The Illuminator - Electronic Dictionary
| By Lotsawa Tony Duff | Places to Purchase: |
| Published by Padma Karpo Translation Committee | |
| 1999 - 2006 (Periodic Updates) - 25,137 Entries | |
| Download evaluation version here | |
Summary
Easy to use electronic dictionary from the Tibetan Computer Company. Over 25,100 entries with updates and new entries being added every year. Many entries have extended commentary and valuable cultural information. This dictionary is meant to be used for translation of Dharma texts, but will be of use to anyone learning the Tibetan language. The Illuminator integrates with the TibetDoc word processor, which makes looking up a word as easy as clicking a button.
Introduction
The Illuminator is one of four electronic dictionaries published by the Padma Karpo Translation Committee. When first published, it had about 4,200 entries, but since then there have been three updates every year and it now has 25,137 entries, making it one of the largest Tibetan-English dictionaries available. The entries in this dictionary come from many sources, such as a number of Dharma texts, Tibetan grammar works and the Great Tibetan-Chinese Dictionary. It also includes many basic words, which are very important for the beginning student. Each entry has been thoroughly evaluated by the author to make sure spelling and translation is correct. This is quite important since non-Tibetan dictionaries and grammar works tend to have some spelling errors and incorrect translations. This is due to each author, to some extent, using existing resources without any investigation, and hence the errors get passed on.The Interface
It is very easy to use this dictionary. As you would expect from any Windows application, the interface is self explaining and easy to navigate. An extensive help file is available if you need tutoring or if you run into trouble. The working area of the screen is split into three sections, a list of headwords, a detailed description of the currently selected headword, and a box for typing in the word you are looking up. There is an alternative layout available, which you can select from the Option menu. This layout has the same boxes plus a box with the first two lines of the detailed section.This dictionary comes in two versions: Tibetan and Wylie transliteration. There are separate icons for each of them but you probably won't run the Wylie version, unless you are a scholar or one of those odd people who only read Tibetan when it's presented in Wylie transliteration. The Tibetan version has two standard keyboard layouts to choose from; one is arranged according to frequency of the letters in the language, and the other is arranged to facilitate learning. If you are already familiar with some other layout you have the option to create a customized layout. I used this option and changed the layout to what I'm used to. Those who don't like to type in Tibetan, but want to work with the Tibetan script, can type in Wylie mode, which is then translated into Tibetan as you type. E.g. type in "ka", hit the spacebar and it is translated into !-
Looking up an entry is very easy. You simply type a word into the lookup box, and as you do so, the currently selected headword is changed to the first word matching what you have typed in. Therefore you will usually not have to type in all the letters in the word you are looking up. For example, to look up the word +{-:m$- (today), you will only need to type in the first two letters. í
The Illuminator vs. Printed Dictionaries
The first obvious advantage which the Illuminator has over traditional printed dictionaries, is how quick it is to look up words. Typing in a few letters is much faster than searching through the pages of a book. It takes me way less time now to translate than it used to.
An electronic dictionary is not limited in physical size like a printed dictionary and the Illuminator takes advantage of this, first by a high volume of entries, and second by providing a very detailed description for each entry. Many descriptions go well beyond what you can expect from a printed dictionary, often including detailed information on Tibetan culture and customs. Grammar related entries are translated and described in line with traditional Tibetan grammar, rather than adapting it to Western concepts. This is very informative, I have never seen grammar explained like this in any book for Westerners.
A printed dictionary cannot be changed or updated, except when a new edition is printed. But the Illuminator is constantly being updated, and it's growing fast. You can register with PKTC and they will email the updates to you. With each update you get several hundred new entries and some of the existing entries will have a more detailed description.
Many verbs are included in this dictionary; in fact, all the verbs from the electronic verb database, which is a separate product from PKTC, can be found here. All forms of irregular verbs are listed as headwords, e.g. the description for the word @m,-.- (went) shows that this is the past tense of the verb 8E}-0- (to go) which, when clicked on, brings up the detailed description of that verb. The main entry for verbs shows all tenses and the imperative, in the format Past/ Present/ Future/ Imperative (see image 2).
