Saxogram Vocabulary List Builder

What is it?

Saxogram is a script which generates vocabulary lists from texts written in foreign languages. So far it has dictionaries for Latin, German, and Italian. Saxogram was written with extensibility in mind. Thus, other languages can be "plugged in" as modules. All that is needed is a dictionary and a small amount of code.

The purpose of the program is to speed up language learning. Too much time is spent looking up every third word. This isn't practical when learning a new language. Generating a vocabulary list that can be used in parallel to your reading is, I think, helpful.

Saxogram was written and is currently maintained by Matt Dunford <zoot@zotikos.com>.

News

After a long hiatus, I've started work on saxogram again. The 0.x series has been retired. A new 1.x series will replace it. The dictionaries are going to be reorganized so that they are more efficient and can grow themselves when they lack definitions. Hungarian and Swedish extensions will also be added. The other extensions will also be improved.

Saxogram was mentioned recently in Georg Greve's Brave Gnu World. Here's the article.

Download the Source

Release Release Date
saxogram-0.5.tar.gz Dec 04, 2001
saxogram-0.4.tar.gz July 30, 2001
saxogram-0.3.tar.gz June 15, 2001
saxogram-0.2.tar.gz May 25, 2001
saxogram-0.1.tar.gz May 02, 2001

Additional information (including CVS access) can be found at saxogram's sourceforge home:
click here

Examples of usage

To generate a vocab list called 'list.txt' from file 'homework.txt':
%> saxogram.py -o list.txt homework.txt

The same using German:
%> saxogram.py -l german -o list.txt homework.txt

To use saxogram interactively:
%> saxogram.py -i

To run interactively but using Italian:
%> saxogram.py -i -l italian

To just add line numbers to your text:
%> saxogram.py -n -o numbered.txt unnumbered.txt

An example of what it outputs:

Say we want to parse the opening lines to Ovid's Metamorphoses
"In nova fert animus mutatas dicere formas
corpora; di, coeptis (nam vos mutastis et illas)..." 

%> saxogram.py -l latin Metamorphoses
1	"nova":
	[1] novo -are <to make new, renew, revive; to change, alter; to
	invent>; 'novare res', <to  make a revolution>.
	[2] novus -a -um <new, fresh, young; fresh, inexperienced; revived,
	[...]

	"fert":

	"animus":
	[1] animus -i m. <the spiritual or rational principle of life in
	man>. More specifically:  (1) <the seat of feeling, the heart>;
	[...]

	"mutatas":
	mutatio -onis f. <changing, change, alteration; mutual change,
	exchange>.

	[...]
2	"corpora":

	"coeptis":
	[1] coepto -are <to begin or undertake (eagerly)>.
	[2] coeptus -us m. (only in plur.), <a beginning>.
	[...]

The output lists the line number, the literal word in quotes, and the definition. If there are many definitions, they will be numbered. If saxogram can't find a definition for a word, it will just print the entry and leave some space. You can consult another dictionary and write in a definition.

SourceForge Logo Last updated: Wed Dec 5 12:16:34 CET 2001
Matt Dunford <zoot@zotikos.com>