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Lexicography
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The pursuit of lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:
A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer.
General lexicography focuses on the design, compilation, use and evaluation of general dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that provide a description of the language in general use. Such a dictionary is usually called a general dictionary or LGP dictionary.
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Encyclopedia
The pursuit of lexicography is divided into two related disciplines:
- Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
- Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language, developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries, the needs for information by users in specific types of situation, and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as 'metalexicography'.
A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer.
General lexicography focuses on the design, compilation, use and evaluation of general dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that provide a description of the language in general use. Such a dictionary is usually called a general dictionary or LGP dictionary. Specialized lexicography focuses on the design, compilation, use and evaluation of specialized dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that are devoted to a (relatively restricted) set of linguistic and factual elements of one or more specialist subject fields, e.g. legal lexicography. Such a dictionary is usually called a specialized dictionary or LSP dictionary.
There is some disagreement on the definition of lexicology, as distinct from lexicography. Some use "lexicology" as a synonym for theoretical lexicography; others use it to mean a branch of linguistics pertaining to the inventory of words in a particular language.
It is now widely accepted that lexicography is a scholarly discipline in its own right and not a sub-branch of applied linguistics, as the chief object of study in lexicography is the dictionary.
Aspects
Practical lexicographic work involves several activities, and it is important to note that the compilation of really crafted dictionaries require careful consideration of all or some of the following aspects:
- Profiling the intended users (i.e. linguistic and non-linguistic competences) and identifying their needs
- Defining the communicative and cognitive functions of the dictionary
- Selecting and organizing the components of the dictionary
- Choosing the appropriate structures for presenting the data in the dictionary (i.e. frame structure, distribution structure, macro-structure, micro-structure and cross-reference structure)
- Selecting words and affixes for lemmatization as entries
- Selecting collocations, phrases and examples
- Choosing lemma forms for each word or part of word to be lemmatized
- Defining words
- Organizing definitions
- Specifying pronunciations of words
- Labeling definitions and pronunciations for register and dialect, where appropriate
- Selecting equivalents in bi- and polylingual dictionaries
- Translating collocations, phrases and examples in bi- and polylingual dictionaries
- Designing the best way in which users can access the data in printed and electronic dictionaries
Theoretical lexicography (or metalexicography) concerns the same aspects, but is meant to lead to the development of principles that can improve the quality of future dictionaries, for instance in terms of access to data and lexicographic information costs. Several perspectives or branches of such academic dictionary research have been distinguished: 'dictionary criticism' (or evaluating the quality of one or more dictionaries, e.g. by means of reviews), 'dictionary history' (or tracing the traditions of a type of dictionary or of lexicography in a particular country or language), 'dictionary typology' (or classifying the various genres of reference works, such as dictionary versus encyclopedia, monolingual versus bilingual dictionary, general versus technical or pedagogical dictionary), 'dictionary structure' (or formatting the various ways in which the information is presented in a dictionary), 'dictionary use' (or observing the reference acts and skills of dictionary users), and 'dictionary IT' (or applying computer aids to the process of dictionary compilation).
One important consideration is the status of 'bilingual lexicography', or the compilation and use of the bilingual dictionary in all its aspects. In spite of a relatively long history of this dictionary type, it is often said to be less developed in a number of respects than its monolingual counterpart, especially in cases where one of the languages involved is not a major language. Not all genres of reference works are available in interlingual versions, e.g. LSP, learners' and encyclopedic types, although sometimes these challenges produce new subtypes, e.g. 'semi-bilingual' or 'bilingualised' dictionaries like Hornby's (Oxford) Advanced Learner's Dictionary English-Chinese, which have been developed by translating existing monolingual dictionaries (see Marello 1998).
Recommended reading
- Atkins, B.T.S. & Rundell, Michael (2008) The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography, Oxford U.P.
- Bergenholtz, Henning & Tarp, Sven (eds.) (1995) Manual of Specialised Lexicography, J. Benjamins.
- Bejoint, Henri (2000) Modern Lexicography: An Introduction, Oxford U.P.
- Green, Jonathon (1996) Chasing the Sun - Dictionary-Makers and the Dictionaries They Made, J. Cape. ISBN 0-7126-6216-2
- Hartmann, R.R.K. (2001) Teaching and Researching Lexicography, Pearson Education.
- Hartmann, R.R.K. (ed.) (2003) Lexicography: Critical Concepts, Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 3 volumes.
- Hartmann, R.R.K. & James, Gregory (comps.) (1998/2001) Dictionary of Lexicography, Routledge.
- Kirkness, Alan (2004) "Lexicography", in The Handbook of Applied Linguistics ed. by A. Davies & C. Elder, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 54-81.
- Landau, Sidney (2001) Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge U.P. 2nd ed.
- Marello, Carla (1998) "Hornby's biligualized dictionaries", in International Journal of Lexicography 11,4, pp. 292-314.
- Nielsen, Sandro (1994) The Bilingual LSP Dictionary, G. Narr.
- Nielsen, Sandro (2008) "The effect of lexicographical information costs on dictionary making and use", in Lexikos (AFRILEX-reeks/series 18), pp. 170-189.
- Ooi, Vincent (1998) Computer Corpus Lexicography, Edinburgh U.P.
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