How to Add A New Word to the Dictionaries - Part VI - More on Noun Phrases
Suppose that you want to add an English translation to a Spanish noun. What Part of Speech should you assign to your new entry?
Since the translation corresponds to a noun entry, it has to be constructed as a noun phrase. See the following examples:
babbit = babbitt metal; antifriction alloy made with tin and antimony
babor = starboard; left-hand side of the ship
babucha = galosh; rubber shoe used to protect feet from water
- You may enter English (or Spanish) translations as long as the one shown above, or even longer. Maximum length= 150 characters.
- You have to be careful to draft your translations in a way that they correspond with the part of speech of the word being defined, in this case “noun”.
An example of a bad dictionary translation would be “babbit is an antifriction alloy made with tin and antimony.” Why is it a bad translation? Because, taken as a whole, it is no longer a noun. It is a complete sentence with its subject, verb and direct object. If entered as shown above it will never be accepted by ESI, or –if accepted—it would be translated incorrectly, thus:
“Necesitamos un poco de babbit” → “We need some babbit is an antifriction alloy made with tin and antimony”.
Instead of:
“Necesitamos un poco de babbit” → “We need some antifriction alloy made with tin and antimony”.
It should be clear, then, that the translation, in order to be written as a noun phrase, has to include only the direct object: “antifriction alloy made with tin and antimony.”
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