LEXICOGRAPHY

Types of dictionaries
Information about words
 Lexicography
 A branch of linguistics which studies how dictionaries are compiled,
and what are the principles applied to the selection, representation
and definition of words in dictionaries

 Lexicography has its specific metalanguage which is used to describe

language as a semiotic system

 Lexicography studies
o selection of words in dictionaries
o arrangement of dictionary entries
o explanation of meaning
o choice of medium
o updating dictionary contents
 Types of dictionaries (1)
1) According to purpose
 General purpose dictionaries – aimed at native speakers of the
language

 Learnerʼs dictionaries – aimed at those learning English as a second

of foreign language
o vary according to the level of proficiency – e.g. intermediate, advanced

 Childrenʼs dictionaries – aimed at young learners acquiring English

as a native language or through English-medium instruction
o vary according to age groups
from very young learners to adolescents
 Types of dictionaries (2)

2) According to size
 desk size
Oxford English Dictionary (OED)
Webster
 consize size
Collins Cobuild Dictionary
Longman Consize English Dictionary

 pocket size
 Types of dictionaries (3)
1) According to the content
 Encyclopaedia – explains the facts the words refer to
 Language – explains the meaning of words and the context of their
use
2) According to the historical period
 Diachronic
o historical – Old English, Middle English, Modern English
o etymological – study the origin and the development of the form and
meaning of words
 Synchronic
o present modern language,
o dictionaries of previous states of the language without translation into
modern English
 Types of dictionaries (4)
3) According to the number of languages involved
 Multilingual dictionaries for translation purposes
o bilingual
o pluriilingual
 Monolingual (English/English) dictionaries
o explain the meaning of words by periphrastic devices or by using
synonyms, antonyms etc.
4) According to the principle of arrangement
o alphabetical
o frequency
o according to topics – thesaurus
5) Dictionaries according to the medium used
o printed form
o computer dictionaries
 The history of the OED
• 1857 – Philological Society of Longon calls for a new dictionary
• 1884 -1928 – A New English Dictionary on Historical Principles –10
vols, 400,000 words
• 1933 – reprinted as Oxford English Disctionary + 1 supplement
• 1972-1986 – new supplement in 4 volumes + full electronic text
• 1989 – Second Edition of the OED – 20 vols, 60,000,000 words
• 1992 – OED on CD-ROM
• 2000 – OED on-line
• 2000 – work began on a Third Edition of the OED – covers British,
American, Australian, New Zealand English and the Englishes of
South and South-East Asia, Southern Africa and the Carriebean
 Specialized dictionaries
Dictionaries that cover a relatively restricted set of phenomena:
 specific language varieties
o national varieties (e.g. British, American, Australian)
o dilects
o slangs
o jargons
o terminology
 aspects of language
o pronunciation
o combinatory
o phraseology
o idioms
o synonyms/antonyms
o orthography
Task - Principles of selection and arrangement
1) How many words are there in your dictionary?
o How are they counted?
o How do the authors explain their decision on the size of the dictionary?
2) What kind of words are selected?
o Are there only common words, or also scientific and slang words,
abbreviations and names of people and places?
o How do the authors explain their decisions on selection?
3) How are the words arranged?
o Are derivatives and/or compounds ʽnestedʼ (i.e. presented with the
root/less complex form of the word)?
o How are homonyms and polysemous words presented (e.g. bottle, can?
o How many meanings of a word are listed and how?
o How (where) are phrases and idioms listed (e.g. to burn the midnight oil?
Information provided by a dictionary entry

 Citation form (lemma)

 Phonetical information – transcription
 Spelling – irregular forms
 Morphological information – inflectional forms
 Syntactic information – word class, transitivity, prepositions
 Semantic information – definition of the word
 Sociolinguistic information – register/dialect variation
 Etymological information – origins and historical
development of the form/meaning of the word
Task – Cambridge English Dictionary on-line
Task – Merriam Webster on-line