Hebrew–Polish dictionary

Project report

Customer:Adam Mickiewicz University Press

Year deployed:2009

An electronic Hebrew–Polish dictionary was published by Adam Mickiewicz University Publishers.

The dictionary contains approximately 50,000 headwords and expressions, together with examples of their usage. It also offers recordings of the Hebrew pronunciation of headwords, and an interface for finding translations while reading a text.

The dictionary contains:

• contemporary translations of Hebrew headwords into Polish
• definitions of headwords in Hebrew, usage examples and expressions
• a Polish–Hebrew index
• recordings of the Hebrew pronunciation of headwords
• a convenient program for finding translations as needed
• a modern graphical interface

The problem

AMU Publishers planned to publish an electronic Hebrew–Polish dictionary. They had the rights to use an existing English–Hebrew dictionary that had been published in paper form. Also available was a digital version of that dictionary formatted in SGML (with particular dictionary elements enclosed in appropriate tags). A translator with knowledge of English, Hebrew and Polish was given the task of replacing English headwords with their Polish equivalents. However, this task required detailed knowledge of SGML, and great care would have to be taken to avoid formatting errors. Since this challenge went beyond the human translator’s competence, the risks would have been too great, and it proved necessary to construct a suitable computerised solution.

The solution

We built a program for the translator (in the form of a Web service) which made the task of translating the dictionary a great deal easier. The contents of the English–Hebrew dictionary were suitably displayed in editing windows, and the translator had only to replace the text visible in those windows.

After the contents of the entire dictionary had been translated, we created a graphical user interface to make it easier for readers to search for words and to listen to their pronunciation.

Benefits

• the creation and publishing of the first digital Hebrew–Polish dictionary
• ability to edit the dictionary easily using a special translation interface
• convenience of use of the dictionary via a graphical user interface
• creation of a multimedia dictionary allowing the user to listen to recordings of the pronunciation of words
• use of advanced technology to make searching for words easier

We were able to build the first – and still the only – digital Hebrew–Polish dictionary because we possess unique skills in automating processes and editing dictionaries. Maybe you also have a need for a specialist dictionary in your line of business? Would a specialised automatic translation system support the international expansion of your business and its faster scalability? Let’s talk about it.