Wouter Steenbeek wrote:
Logical, but ever so practical? A dictionary is per se about differences between two different languages (OK, except for describing unilingual dictionaries, but we're talking about translation dictionaries now, aren't we?). An encyclopedia is not. A Wikitionary consulter usually looks for a translation, and in Wiktionary several languages are merged already. Wikipedia always keeps one language.
The difference between two languages is only a secondary purpose for each Wiktionary. The Wiktionary for a particular language primarily describes the different ways in which the word in question is used within the language. You may very well usually look to Wiktionary for translations, but others can look for different things. Ec
OK, that's it... But wasn't the idea of a Mega-Wiktionary born from its usage as a translation dictionary? In a recent private talk, Gerard defended this idea with a similar argument, if I understood him correctly.
The differences between Gerard and me are based in a fundamental philosophical differences about the nature of Wiktionaries in particular and dictionaries in general. His position is a logical consequence from the premise that Wiktionary is just a translation dictionary; I disagree with his premise by considering Wiktionary to be much more than that.
Each Wiktionary may be tasked with explaining all words from all languages, but it does so for the benefit of speakers of its own language. Gerard's Ultimate Wiktionary would work well if translatiions were simply questions of one on one relationships. As one example, the word "minister" exists in both Dutch, and you are probably safe to use the same word when going from Dutch to English. It doesn't work in the other direction. You can't translate the English "minister" to its Dutch equivalent when "predikant" is intended. Add in a third language and it can get very complicated. As an experiment get someone to translate a short paragraph from a modern English novel into Dutch, a second person translates the same thing from Dutch to Italian, and a third translates it back to English. Compare the result with the original. The Wiktionaries in individual languages are in a better position to explain this kind of problem in the target language for the translation. Sometimes the savings found in a technical shorcut present a false economy.
There is a place for a project that brings things together, but there is also a need to recognize the limitations of such a project. It can't be everything to everybody in the way that Gerard seems to envision his project.
Ec