Welcome to Talking Dictionary Version 9; completed June 2008. Thanks for trying this software product. Talking Dictionary is a speech enabled encyclopedic dictionary that can be used with or without a screen reader. The dictionary is based on the Wordnet 2.1 database and contains over 250,000 words. These include historical figures, slang and jargon. Talking Dictionary is for computers running Microsoft Windows Vista, Windows XP, Windows 2000, Windows Millenium Edition, Windows 98 and Windows 95. This program's controls can be navigated by special keystrokes, or by normal mouse and tab navigation. The text size can easily be adjusted in size from larger to smaller. The screen layout will automatically compensate for differing screen resolutions and font size DPI. Contents · Buying Talking Dictionary · Installation · Getting Started · Control Overview · Talking Dictionary Within Other Programs · Crossword Candidate Finder · Hiding and Restoring Talking Dictionary · Options · Speech Options · Online Help and Assistance · Buying Talking Dictionary · Database Statistics and Technical Information Buying Talking Dictionary. To buy the full unlimited and unrestricted version of this product please visit our buying page. There are two versions of this page: Normal Ordering Page: http://www.rwfts.com/html/buying.html Text Only Ordering Page: http://www.rwfts.com/html/buying_talking_software_produc.html Telephone Ordering. For your convenience we have a telephone ordering hotline based in the United States. Please note the product code listed and have your payment details ready. Talking Dictionary Telephone Ordering: US.: 800-414-4268 or (910) 792-9100 International:(+1)800-414-4268 Quote Product Code: 29610000 PayPal. We now accept PayPal as a payment option. Visit our ordering page at http://www.rwfts.com/html/buying.html for more details. Installation. If you have already installed Talking Dictionary you can skip this section. The dictionary is installed in the normal manner and will select the normal default locations for shortcut icons and storage of the program and its data files. It is not necessary to change anything during installation although advanced users may prefer to use their own settings here. If you are unfamiliar with installing software programs it may be best for you to consult your system administrator or a colleague to assist you. During the installation process Talking Dictionary installer will create two shortcuts for the program: one of these located on the desktop and another in the start menu. A start menu group will also be created. This group also contains convenient shortcuts to the program help files. Follow the instructions below to install Talking Dictionary: Installing from CD: 1. If you have the CD copy, insert it into your computers CD drive. The dictionary will automatically run. If it does not, you will need to run the file setup.exe on the dictionary CD. 2. The Talking Dictionary installer will automatically start. You can use this installer to hear instructions for using Talking Dictionary, to install additional voices and to install the dictionary onto your computers hard disk. 3. Press F1 to start the Talking Dictionary installation process. Installing from Download: 1. Download the Talking Dictionary installer from the URL indicated in your order email. 2. Save the Talking Dictionary installer in a convenient location on your hard disk. 3. Double click the Talking Dictionary installer to begin the installation process: CD and Download: 4. A dialog will appear asking if you wish to install Talking Dictionary. Select "Yes" to continue. 5. Select the destination directory for Talking Dictionary. Press the "Next" button to continue. 6. Select the shortcut location for Talking Dictionary. Press the "Next" button to continue. 7. The installation is now ready to proceed. You can review your selections at this point before continuing. Press the "Install" button to continue. 8. When installation is complete you should restart your computer. After you have restarted, activate Talking Dictionary by using the Start Menu or Desktop shortcut in the normal way. 9. You will be prompted for a ten-character password. If you do not have one, press the "Enter" key now to enter demonstration mode. Otherwise, type in your password and then press the "Enter" key. 10. The dictionary is now unlocked and ready for use. You will not need to enter your password again, but you should keep it in a safe place for future upgrades. Speech Engine: The Talking Dictionary will search for the presence of a text to speech engine during the installation process. This is necessary in order for the Talking Dictionary to say the words and definitions in its database. If no speech engine is found Talking Dictionary will install the Microsoft text to speech engine SAPI 4. The speech engine analysis and installation is an entirely automated process. Note that additional voices can be downloaded for free from