Vocabulary Building & Dictionary Management Flashcards

What is the primary purpose of a realtime captioner's personal steno dictionary?

Answer: To map steno outlines to their corresponding English words and phrases

A steno dictionary maps steno outlines (keystrokes) to their English text equivalents, enabling CAT software to translate strokes into readable text in real time.

What is a 'conflict' in a steno dictionary?

Answer: When the same steno outline is mapped to two different words or phrases

A conflict occurs when a single steno outline is assigned to two or more different translations, creating ambiguity that can cause incorrect output during realtime captioning.

In realtime captioning, what is a 'brief' or 'brief form'?

Answer: An abbreviated steno outline that represents a longer word or phrase

A brief form is an abbreviated steno stroke or series of strokes that produces a longer word or phrase, increasing writing speed and reducing physical effort.

What does 'untrans' refer to in realtime captioning output?

Answer: Steno outlines the CAT software cannot find in the dictionary, appearing as raw steno strokes

An 'untrans' is a steno outline the CAT software cannot match to a dictionary entry, causing raw steno characters to appear in the output instead of English text.

What is a 'job dictionary' in CAT software?

Answer: A temporary, event-specific dictionary containing specialized terminology for a particular assignment

A job dictionary is a session-specific supplement created before an assignment to hold specialized terms, proper nouns, or technical vocabulary unique to that event.

How should a realtime captioner best handle an unfamiliar technical term discovered during pre-assignment preparation?

Answer: Add it with the correct steno outline to a job dictionary before the event begins

Pre-populating a job dictionary with anticipated technical terms ensures accurate real-time output without interrupting the flow of captioning during the live event.

What is 'dictionary stacking' in CAT software?

Answer: Using multiple dictionaries simultaneously with the top-most dictionary given search priority

Dictionary stacking allows CAT software to search through multiple loaded dictionaries in priority order, so job-specific or client-specific entries can override the master dictionary when needed.