Dictionary types

Lexicology project
Submitted by the 2nd year student of Moldova State University
Group EG211TR
Nedelcu Eva
Oxford Learner’s Dictionary of Academic English

1. Properties
Coverage : Specialised language
Medium : web-based, print
Size : standard
Organization : word to meaning, alphabetical order
Is used for decoding
Language : monolingual
Users’ language : learners worldwide who speak the same language

2. Users profile
Age group: for students and adults
Type of users: general and professional, native speakers or those who learn, students.
It focuses on words and phrases used in academic writing, and helps students to use them in
their own academic written work. It is specifically designed, or preparing to study, an academic
subject in English.

3. Benefit : The dictionary shows how general English words are used in different ways
across academic subject areas.
4. The dictionary shows where meanings and usage are different in general and academic
English, and words and phrases from particular subject areas are clearly marked.
It allows people to look up alphabetically words. Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic
English is based includes a broad range of texts from the following disciplines: biology,
biochemistry, business, chemistry, classical studies, computer science, earth science, ecology,
economics, education, engineering, geography, health science, history, law and many others.

Difficulty: It requires an intermediate level of language.

The Oxford Dictionary of Collocations for students of English
1.Properties
Coverage : a specific area of language
Medium: print
Size: standard
Organization: word to meaning, alphabetical order
Language : monolingual
It is used for decoding
Users’ language : learners , a group of users who speaks English
2. User profile
Age group: students, adults
Type of user : general and professional, native speakers, learners
Users’ skills : literate adults, language learners, students
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary:
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge

3. Benefit : They will find new ways how to use this word ,and in which form and collocation they can use it.
Difficulty : It is sometimes difficult for English learners to understand the meaning of the collocation
Suggestion : They should look up in other sites , read examples and try to translate it in target language in order to
better understanding.
4.Purpose : This dictionary provide all the possible collocations that a word can create.
Online Etymology Dictionary

1. Properties
Coverage: general language
Medium: online
Organization: word to meaning , alphabetical order
Language: monolingual
Is used for encoding and decoding
Users’ language: learners worldwide of the dictionary’s language

2. Users profile
Age group :adults and students
Type of user: general , language learners, native speakers
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary: it can be use in educational area, for personal
knowledge, or for learning how were written the words in the past.
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge

3. Benefit: the dictionary gives all the possible variationsof one word. It gives additional
information about the period of the word. It allows people to look up alphabetically the words. The
dictionary gives explanations of what our words meant and how they sounded 600 or
2,000 years ago.

4. Purpose: The dictionary provides a word with its primary meaning , examples in some cases,
different period of time and how the word was spelled, pronounced.
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

1. Properties
Coverage : general language
Medium : online and print
Size : standard
Organization : word to meaning,alphabetical order
Is used for decoding
Language: Monolingual and multilingual
Users’ language: learners worldwide of the dictionary’s language and two specific groups of
Language-speakers.
2. User profile
Age group : young and older children, adults
Type of users: general and professional, native speakers and language learners.
Users’ skills : school students, young children, language learners.
Ways in which they will want to use it: It can be used in educational settings, for learning a
language, translate an unknown word.
3.Benefit : These dictionaries have integrated thesaurus, collocations and important grammar
information. It has interactive vocabulary and grammar exercises help us learn synonyms,
collocations and idioms, as well as grammar at intermediate and advanced levels. It has example
sentences are pronounced by British or American native speakers of English.
4.Purpose :is an advanced learner's dictionary, providing definitions using a restricted vocabulary,
helping non-native English speakers understand meanings easily. Longman bilingual dictionaries help
learners of English quickly find accurate translations. It is specifically designed for learners and
teachers of English, and for people who need to use English as a second language at work.
 Wiktionary

1. Propreties
Coverage : general and specialized language
Medium : online
Organization : word to meaning
Language : multilingual
Is used for decoding