our website. These are also available on the installation CD. If you experience problems with your speech engine setup please contact support at webmaster@rwfts.com. Getting Started Follow the instructions below to quickly get started using Talking Dictionary. Note that these instructions assume that you have already installed the dictionary. If this is not the case please refer to the installation section. Looking Up Word Definitions: 1. Use the start menu or desktop shortcut to start the Talking Dictionary. If the dictionary has been minimized to the system tray, use the key combination Control Alt and R to restore it. 2. Type the word you want to look up and then press the "Enter" key. The dictionary will search for the word in its database. The dictionary will automatically speak out the first definition it finds for the word, along with the word type (i.e., noun, verb or etc). 3. Press F7 and F5 to navigate forwards and backwards through the definitions found for the word you looked up. F6 can be used to repeat anything that has just been spoken. Tip: You can interrupt the dictionary at any time by pressing Control F2. Reviewing Synonymous Words: 1. Type the word you want to look up and then press the "Enter" key. The dictionary will automatically speak out the first definition it finds for the word. 2. Press F4 to hear synonyms for this word. The first synonym will be spoken. 3. Press F7 and F5 to navigate forwards and backwards through the synonyms found for the word you looked up. F6 can be used to repeat anything that has just been spoken. Tip: You can spell any synonym by pressing F8. Tip: You can look any synonym up by pressing F12. Browse Mode: Talking Dictionary's word list can be browsed like an electronic book. 1. Type the first few letters of the word where you want to begin browsing. 2. Press Control B to browse the dictionary. 3. Use the arrow keys and page up / down keys to browse the dictionary entries. 4. Press the spacebar to look up any browsed entry. 5. Press Control Alt and B to resume browsing, or start again from step 1 to browse a new section of the database. Crossword Mode: Talking Dictionary has an extremely powerful Crossword function that can find words with up to three letters missing. Follow the instructions below to use this function. 1. Type the word you want to look up. Replace each letter that you are unsure of with an asterisk. Examples are: abs*ent, ab**ent, br**k, b**lder, b***lder and so on. 2. Press the enter key. It will take a few seconds for Talking Dictionary to search through all the possible words. 3. Press F7 and F5 to navigate forwards and backwards through the candidate words found. F6 can be used to repeat anything that has just been spoken. Tip: You can spell any candidate by pressing F8. Tip: You can look any candidate up by pressing F12. Speak and Spell Words: 1. Type the word you want the dictionary to speak and / or spell. 2. Press F1 one time. The dictionary will pronounce the word you have typed in. 3. Press F1 a second time to spell the word you have typed in. Tip: You can use Keyboard Echo to repeat the keys that you type in, as they are typed. Press F10 to toggle keyboard echo. Summarising Words: Summarising words provides a method of indicating how many synonyms and definitions were found for the word looked up. Alternatively, if the look up word is not found, the summary function will indicate the number of spell check alternatives found for the word. 1. Type the word you want to look up and then press the "Enter" key. The dictionary will automatically speak out the first definition it finds for the word. 2. Press F2 to find out how many definitions and synonymous words were found. If the word was not found in the dictionary database (for example, it may have been mis-spelt) then the summary key will indicate how many alternatives the spell checker found. Using the Spell Checker: 1. Type the word you want to look up and then press the "Enter" key. If the word you looked up is not found the dictionary will use a powerful checking algorithm to estimate the word you were trying to find. Numerous suggestions will be offered. F7 and F5 can be used in the normal manner to navigate forwards and backwards through these alternative suggestions. F6 will repeat any suggested word. Tip: Press Control Alt C to copy the current spell check alternative to the clipboard. Tip: Press F8 to spell the current spell check alternative. Tip: Press F12 to look up the current spell check alternative. Using the Spell Checked in Another Program: Note that the Talking Dictionary must be running for this to work! 1. Highlight the word you want to spell check. 