An electronic dictionary is a dictionary whose data exists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media. It is meant to work in different forms which may included hand-held devices and computer usage.
The study demonstrates proper development of an electronic dictionary with the English/Yoruba language translations. This makes this dictionary a bilingual dictionary translating words in english to their Yoruba interpretations. It was built with a web based programming language in order to enable flexibility in the readability. This makes it platform independent, providing all users on all kind of devices to view its contents with ease. All the requirement for this program to run is a web browser that meets the standards by the W3C (World Wide Web Consortium). With the existence of many programming languages in existence, software can be built for Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X, Linux, and other computer operating systems. Likewise, software and applications can be built with some programming languages for hand-held devices and tablets. This programming languages may only require some special libraries to specialize on the target device for its users. However, all devices are built to use the web in the same way without calling or importing any special libraries. The only possible limitation with web based objects may be the width and sizes of objects which may suite some devices and not suite the others. The Yoruba electronic dictionary in this study was built with validated HTML5 and CSS.
In order to allow the execution of result handlers through hyperlinks for each of the english words to be translated, HTML iframes were used to call in Yoruba meaning of words from separate HTML files from the actual dictionary files. With a width, height, and name set for the iframe, all the required words selected on the word selection area will only be targeted to display in the named iframe area. The hyperlinks were directed to the iframe by calling the name of the iframe in the anchor element using the target attribute. With the existence of various languages across the world, the world needs translators to help those that intend to expand their knowledge by being multilingual. This dictionary/translator is an example of what the world needs.
CHAPTER ONE
1.0 INTRODUCTION
Yoruba is a dialect (natively ede Yoruba) of West Africa with over 25 million speaker. The traditional area, “Yoruba Land”, Benin and Togo. Yoruba is a Niger-Congo language spoken in West Africa. The number of speakers was estimated around 20 million in this 1990’s and Togo and among other communities in other parts of Africa, Europe and America.
A dictionary (also called word stock, word reference, wordbook, lexicon or vocabulary)
is a collection of words in one or more specific language, often listed alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), with usage information, definitions, etymologies, phonetics, pronunciations and other information or a book of words in one language with their equivalents in another , also known as a lexicon.
1.1 BRIEF HISTORY OF YORUBA
The Yoruba group assumed to have developed out of indifferentiated Volta-Niger populations by the 1stmillennium BC. Settlement of early Yoruba speakers are assumed to correspond to those found in the wider Niger are from about the 4th century BC, especially at Ife.
Standard Yoruba has its origin in 1850’s when Samuel Ajayi Crowther, the first Africa Bishop. Published a Yoruba grammar and started his translation of the bible.
The various Yoruba dialects in Yoruba land of Nigeria can be classified into the major dialects area; North-WPA Yoruba (NWYU) Abeokuta, Ibadan, Oyo, Ogun and Lagos(Eko) areas.
1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVE
v To allow user to know the correct meaning of a particular Yoruba word.
v To train learners/user in the use of electronics dictionary.
v To help user/learner in knowing the proper spelling of words.
v To help students develop a more natural command of Yoruba.
v To make user knowledge to be increased along with his/her Yoruba dialect.
v It could be a guide as to know particular word should be used.
v To make user to develop autonomy and confidence in himself/herself.
v To enable students to understand the meaning of words quickly and almost effortlessly.