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First audio dictionary of doubts in Catalan

Diccionari Català Oral
The dictionary of doubts in spoken Catalan (Diccionari de dubtes del català oral) is the first digitalised and audio dictionary of entries in standard oral Catalan language. Each of the 2,600 entries contains an example of the recommended pronunciation in each of the five varieties of spoken Catalan.

23/10/2012


The novelty of the DDCOR is its use of digital treatment technologies and online consultation of audio files, the perfect platform for a spoken language since it represents going from a transcription to a direct sample. Each entry includes the recommended pronunciation in all five spoken varieties and the orthoepic norm, as well as other information. The dictionary is available online and is open to all users.

The authors of the work are professors of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona David Paloma and Mònica Montserrat, and professor of the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV), Josep À. Mas. Working on the dictionary were also several specialists in the matter, such as professors Miquel Àngel Pradilla, Joan Veny, Gabriel Bibiloni and Imma Creus.
 
The DDCOR was created basically according to the two official language institutions: the Institute of Catalan Studies (IEC) and the Valencian Academy of the Language (AVL). The main sources used were Proposta per a un estàndard oral de la llengua catalana I. Fonètica (IEC, 1990) and Diccionari ortogràfic i de pronunciació del valencià (AVL, 2006). Other descriptive linguistic works were also taken into account, such as the Diccionari de pronunciació en català, by Albert Rico and David Paloma, and the Llibre d’estil per als mitjans audiovisuals en valencià, published by AVL.

The explanatory notes found in the dictionary permits using it as an independent learning tool, in accordance with the European Higher Education Area.
 
The dictionary was created for a mainly university public, such as students in which oral expression forms part of their studies: students of Catalan Studies, Audiovisual Communication, Education, etc. This in no way means that DDCOR be used by a larger public when needing to consult the correct way of pronouncing words in any of the five main varieties of Catalan and for professionals who need formal spoken language guidelines. The selection of corpus entries, in addition to the notes, guarantees that all aspects are represented and therefore all doubts can be solved.
 
Funding for the DDCOR project was received from the Government of Catalonia under the 2009 call for financial aids for teaching quality improvement projects in Catalan universities. The dictionary can be found on the Lecturanda portal, the educational portal of the Grup 62 publishing house.

DDCOR: http://www.lecturanda.cat/www/lecturanda/ca/recursos/ddcor.ht