2. Press the key combination Control Alt S to spell check the word. Talking Dictionary will become active and will spell check the selected word. Definitions, synonyms and spell check alternatives will be indicated in the normal way. Using the Clipboard: To look up a word stored in the clipboard press Control V to paste the word. Press the enter key to look the word up in the normal manner. To copy a synonym, word definition or spell checker alternative to the clipboard use the key combination Control Alt C. Annotations: Its possible to associate notes and comments with words in the dictionary database. 1. Look up the word that you want to annotate. 2. Press Control A to enter annotation mode. Any existing annotations will be read out. 3. Use the keyboard in the normal manner to type in new or revised annotations for this word. 4. Press the tab key to exit annotation mode. Any annotations made or changed are automatically saved. Control Overview. The visual or tab-navigable controls used by Talking Dictionary are: Large and Small Buttons: Enlarge and reduce the text size. Options and Speech: Show advanced options and speech controls.. Keys: Show the keystrokes used. Help: Activate help file. Exit: Exit the program. Hide: Hide to system tray. Say Word: Speak the current lookup word. Summary: Give a summary for the current lookup word. Definitions: Give definitions for the current lookup word. Synonyms: Give synonyms for the current lookup word. Back, Repeat and Forward: Navigate forwards and backwards and repeat the last statement. Spell: Spell the current synonym, spell check alternative or crossword candidate. Lookup: Used to lookup currently highlighted synonym, spell check alternative or crossword candidate. Basic Keystrokes in Use: Press F9 for a list of all basic command keys. These are: F1: Speak and Spell lookup word. F2: Summary for word. F3: Definition Mode (default). F4: Synonym Mode. F5: Go backwards. F6: Repeat. F7: Go forwards. F8: Spell synonym or alternative (spell checker) word. Control B: Browse the dictionary. Spacebar is used when browsing to lookup current browsed word. Control Alt B: Resume browsing after word lookup. Advanced Key List: Press Control F9 for a list of all advanced command keys. These are: F9: Basic key list. Control F9: Advanced key list. F10: Keyboard echo. F11: Copyright information. F12: Look up synonym or spell check alternative word. Control F1: Toggle focus mode. This control is used to decide whether the dictionary is always on top or not. Control F2: Stop the dictionary talking. Control F4: Temporarily toggle speech on or off. Control F5: Toggle verbose mode on or off. Control F6: Toggle help mode on or off. Control F12: Exit the program. Control H: Hide the dictionary (in the system tray). Control Alt R: Return dictionary from system tray. Control Alt C: Copies current definition, synonym or spell check alternative to clipboard. Control F11: Spell checks selected word text in another program. Using Talking Dictionary with Other Programs. Talking Dictionary can be used as a spell checker within any program (Microsoft Word, notepad, WordPad, etc) that you use for text editing and word processing. Note that Talking Dictionary must be running for this to work. This means that you must have started the dictionary in the normal way. The dictionary can be active or minimized in the system tray for this control to work. 1. Make sure Talking Dictionary is running! 2. Highlight the word you want to spell check in Microsoft Notepad or etc. 3. Press Control F11. Talking Dictionary will come to the front and will become the active program. The word you have highlighted will be looked up in the normal manner. If the spelling is incorrect alternatives will be offered. 4. Press Control H to hide Talking Dictionary to the system tray. Tip: Keep Talking Dictionary in the system tray if you intend to spell check a lot of words. Crossword Candidate Finder. Talking Dictionary has an extremely powerful Crossword function that can find words with up to three letters missing. Follow the instructions below to use this function. 1. Type the word you want to look up. Replace each letter that you are unsure of with an asterisk. Examples are: abs*ent, ab**ent, br**k, b**lder, b***lder and so on. 2. Press the enter key. It will take a few seconds for Talking Dictionary to search through all the possible words. 3. Press F7 and F5 to navigate forwards and backwards through the candidate words found. F6 can be used to repeat anything that has just been spoken. Tip: You can spell any candidate by pressing F8. Tip: You can look any candidate up by pressing F12. Hiding and Restoring Talking Dictionary. It is possible to hide the Talking Dictionary during normal usage by pressing Control H. Talking Dictionary will be minimized to the system tray, a practice very common for frequently used programs. When Talking Dictionary is hidden a tray icon resembling a book will appear on the bottom right of the screen. Selecting "Show Dictionary" from the pop-up menu can restore talking Dictionary. Alternatively, press Control Alt R to restore the dictionary to normal usage. Tip: Spell checking a word in any external program will bring Talking Dictionary to the foreground. Use the combination Control