Heill Haukur!

>We don't use dictionaries or grammars terribly
>much (we are under the impression that we know
>the language we are teaching). When I do wonder
>about the precise meaning of a particular word
>I usually go and search for it in the OI-texts
>available online (Netútgáfan etc.).

Thank you for the tip! Personally I often look up
Norwegian words, especially the "nynorsk" words
of which there are quite a few I don't know. (they
are disappearing with the culture)

>Íslensk orðabók
>Íslensk orðsifjabók
>Lexicon poeticum

Those are of course difficult to use for non-icelanders.
But thanks for the tip! I also consulted the lexicon on
some occasions, because I can go to a library that has
a copy.

>Arlie mentioned writing a C-routine for
>conversion of characters, as I recall.

Or conversion of files..
Any way, someone who can easily write file conversion
programs could (presumably) easily write such "arcade
type" web programs -- maybe. You may be right that it
would be more like a "gimmick" than actually very useful(?)
But it would certainly attract attention.
I guess I'll have to wait and hear what Arlie has to say.

>> You then press another button on the web page,
>> say <Test Declination>, and the java-routine answers
>> by popping up a dialogue box that says (for example)
>> "2nd plur". You the have to fill in what you
>> think the 2nd plur of "ulfr" is.
>
>What is a "2nd plur"?

Oops, a bad habit of mine! In school we learned that: nominative =
first case, genitive = second case, dative = third case, accusative =
fourth case. The dative is "round" and the accusative is "square" :)
I probably meant to write genitive or dative plural :-%, but wrote
a bit fast and so I made it look like a question about verbs. Oops,
sorry!

>I have thought about writing Java-applets to do something
>like you're describing. It would be considerable work
>for me though and I don't know if it would be worth it.
>
>If there is general interest I suppose we could give
>it a try (I'm sure Arlie would help me out:)

If you want to become a java programmer it might be good excercise.
Otherwise, it is probably best done by someone who is used to it.

>> Another project that might be worth while, is one
>> where you punch in any ON word. The program then
>> tells you whether it is in the Edda or not. But
>> then it also immediately quotes all places in the
>> Edda where the word occurs; with good literal
>> English translations next to it. A kind of
>> electronic Edda concordance. (you can also
>> start from an English word - that would be ideal)
>
>This idea seems to be spreading like a virus.

really? I suppose one would have to get the Edda on-line
first. Someone in Trondheim already put the Edda on-line
in Sohpus Bugge's 1867 edition. But Bugge didn't use the
normalized spelling. Then there are things on a server in
Oslo, but it has a lot of typos. So I guess the first
project would be to get a proofread normalized Edda on line.
(of the same quality as "netutgafan" Reykjavík).

>In my opinion pretty much everything regarding the ON
>language is on topic. People are sensible enough to
>weed out what they don't want to read. I think Óskar
>was suggesting that your time might be better spent
>otherwise, not that he intended to censor you in any
>way.
>

Well, thanks, Haukur.

>Maybe. I don't know. My gut feeling is that the number
>of people active in this course is about the same as the
>number of people participating in "the polls". I.e. less
>than twenty people.

20 people is actually not bad at all!

>
>> Yes. Right now I am looking at a piece of phonetic
>> script that has been used to transcribe a piece of
>> Icelandic prose. I should like to copy it and send
>> it to the list. Then we could have a discussion that
>> we might all benefit from. But right now I am a bit
>> unsure whether it would be on topic. ?
>
>Come now, bring it along. It sounds
>like it would be of interest:)

Okay - it is modern Icelandic, just a short piece of prose.
Under each line there is a phonetic transcription.
It says it is IPA. But the problem is how to write it
in ascii. That is where you could help, since Oskar has
already chosen an ascii representation of IPA. But I don't
know how to relate the IPA in the book to Oskar's system,
though many symbols no doubt agree - e.g. the book's small upper case I
would in Óskar's system probably be large capital I.
But he also uses things like a small "n" with a tail on it's
leg (call it "n-tail"). I suppose that would be an "ng" (nasal)
Then he also uses a Greek gamma. Maybe we could write things
like /g ("/" = escape char, like in TeX) for gamma.
There is also an "ñ" (n-with wavy line above it, but I don't
know if you can see it)

A thing I noticed was that MI seems to pronounce the "d" as
it occurs orthographically in Icelandic words, as the sound that
we call a "t". Also some b's get changed to p's. But apparently
not always. (maybe at the beginning of words?) But perhaps this
is only like a "gliding towards"? Later..


Best regards
Keth