Dictionary of the Irish Language

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Dictionary of the Irish Language: Based Mainly on Old and Middle Irish Materials (also called "the DIL"), published by the Royal Irish Academy, is the definitive dictionary of the origins of the Irish language, specifically the Old Irish and Middle Irish stages; the modern language is not included. The original idea for a comprehensive dictionary of early Irish was conceived in 1852 by the two preeminent Irish linguists of the time, John O'Donovan and Eugene O'Curry; however, it was more than sixty years until the first fascicle (the letter D as far as the word degóir, compiled by Carl J. S. Marstrander) was published in 1913. It was more than sixty years again until the final fascicle (only one page long and consisting of words beginning with H) was published in 1976 under the editorship of E. G. Quin.

The full dictionary comprises about 2500 pages, but a compact edition (four original pages photoreduced onto one page) was published in 1983 (ISBN 0-901714-29-1), and the decision was made not to continue to print the full-size edition.

A project has been undertaken to digitize the DIL.^[1] The project is scheduled for completion in March, 2007.^[2]

A web site has been established to permit scholars to submit annotations for the DIL.^[3]

[edit] References

1. ^ Digitisation of the dictionary of the Irish language
2. ^ University of Ulster, eDIL: Progress (Updated 27 April 2006)
3. ^ PACDIL