User:Andrew Sheedy

I began contributing to Wiktionary to fix inconsistencies I saw while using it, and the majority of my edits still consist of that. I love the idea behind Wiktionary, but anyone who uses it regularly will notice that it lacks a certain degree of professionalism that other dictionaries have. I hope that with time, this will improve, but for now I have to content myself with the little bit I can do.

Nearly anything related to languages and linguistics interests me, from the way language families are related to each other to tiny differences between dialects to the etymologies of words to the way children speak and learn languages.

Languages I Know

 * Germanic Languages:


 * English — I have a Midwestern Canadian accent, but I have a fairly broad knowledge of words from other dialects, having spent many thousands of hours reading books and interacting with people around the world on internet forums. However, I am not always able to match the words with the dialect that uses them, and have only a limited awareness of what slang terms are specific to my region.


 * German — I can have a basic conversation and have a fairly good grasp of German grammar, but my vocabulary is fairly limited. I took two and a half years of German in university and did fairly well.


 * Romance Languages — I understand enough from various Romance languages to be able to understand a fair bit in any of the following languages, and many not listed, not finding it too hard to recognize cognates as I read (though it depends a bit on the subject matter):


 * French — I speak and write French fairly fluently, though I still have some gaps in my vocabulary. I read French novels with ease, however, and can usually follow a French conversation without difficulty, provided I am familiar with the accent. I lived in Québec for a year, where I learned most of my French, so I speak with a Québécois accent, and don't always know the European equivalent of certain Quebecisms. I know a fair bit about French pronunciation, though I can't say much about differences between dialects (aside from a few peculiarities found in Canada).


 * Spanish — I can understand most texts in Spanish and can follow a conversation pretty well, depending on the accent. I can speak with difficulty, being able to construct simple sentences with relative ease, but requiring time to come up with more complex ones.


 * Portuguese — I have learned a little Portuguese, and because of my knowledge of Spanish, can understand it fairly well (Brazilian is generally easier than European). I have difficulty expressing myself, however.


 * Italian — I can read Italian pretty well, but don't speak it.


 * Latin — I have limited knowledge of Latin and can understand basic texts. I have a basic grasp of Latin conjugation and declension, but cannot express myself in the language.


 * Slavic Languages:


 * Polish — I know some (very) basic Polish and am actively learning more.


 * Afro-Asiatic Languages:


 * Hebrew — I took two semesters Biblical Hebrew as part of my undergrad and can understand the Hebrew Bible, with difficulty and a dictionary.


 * Arabic — I am beginning to learn Arabic.


 * Austronesian Languages:


 * Tagalog — I have learned a few words in Tagalog, and as Wiktionary's coverage of it was quite poor when I began, I have created a handful of entries. (When editing Tagalog, I may make minor mistakes, but I usually make sure to check multiple dictionaries and word lists to verify each sense I add, and I make sure to tag it as needing to be checked by a native speaker.)


 * Writing Systems:


 * Latin Alphabet — Obviously my native alphabet, but I can also understand a fair number of symbols used in this writing system but not in English.


 * Greek Alphabet — I can sound out most words in Ancient Greek.


 * Hebrew Abjad — I can sound out any word in Hebrew, but I can't yet read fluently. I am familiar with several, but certainly not all, of the Masoretic accent markings (as found in the BHS).


 * Arabic Abjad — I know the letters and the vowel markings, as taught on Duolingo.


 * IPA — My knowledge of the International Phonetic Alphabet isn't complete, but I have learned all the letters and most diacritics. I can't always transcribe what I hear, but I can usually accurately transcribe what I say. I will, however, admit that my ability to remember what all the letters in the IPA mean isn't perfect, and I often have to refresh my memory when it comes to sounds I'm not familiar with (especially if I don't review them, which has been the case lately). Sounds in the above languages (and their corresponding IPA transcriptions, usually down to a phonetic level) can be assumed to be familiar to me.

Words to Add
See User:Andrew Sheedy/Redlinks & Missing Senses.

Terms I Have Added
(including new homographs)


 * (etymology 3)
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 * (etymology 2)
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English

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French








German




Spanish