F11 to spell check the currently highlighted word in any program. Online Help and Assistance. Talking Dictionary has various methods of providing useful assistance. See the control definitions below for details: Verbose Mode: During normal usage the dictionary provides wordy assistance. This is known as verbose mode. This can be switched off by pressing Control and F5 if you do not need or want this assistance. Help Mode: The dictionary can explain the meaning of each key (as it is pressed) by pressing Control and F6. Help Mode is useful to ensure that you fully understand each key's purpose. Keyboard Echo: When Keyboard Echo is activated the dictionary will speak each key as it is pressed. This is very useful to make sure you are keying in the letters correctly when searching for words. Keyboard Echo is switched on and off by pressing the F10 button. Basic Key List: Press F9 for a list of all basic command keys. Advanced Key List: Press Control F9 for a list of all advanced command keys. Talking Dictionary Options: These controls are for advanced users only. They can be accessed with or without a screen reader. However, accessing these keys without a screen reader is only possible if the "tab navigation" option has been selected. Tab Navigable Controls: Allows conventional tab navigation like a normal windows program. Note for blind users: If you do not have a screen reader you should also select the Control Echo option in order to hear the currently selected control. Lookup Word Auto-Focus: When this control is activated the Lookup Word (keyword) will automatically be selected and filled when you press any character key during normal dictionary operation. This is useful for quickly typing in and looking up words without having to navigate to the Lookup Word text field. Dictionary Speech Enabled: Disables or enables Talking Dictionary's built in speech. If you have a screen reader that you want to use with Talking Dictionary you can disable Talking Dictionary's built in speech. Note that we also recommend selecting the Tab Navigable Controls option if you want to use your own screen reader with Talking Dictionary. Program Focus: If you want Talking Dictionary to always be on top (i.e., in front of other programs) select the Always on Top option. Otherwise select the Normal option (recommended). Help File: If you want to use an internet based help file select Normal Help. Otherwise you can access text file based help, which you may find easier to read with some screen readers. Note that the CD version of Talking Dictionary is supplied with audio instructions that you might find more convenient. Default All: Use this button to return the controls to the factory pre-set and preferred settings. Contacting Us: If you have a support issue that you would like help with please contact us by using the support form on our website http://www.rwfts.com. Speech Options. These controls are for advanced users only. These controls can be accessed with or without a screen reader. However, accessing these keys without a screen reader is only possible if the "tab navigation" option has been selected. Press the "Speech" button control on the dictionary main screen. The Select oice dialog will be invoked. It contains the following controls: Select Voice: Disables or enables Talking Dictionary's built in speech. If you have a screen reader that you want to use with Talking Dictionary you can select this option. Note that we also recommend selecting the Tab Navigable Controls option if you want to use your own screen reader with Talking Dictionary. Select the voice you want to use from the list on the left. Use the Close button control to exit the screen, saving the new voice. Speed Control: Use this control to adjust the speed of Talking Dictionary's voice. Reset Speed: Use this control to restore the voice speed setting to the factory pre-set. Database Statistics and Technical Information. Dictionary Database Version: Talking Dictionary was last updated in June 2008. The database statistics indicated below are approximate. Talking Dictionary 8 is accurate according to Version 2.1 of the WordNet database. Dictionary Program Version: The program version is Version 9.0.0. Dictionary Helpfile Version: The helpfile version is Version 9.0.0. Number of words, synsets, and senses: Noun 117000+ 81000+ Verb 11480+ 13600+ Adjective 22120+ 18877+ Adverb 4600+ 3600+ Totals 155327 117597 Polysemy information: Noun 101320+ 15770+ Verb 6260+ 5220+ Adjective 16880+ 5250+ Adverb 3850+ 750+ Totals 128320+ 27000+ Average: Noun 1.23 2.77 Verb 2.16 3.56 Adjective 1.41 2.74 Adverb 1.24 2.49 Statistics for all types of adjectives and adjective satellites are combined. The total of all unique noun, verb, adjective, and adverb strings is actually 147249. However, many strings are unique within a syntactic category, but are in more than one syntactic category. The figures in the table represent the unique strings in each syntactic category.