УДК 81-2

ELECTRONIC DICTIONARY TYPOLOGY

Chernysh Oksana,
Associate Professor at the Department of
Theoretical and Applied Linguistics
Zhytomyr Polytechnic State University
Zhytomyr, Ukraine
chernyshoxana@gmail.com

Abstract: The article deals with electronic dictionary typology classification. It

defines the notion “electronic dictionary” and highlights its advantages as a
significant component of any Natural Language Processing system. The survey
highlights criteria necessary to distinguish different types of electronic dictionaries.
Key words: electronic dictionary classification, natural language processing,
database, quick search.

Nowadays people live in a fast-paced society where despite the progress the
gap between unskilled and skilled is widening. One of the major keys to successful
career is mastering 21st century skills, such as critical thinking, problem solving,
collaboration, communication, creativity and others. 21 st century skills are greatly
interrelated with language, which is the most significant aspect in the life of all
human beings. Therefore, learning and mastering languages contributes to effective
modes of communication between different communities and cultures. The article
deals with the pecualiarities of electronic dictionaries (ED) as one of important tools
used for learning new languages. The primary objective of scientific investigation is
to provide ED classification and define the criteria by which dictionaries should be
classified.
There have been several attempts to build ED classification by Ukrainian and
foreign scholars, namely I. Zavaruyeva, S. Merculova, V. Perebyinis, V. Chernytsky,
Gilles-Maurice de Schryver and many others. However, in the classifications at hand
ED is viewed as a software product lacking lexico-graphic point of view.
There is no common understanding of what ED is. It is considered as a kind of
dictionary which data is stored in digital form and can be accessed through a number
of different media 1. ED is viewed as a computer database of entries specifically
coded to facilitate quick word search with regard to morphological form and with the
possibility of searching word combinations and changing translation direction 2. It
is a special lexico-graphic characterized by non-linear textual structure (combination
of text and hypertext of material representation form), inside and outside search
(within dictionary itself and in other Internet resources), combination of phonetic,
semantic, encyclopedic information etc. in one entry, availability of verbal and non-
verbal means of lexical unit description 3. Consequently, ED has tremendous
potential and greately assists learners in understanding as well as enlightening their
language skills.
The survey of existing ED classifications shows the variety of criteria taken
into consideration. Thus, all ED can be classified according to:
 languages involved: monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries;
 form: online (located in the Internet) and electronic (distributed on CD)
dictionaries;
 information arrangement: textual and hypertextual (among which one can
distinguish between creolized (with extralinguistic elements such as
pictures, audio and video) and non-creolized dictionaries) 2;
 operational system and loading mode parameters: dictionaries designed for
MS DOS and dictionaries designed for Windows, non-residential (with their
own shell program) and residential (called from other applications) 4;
 word list arrangement: frequency-ordered, alphabetically ordered,
thesauruses, thematically grouped, concordances, special purpose
dictionaries, combined dictionaries etc.;
 information medium and devices: computer (set up on the desktop
computers), pocket (recorder in pocket electronic devices), mobile (used in
smartphones), stationary (installed on computer hard disc), portable
(distributed on CDs), online (available in the Internet) dictionaries 5;
  language varieties: normative, literary language, regional dialect, social-
group dialect dictionaries and others.
As a result, ED is user friendly and provides all the necessary information
assisting in communication. ED has become beneficial for creating a bond among
different cultures.
Literature

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