Jim Valby Tibetan-English Dictionary for MS-DOS

A Note from the Maintainer

This page is based on the original README file that comes along with the T dictionary. Some out-of-date information is omited from this hypertext version and some is modified. These omissions and modifications are not marked though.

See Tibetan Software Archive for other Tibet realted software available from this site.

About the Author

The dictionary was written by Jim Valby.

His E-Mail is reported to be <73711.257@compuserve.com>

The address in the README file that comes along with the distribution is out of date. Jim has moved to the Dzogchen Community "Tsegyalgar" in Conway, Mass.

Tsegyalgar Dzog Chen Community
P.O.Box 277
Conway, MA 01341
(413) 369-4153
<74404.1141@compuserve.com>

The Distribution

The distribution provided by this site is dated February 6, 1992. The original media for the dictionary was three 3.5" high density floppy disks. The author kindly provided it to me when he was here in St.Petersburg (Russia) during the visit of Namhai Norbu Rinpoche. Since many people in TIBET-L and alt.religion.buddhism.tibetan asked about this dictionary I packed the files with ARJ archiver and put the archive on my anonymous FTP site.

The dictionary is shareware. In the original README Jim writes that "Hopefully, each user will send a $75 check..." However, as John Kahila reports:

Jim Valby has told me (by email) that he will be satisfied with a $15 contribution if people download the program instead of getting it on diskette.

So if you find this software useful, please send $15 to Jim Valby at the above address.

System Requirements

Minimum system requirements to support the Tibetan-English Dictionary are:

Operating System

MS-DOS or PC-DOS 2.0 or higher

Memory

256K random access memory

Fixed Disk Drive

10 megabyte minimum (dictionary needs 3.7 MB)

Installation Procedure

The dictionary must be installed into the top level subdirectory of a chosen drive and this directory must be named T. So if you have chosen to install the dictionary on some drive X the path than would be X:\T

Chose the drive that have enough (3.7M) space for the dictionary, say drive X. Go to that drive by typing:

X:

Change the current directory to the root directory by typing:

CD \

Make a Tibetan dictionary subdirectory by typing:

MD T

Change the current directory to the Tibetan dictionary subdirectory by typing:

CD T

Unpack your distribution into this directory. For example, if you retrieved the ARJ archive of the dictionary and the archive is named X:\T.ARJ than unpack it by typing:

ARJ E X:\T.ARJ

The dictionary is ready to run.

Using The Dictionary

Use the dictionary from any DOS subdirectory by typing:

X:\T\T

Use the dictionary from the Tibetan dictionary subdirectory (or from any subdirectory if path is defined (X:\T;) in autoexec.bat file) by typing:

T

Exit the dictionary program by responding to "word ?" prompt with a null word ([ret] or [enter]).

Request a definition by responding to "word ?" with up to 4 monosyllables in either upper or lower case modifed Turrell Wylie romanization as per Appendix A (omitted from this HTML version).

Experiment with the following examples:

Respond to "word ?" with: byang
("SA" means "See Also" the listed related compound(s))

Respond to "word ?" with: byang chub

Respond to "word ?" with: byang chub sems

Respond to "word ?" with: byang chub sems dpa'

List without definition all compounds which begin with the monosyllable "byang" by responding to "word ?" with: byang&

List any compounds which begin with "byang" and have "sems" as the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th syllable: byang&sems

List with definition all compounds which begin with the monosyllable "byang" by responding to "word ?" with: byang*

List with definition all compounds which begin with the monosyllable "%e" by responding to "word ?" with: %e*

It is useful to know how to stop and start screen printing with pause or scrolling command keys. Check your computer operations manual.

Error Messages

NOT IN DICTIONARY

This means that there is no definition in the dictionary for the requested compound. But the list of compounds which have the same initial monosyllable is displayed.

SPELLING ERROR

This means that at least 1 of the 4 possible monosyllables is not an allowable Tibetan syllable according the the modifed Turrell Wylie romanization scheme in Appendix A.

Pros and Cons

Some problems with this dictionary are:

• The dictionary is read-only. You cannot add your own compounds and definitions.
• The dictionary is incomplete. Many technical words may not be listed.
• The dictionary does not provide examples of word usage. The user must understand the usage context and select the appropriate definitions.
• The dictionary does not indicate the source of the definitions. Sources include Jaeschke, Das (all of it), and the glossaries of many English language translators.
• Cross references (indicated by SA) are infrequent (about 4000). The user must know possible alternative spellings from reading experience.

This dictionary has the following good points:

• The definition of any of the 53,836 compounds is displayed on the screen within 1 second.
• The dictionary contains technical terms which are not in printed dictionaries.
• Users whose word processing or job managing software allows concurrent programs or DOS shell can easily toggle back and forth between translation and dictionary.
• Users who want to include their definitions in the next edition may submit materials to the author.
• The dictionary is shareware.