SPECIAL ENGLISH EDUCATION

Assignment

On

DEVELOPING STUDY SKILLS: EXPLORING

THE DICTIONARY

Submitted

By

M. Augustin

REG.NO: 19BDEN10

Submitted to

Prof.A. John Lawrence

St. Xavier’s College of Education

Palayamkottai.
 DEVELOPING STUDY SKILLS: EXPLORING

THE DICTIONARY

INTRODUCTION:

Dictionary originally came from the Latin word dictionarius, meaning "a manual or

book of words." A dictionary is most commonly used to look up the definitions of particular

words, but other information, such as etymology and usage guidelines, often appears as well.

Electronic dictionaries can include even more information, like slang and popular texting

acronyms, such as "ttyn," which stands for "talk to you never."

DICTIONARY:

A dictionary is a collection of words and their definitions (and sometimes other

information). Such collections are usually printed as books, but some are now designed for

use on computers.

A book that contains a list of words in alphabetical order and explain its meaning or

give a word for them from another language.

TYPES OF DICTIONARY:

1. A bilingual dictionary gives words in two languages. Each language is

grouped alphabetically in separate halves of the book, with translations into the other

language.

2. A monolingual dictionary uses the same language for the words and their definitions.

3. An etymological dictionary traces a word's development over time, giving historical

examples to show changes.

 4. A crossword dictionary has words grouped together by the number of letters in the

word to help people find words of a certain length to complete their crossword

puzzles.

5. A Rhyming Dictionary is one where words are grouped together by their end sounds.

When two words end with the same sound, they rhyme, used more frequently

in poetry than prose as an effect

6. A mini-dictionary is a little dictionary, also called a pocket dictionary.

7. A pocket dictionary is a small portable dictionary designed to be carried around.

Consequently, they often have tough covers to withstand the perils of travelling.

8. A thesaurus is a book that organises words by categories and concepts,

so synonyms and near-synonyms will be grouped together.

9. A glossary is a list of words or phrases used in a particular field with their definitions.

Glossaries are often found at the back of a specialist or academic book as an appendix

to the text.

OX WARD DICTIONARY:

Simply known as OED, the Oxford English dictionary is called a descriptive dictionary of no

other language than the English language. The publisher is the Oxford University Press.

1. The Oxford English Dictionary has a popular definition for approximately 600,000

words

2. William Chester Minor was the main contributor of quotations found in the Oxford

English Dictionary. He was a former United States Army Surgeon

3. Johnson’s dictionary is not the very initial work on the collection of words and their

meanings. But, it is credited with the first work that attempted to include every

English word with examples and definitions.

 4. Before the introduction of the OED (Oxford English Dictionary), Johnson’s

Dictionary was the leading. OED was introduced 173 years later.

5. It was in 1988 that the first electronic copy of the dictionary became available

6. ‘Set’ is the word that has the most definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary. But,

the word ‘run’ beat this record recently and became the word with the most

definitions in the Oxford English Dictionary

Specialized Dictionaries

The Manual of Specialized Lexicographies defines a specialized dictionary as one that

particularly focuses on a specific subject area. This type of dictionary is also called a

technical dictionary.

There are three types of a specialized dictionary:

1. A multi-field dictionary: It extensively covers tons of subject areas or fields. A typical

example is a business dictionary. Example of a multi-field dictionary is the 23-

language Inter-Active Terminology for Europeans.

2. A single-field dictionary: It covers a specific subject area (e.g. law) in a narrow

manner. An example of a single-field dictionary is the American National Biography

3. A sub-field dictionary: This one covers a more specialized area or field such as

marriage law. An example of a sub-field dictionary is the African American National

Biography Project

A medical dictionary (glossary) for instance is also a typical example of a specialized

dictionary.

FUNCTION:

In essence, a specialized dictionary is most useful when researching specialized areas

such as medicine, law, manufacturing, and other specialized fields.

USES OF DICTIONARY:
1. Proper Spelling of Words:

Using a dictionary undoubtedly helps us know the proper spellings of words,

especially when they are used in different parts of speech.

Apart from this knowing the right spelling would help one to write phrases, sentences

properly. It is highly beneficial especially to students who are learning a language and

helps them to enrich their vocabulary as well.

2. Parts of Speech

As I mentioned above that different parts of speech of the same word are used in

different ways in sentences, a learner should know the part of speech a certain word

belongs to. It may be a Noun, a Verb, an Adverb or an Adjective. Learners especially

students should know the different parts of speech of each word they come across and

how to use them in sentences. Nothing on earth but a dictionary is the one friend who

can help you out in this matter.

3. Pronunciation:

In order to speak English fluently, the right utterance of words is necessary. Learners

or students of English language could have ample benefits in this regard with the help

of a dictionary.

Online dictionaries and apps are available showing the proper pronunciation of words

with the help of the International Phonetic Alphabet.

4. Examples in Sentences:
 Dictionaries comprise not only of words but also of using those words in sentence

examples. These examples help new learners to form clear ideas of how and where

exactly to use those words in sentences.

5. Abbreviations:

Last but not least, we commonly take the list of abbreviations given in our

dictionaries for granted. Don’t forget to take them under your concern for they may

prove very useful when needed.

6. Guessing the Meaning:

Once you are familiar enough with your dictionary and you know how a word is to be

looked up, try to assume the meaning from the context of a word if you don’t know it.

Do it as frequently as possible and then take your dictionary only to confirm it. Such

kinds of exercises would make you flexible, perform well and grab the language skills

relatively faster.

CONCLUSION:

Dictionary is a very important tool for anyone who is learning a new language. To be

a good dictionary user, however, it is not enough to know what to use the dictionary for. You

must also decide which is the best dictionary for any of the purposes. As well as this, you

need to be able to find what you are looking for quickly; you need to be sure that you have

found what you were looking for; and, most importantly, you need to know when to use your

dictionary.