictionary Last edited by mgmueller; 07-07-2013 at 03:21 AM.

07-10-2013, 07:52 AM	#14
Buddhaxe Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	It worked! Jeez, I'm so grateful for this! Thanks Doitsu! Wooooohoooooo! Last edited by Buddhaxe; 07-10-2013 at 10:20 AM.

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07-06-2013, 04:04 PM	#2
HarryT eBook Enthusiast Posts: 85,544 Karma: 93383043 Join Date: Nov 2006 Location: UK Device: Kindle Oasis 2, iPad Pro 10.5", iPhone 6	Are there no Dutch dictionaries in the Kindle store?

07-06-2013, 04:14 PM	#3
Buddhaxe Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks for your quick reply. Surprisingly, there are no Dutch dictionaries available on Amazon :-( There is one basic dictionary that translates English to Dutch but that is not what I would need. I would need Dutch explanatory dictionary or at least Dutch to English. But none available. Amazon Support also looked for me.

07-06-2013, 04:38 PM	#4
GoSharks SQUIRREL!! Posts: 1,636 Karma: 8400000 Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: California Device: K-Fire, PW2, PW3	You might try posting in the German Amazon forum here....someone may be able to point you in the right direction. Good luck. Welcome to MR!

07-08-2013, 07:38 AM	#10
Buddhaxe Member Posts: 10 Karma: 10 Join Date: Jul 2013 Device: Kindle Paperwhite	Thanks Doitsu. I will not try that suggested solution any further then as it seems to be very complicated. Could you assist me with your earlier suggestion though? Or is there another solution to make my epub dictionary to work on my Kindle PW ?