How to use Dictionary?

How to use a dictionary?

A dictionary of Dhimal language is about to be published. This dictionary based on lexicography is the first attempt after standardization of writing in this language. This work is going to be possible due to continuous efforts from two years ago in direct involvement of linguistic community and organization. Thet Dhimal words contained in it are not complete in themselves but should be considered only as a beginning. In this trilingual 'Dhimal-Nepali-English' dictionary, naturally, Dhimal language is taken as the source language and two other languages: Nepali and English as the target language.

The original Dhimal entries of the dictionary are intended to be useful for the linguistic community as well as for the ease of use of curious scholars, researchers and non-Dhimal readers in the latter two volumes with 'Nepali-Dhimal' in Nepali and 'English-Dhimal' respectively. ' is interpreted with English as the source language. Doing this will directly help readers who only understand Nepali or English but cannot understand Dhimal to get information about the words of 'Dhimal' language. Keeping in mind the usefulness of the dictionary, further clarification is sought in the following sub-headings.

1. Head Entry

In the present dictionary-

(1) As many correct Dhimal words as possible are entered with maximum effort.

(2) The original entry includes words from all regions of the source language 'Dhimal'.

(3) The dictionary contains a total of 7,278 original entries.

(4) The original entry has been transcribed in popular Devanagari for easy understanding.

(5) The original entry has been placed in bold type for easy locating of source language words. Like:- Bodo na. Chichimiro n. a white male ant; Lemdha v. Lazy adj. lazy Chumpuli Kri. take away v. to take away etc.

According to the prevailing convention in dictionary construction, the wrong words are arranged in the main entry. In doing so, the vowels and consonants are sorted according to the alphabetical order of the Dhimal alphabet.

2. Alphabetical order

Like other languages, Dhimal language also has vowel and consonant sounds. The sounds are arranged below in alphabetical order.

2.1 Vowel Phonemes

There are six vowel sounds in Dhimal language pronunciation. The sounds are transcribed below in Devanagari.

A	a		o	e	u
-	A:		O:	E:

In Dhimal language, all of the above vowel sounds except 'a' have long (dirgha) forms. A long (dirgha) vowel sound is indicated by the symbol ' : '.

2.2 Consonant phonemes

There are 36 consonant sounds in the pronunciation of Dhimal language. Those sounds are transcribed below in the popular Devanagari.

Consonant sounds

व्यञ्जन ध्वनिहरू
a	b	c	d	e
f	ch	j	jh
Th	th	d
p	f	b		m	mh

(a) Words are formed by adding various quantities to the characters of Dhimal language. Finding words requires knowing the order of letters as well as quantities. Which is mentioned below.

Quantities used in Dhimal language are as follows:

Quantities--
Example-

(A)

(Ka)

(Ki)

(Ku)

(K)

(Ko)

(b) In Dhimal language, length contrast is found in vowels other than 'a'. For example: Dahmomoka v. Alili black adj. pale black; D: Ltd. drive away v. to chase; De: Pali Kri. trap v. to entrap; Dear Mr. burn v. to burn; show off v. to show etc.

(c) In the context of language writing, the signs 'इ' and 'ए' are used for the diminutive 'i-kar' and 'u-kar' of the Devanagari alphabet respectively.

For example: Delhi Cr. okalnu v. to vomit; Dosuka no. Jamkavet n. encounter Dhudi no. Maui n. mother etc.

(d) In terms of geography, the entire Dhimal-speaking region is considered as two main regions, east and west of Maikhola. Accordingly, those two separate areas are designated as East (Poo) and West (W) respectively and are entered in the dictionary.

(e) Original Dhimal words spoken in both these regions have been given special attention in the entry with equal priority.

(f) Lexical category: Noun (Na), Pronoun (Serv.), Verb (Kr.), Adjective (V.), Adverb (Kr.V) and Grammatical Category (or Class): Causative (Ka.). , Nominee (N.O.), Convener (S.) etc. all the parties are included in the original entry.

(g) Personal names of historical, cultural and religious importance of Dhimal region are also included in the original entry. For example:- Chalengi no. In the traditional house of the Dhimal caste, fish and meat are dried on the stove.

(h) Uniformity has been brought to the entry by adding '-li' to the Dhimal verb root which is spoken in the same way in all regions. For example:- Dhukili Kri. enter v. to enter; Dhumli Kri. wear v. to fill; Dhoili Kri. bind v. to fasten etc.

(i) Visitor words are entered according to the original pronunciation, alphabet and writing style of the Dhimal language.

Like:- bhumra (bumblebee); Bhunbhunaili (to break); Gotha etc.

(j) Nipat and conjunctive words are also included in the original entry itself. For example:- Makunute Sanyo. otherwise conj. otherwise; Bhurung Sanyo. rather conj. Rather etc.

3. Pronunciation

The Dhimal language belongs to the Vot-Burmese language family. The characteristic of this language is to some extent similar to that of some other Vot-Burmese languages. The entries presented in this dictionary are written in Devanagari. Like