2. Users profile
Age group : adults, students, young children
Type of users : general and professional ,intermediate language learners
Users’ skill : linguists and other language professionals
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary :it can be use in educational setting, for
learning a new language .
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge
3. Benefit : it is a multilingual dictionary, in all natural languages and in a number of
artificial languages. It contain definitions, images for illustration, pronunciations,
etymologies, inflections, usage examples, quotations, related terms, and translations of terms
into other languages, among other features.
Difficulty : This dictionary provides a lot of details, so people can get confused.
Suggestion : People have to read attentively and choose the best meaning.
4. Purpose : It gives meaning in all active language in from the world.
This dictionary provides a word with all its meaning in different existing language,
examples,translation.
Dict.cc
1. Properties
Coverage : general language and terminology
Medium: online
Organization : word to meaning
Language: bilinguall , bidirectional
It is used for decoding
Users’ language : two specific groups of language-speakers
2. Users’ profile
Age group: young and older children, students, adults
Users’ skill : language learners, school students
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary: It can be use in educational and
professional
settings and for learning a language or translating texts and words.
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge

3. Benefit : it gives a quick result, we can also ask and answer questions related to the
German or English language using the translation forum. It offers a vocabulary trainer to
improve language skills .
Difficulty : Sometimes more variants of translating are provided, and not all of them are good
for a specific context.
Suggestion : People should know the context that is provided and to they should the best
equivalent.
4. Purpose
The purpose of this dictionary is to save time in searching ,to help users to find the best
equivalent in their language, to check the genre, spelling and pronunciation of words.
 Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English Dictionary

1.Purpose
Coverage : general language and terminologie
Medium : print and online
Size : unabridged
Organization : word to meaning,alphabetical order
Language : monolingual
It is used for decoding
Users’ language : users worldwide of the dictionary’ s language
2. User profile
Age group : adults, students
Type of user : general and professional , native speakers and intermediate language learners
Users’ skills : school students, linguist and other professionals
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary: it can be used in professional settings and in
finding the definition of words from ancient time.
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge
3.Benefit: It gives a lot of informations and years of use and definition about word .
Difficulty : It requires an intermediate level of language and the ability of reading a dictionary,
because it gives a lot of information.
Suggestions : to inform before use it.
4.Purpose : It gives the whole vocabulary of English, from the earliest written records in Old
English to the present, according to the first documented occurrence of a word in the entire history
of the English language.
Cambridge Business English Dictionary
1. Purpose
Coverage: specilised language , terminology ,including British and American usage
Medium: print
Size: standard
Organization: Alphabetical order
Metalanguage : Monolingual
It is used for decoding

2.User profile
Types of users : Adults,students, general and profesionals . created for business English students,
business studies students and anyone using English in their work.
Ways in which they will want to use the dictionary: They may use this dictionary for
definitions,examples ,grammar explanation,
Skills they will bring to the task : their linguistic knowledge
3.Purpose : The dictionary includes the latest, business-specific vocabulary and help with how to use
English naturally in business situations like meetings, conference calls and emails.
Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary

Coverage: General English language

Medium print and online
Size: standard
Organization: alphabetically
Metalanguage: monolingual
It is used for decoding
Types of users: Adults, students, pupils; general and professional users
User’s skills: literate adults, language learners
Ways to use: Users can consult this dictionary in order to find definitions, meanings,
examples, pronunciations, spelling. On the website exists games and special departments
with
different articles to improve vocabulary.
Benefit: it gives a quick result and a lot of different meaning .
Purpose :is to explain the meaning of words, and to provide the best pronunciation in British
and American language.
Collins English Dictionary
Coverage: General and specialized English language
Medium: print and online
Size: standard
Metalanguage: monolingual
Organization: word to meaning, alphabetical order
It is used for decoding
Type of users: adults, students, pupils
Ways of use: users may consult this dictionary for definitions, examples, spelling,
Synonyms.
Purpose: to provide definitions of words, spelling and pronunciation