Another very good feature of the Illuminator is the listing of words that are commonly misspelled. An example of this is the entry Qm$-"- which has as its description "Common, but incorrect spelling of Qm$-#-" You can then click on the correctly spelled version to jump to the description of that word (in this case, the word for "park" or "garden"). I have made it a habit of mine, when writing, to double check the spelling of words I take from other sources. It's actually quite shocking to see how prevalent spelling errors are in other dictionaries and the various study books.
More on Navigation
In the descriptions, most Tibetan words that are also headwords can be clicked on with the mouse to select the word and show a detailed description of it. Words hyper linked in this way are shown in blue (see images on the left). The software keeps track of entries you access using the hyperlinks so you can easily go back to the entry that you started from.
When the Illuminator is started up, it very quickly loads all entries from the database. You can then select a subset of entries with a filter, which can be anything, in either Tibetan or English. For example when filtering using the word 1m-K#-.- (impermanence) the Illuminator shows a subset of 18 entries which have this word in its description or as part of the headword. When you are finished exploring the subset, one mouse click will bring back the entire database. You can work with many subsets at the same time and navigate from one to another.
As mentioned above, looking up a word is very easy, but there is also a way to search the database. The search text can be either Tibetan or English, and once you have started a search you can quickly jump to the next or previous matching entry. Since searching can be done in English, it's possible to use the Illuminator as an English-Tibetan dictionary. For example, when searching for the word "yogurt", the correct word, 6}- comes up. Obviously, since English words are not indexed, it can take several attempts to find the correct Tibetan entry. E.g. searching using the word "read" (without quotes) will take 20 jumps to come to the entry "to read". The trick here is to enclose the word in quotes, and for verbs, to prefix it with "to". If you search for "to read" (including the quotes) it will be the first entry to come up. The same goes for nouns, searching for the word "table" with quotes, takes two jumps to get to the correct entry, while unquoted takes 77 jumps. This does not always work out, though, searching for the word "book" with quotes, finds nothing, and it takes 68 jumps to get to the correct entry without the quotes. However, the fact that this Tibetan-English dictionary can be used as an English-Tibetan dictionary is simply fantastic, and it's just one of many reasons for choosing the Illuminator over printed dictionary. I did further tests on this type of search by looking up a number of verbs as described above. The correct entry was always the first to be found, and in the case of the verb "to speak", the Illuminator jumped from one entry to another five times, each time giving me a new Tibetan word with the meaning "to speak".
íConclusion
The Illuminator is one of those outstanding products which you soon feel you can't do without. Lotsawa Tony Duff and his people at PKTC have done a great job by creating this dictionary; this is one of the bigger contributions to the preservation of the Tibetan language in recent years. But the Illuminator is not just a good dictionary, it's a learning tool, you will find information here which cannot be found in other Western publications.
The Illuminator is of enormous value to anyone who wants to study the classical language. The Dharma related entries are described in detail and that will help when you are translating. Those who are studying colloquial Tibetan will benefit too, but to a lesser degree. You will not find translation for words like "telephone" or "car" in this dictionary. I think, though. that this is still a good buy for those students. Beginners should not shy away, there are many entries for basic words, and even some of those words have detailed informative descriptions.
You can download a trial version of all four PKTC's dictionaries here. The software is fully functional but each dictionary has a limited number of entries. The Illuminator and other products from PKTC are available from Snow Lion Publications, Wisdom Books, and from the Tibetan Language Institute. You can purchase online from Snow Lion using a credit card, but the Tibetan Language Institute does not accept credit cards. Another option is to buy directly from PKTC through their online transaction site. This is the fastest way since the software is downloaded to your computer. I have used this option myself and recommend it, but keep in mind you should have a backup of the downloaded file somewhere else than on your computer, e.g. on a CD.
For the Windows version, there are two subscription options available from PKTC. You can get one year subscription for $45 or lifetime subscription for $125. These are important as there are 2-3 updates every year. I went for a lifetime subscription, the Illuminator is certainly well worth it.
In short, two thumbs up, highly recommended!
