Asturian word of the week - Pallabra asturiana selmanal

[Art]

updated: 04/05/07

I've created an area of the forum for the new feature we've talked about:
"Asturian word of the week - Pallabra selmanal n'asturianu "

The program that I've created will display a vocabulary word in a location near the top of the index page of the forum. It will show only the first message in the latest thread in that area of the forum.

If you're interested in helping with this, please read what I'm suggesting carefully.


Timing
The program is stupid. It doesn't know when a week has passed or when a post was written. All it does is show the first message in the most recent thread in the area called "Asturian word of the week - Pallabra selmanal n asturianu". If we create more than one thread, it will only show the very last one.

Discussion is welcome. Any replies to a thread will not be posted to the home page. Please do not start a new thread for discussion; add to an existing thread.

If this feature is to be useful, we'll have to coordinate entries so that a new one occurs roughly once a week. Paul has volunteered to be our coordinator of this feature, so volunteers need to work with him to plan their participation. Paul also needs to let others know when he's going to need help.


This area is different
1. One way that this new area is *not* a normal area of the forum is that only those who have permission can create a new thread. You are all enabled to add new threads. (Any registered member can reply on an existing thread.)

2. A second way in which it is not normal is that it can have no off-topic threads. That's because we don't want anything but vocabulary words to show up on the index page. All discussion should appear as a response to an existing thread.

3. A third way this is different is that these messages must be unusually short so they don't clutter up the index page. If someone posts a long message, it will be cut short by the program. There won't be room for 5 different meanings or six variant spellings. This feature can't support academic discourse. It's more like a billboard along the highway.

4. Finally, this area is very different in that we must standardize our entries or the software won't work and our index page will look silly. I'll explain.


When posting a new vocabulary word, consistency is essential
Each new vocabulary word must be in a new thread. (So, click on "new topic" or "nuevo tema".)

Please use the pattern described here so it will be easier for visitors to understand the entries.

Here's an example, which I took from Paul Manzano's Diccionariu Basicu. (Paul has given us permission to use his book.)

Post subject: abaxo - below - abajo

Message body: Abaxo: alverbiu. Nun sitiu más baxu. Sinónimu: baxu, embaxo. Antónimu: enriba.
Ejemplu: Nel pisu d'abaxo vive Nolo. / Nolo lives in the apartment below.


Explanation of the pattern for new vocabulary entries

Post subject:
List only the word and its two translations in this order: Asturianu - English - Castellano.


Message body:
Word (in asturianu and in bold): part of speech (in asturianu). Definition (in asturianu). Sinónimu: (in asturianu, optional if there is room). Antónimu: (in asturianu, optional when there is room). [new line]
Ejemplu: sentence in asturianu with the word (in bold) / translation of sentence in English with the word (in bold).

Be sure to click on the Enter or Return key before entering the example so that it will appear on a new line.

There is a "/" between the asturianu and its English translation.


Please let me know if you have questions or something in this guide is unclear.

Thanks, Art