LatinWords provides an easy means for users to input their own Latin words into the “Userfile.txt”, which is searched by Blitz Latin. Words can be typed into a simple dialogue box, or loaded in from the user’s file.
How to use LatinWords
You can either:
1. type in individual words as full or partial stems, such as “ verbo verbare verbavi verbatum”, its meaning (in this imaginary case, “ make a verb” – do NOT add the leading “ to” as in “ to make a verb”), and then select the type of verb from the drop-down menu. Nouns of the 1st to 4th declensions (not the 5th declension) and adjectives are also added easily. Click on the toolbar/menu item ADD WORDS, then fill in the appropriate boxes and drop-down menus.
or:
2. load in a pre-typed file (“myfile.txt”) with all the words already created. This must contain entries in the form “ amo are”, “ rex regis m” and the like. The meaning must be separated from the Latin with a TAB character. Create the dictionary in a word-processor, then select the OPEN FILE toolbar/menu item. This procedure is less reliable than manually typing in single entries into the dialogue box. Here is a short example text:
noteo ere[TAB]notify
notificatio[TAB]notification
notionalis[TAB]conceptual
notionaliter[TAB]conceptually
In either case, it is essential to check the resulting output file “ Userfile.txt” for accuracy before use (see the guide given in the specimen “ Userfile.txt”). The program will try to complete missing information for you (e.g. verbo verbare will be expanded to give verbavi and verbatum), but this may not always be reliable. An obvious problem occurs with words like “verbio”. Is this meant to be from “verbiare” or from “verbire”? For medieval words, probably “verbiare” is correct.
LatinWords provides a simple means to add the most common missing Latin words to your “Userfile.txt”. These will be predominantly nouns, adjectives or verbs. Pronouns are not offered as an option. All likely pronouns are already within Blitz Latin’s dictionary, and the addition of new pronouns requires specialist attention.