Dictionary Website, Part 2: Database Design

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 11:25:58 -0400

The first step in building the dictionary is data design. I will be using Postgress as a SQL relational database, and using PgAdmin to assist in the design of the tables and their relationships.

Building the Database

My choice for core technology underpinning the data of the website will be a relational database. Due to the relational nature of language data, especially for my features which will include words in-situ, as well as translations from english to sourashtra and vice-versa, a database is perfectly suited to the task. Moreover, there are database utilities that will allow for search and even fuzzy matching, so stay tuned for that later!

Dictionary Website, Part 1: Background

Thu, 25 Jun 2026 10:52:23 -0400

This post is Part 1 of my series on building a dictionary website for the Sourashtra Language.

Photograph by Poras Chaudhary, The New York Times/Redux

Project Background

This is my first post on the dictionary website project, where I am building a site for translations and dictionary for the Sourashtra language. I am currently studying the language to better communicate with my in-laws after marrying into the community. Sourashtra is an endangered language with less than one million speakers. It is spoken primarily in Madurai, though speakers of the language reside in many cities in Tamil Nadu. The goal of this website is to provide a way for people to learn the language through translations of common words, example sentences and their english translations, and in the future, an audio player to learn pronunciations.

Projects on Deep Fried Code

Dictionary Website, Part 2: Database Design

Building the Database

Dictionary Website, Part 1: Background

Project Background