BYMS. SADIA IRSHAD

PhD, Scholar, The Department of English THE ISLAMIA UNIVERSITY OF BAHAWALPUR

INTRODUCTION

IntroductionTWO VIEWSA branch of applied linguisticsA discipline in its own right

Definitions Samuel Johnson(1755): first English

lexicographer“art or practice of writing dictionaries”

David Crystal (1987)“the process of compiling dictionary”“the art and science of dictionary-

making”Oxford Advanced Learner Dictionary

“the theory and practice of writing and editing dictionary”

History of lexicographynot a new disciplinedeveloped to the present stage by passing

through various phasesEarlier dictionaries had a practical aimBILINGUAL OR POLYGLOT WORD-LISTS

to help travellers, missionaries, tradersGLOSSARIES

to help people understand dialectal, technical or rare terms

History Glossai

in 5th BC to explain words in authors as Homer

Anglo-Saxon Glossesin 8th century, English words were written between Latin lines.only random word-lists were produced

History PROLIFIC PERIODS Compilation of Arabic dictionary in 8th cInvention of printing pressDictionary by Academia Della Crusa in 1612Polyglot dictionary appeared in 17th cComparative philologists compiled historical

dictionaries in 18th c In 19th c pictorial, specialized, dialectal etc.

encyclopediaIn 20th c lexicography was developed as a

scholarly subject under the influence of linguistics

History of English lexicography R. Cawdrey (1604): A Table alphabeticall

explains “hard words”S. Johnson (1755): Dictionary

Citations from literature. Full vocabulary coverage.N. Webster (1828): American Dictionary of the English Language

A nationalistic adventure. Webster’s debt to Johnson. “consulting the opinions of some gentlemen in whose judgment I had

trust” (seeking agreement on definitions – convention)J. A. H. Murray et al. (1884-1928): OED

Historical principles. Interaction with literary, medieval and Indo-European scholarship.

Isaac Funk (1894): Funk and Wagnall’s Standard Dictionary of the English Language.put the “most important current definition” first.

Merriam Webster’s Second New International Dictionary (1933)Monumental. Many discursive, quasi-encyclopedic explanations.

Lexicography is accretiveOne dictionary builds on another.William Dwight Witney (1891): The Century Dictionary

“neither in meaning nor in form is language to be dominated by its past”

Clarence Barnhart (1947): American College Dictionary (1947)

Jess Stein and Laurence Urdang (1966): Random House Dictionary

Patrick Hanks (1971): Hamlyn Dictionary (UK)Arthur Delbridge (1981): Macquarie Dictionary (Australia)All these dictionaries attempt to “put the modern meaning first”.(Without corpus evidence, it is hard to decide what is the

“modern meaning”.)

Some 20th-century English dictionariesW. Geddie (1901): Chambers 20th-Century Dictionary

A vast ragbag. Many rare Scottish dialect terms. Some witty definitions, e.g. “éclair, a confection long in shape but short in duration”

H. W. Fowler (1911): Concise Oxford Dictionary A distillation of OED. Interesting approach to sense groupings.

P. Hanks (1979): Collins English DictionaryCoverage of technical vocabulary and names. Guidance on

usage.P. Hanks and J. Pearsall (1998): New Oxford Dictionary of

EnglishCorpus-based and citation-based. Distinguishes core senses

from subsenses. Major vocabulary surveys, e.g. of languages, flora and fauna, technology etc. Syntactic information. Corpus-based guidance on usage.

Lexicographer Person devoted to lexicographyDr. Samuel Johnson (1755) in the Dictionary

of English Language defines“A writer of dictionaries; a harmless

drudge who busies himself in tracing the original and detailing the significance of words.”

Types of lexicography

Field of lexicography

Practical lexicographyCompilingwritingEditing

Theoretical lexicographyA scholarly disciplineFocuses on analyzing and describing semantic

relations of lexicon of the dictionaryDeveloping theories of dictionary components

and structuresLinking data in the dictionariesAlso referred to as metalexicography and

lexicologyA branch of linguistics pertaining to inventory

(stock) of words in a particular language

Theoretical lexicography

Lexical semanticsSemantics usually involved in lexicological

work is called lexical semanticsStudies semantical relations between wordsHomonymy e.g band, bowlPolysemyHomograph e.g bow, conductSynonymyAntonymyHomophone

PhraseologyStudies compound meanings of two or more

wordsStudies whole meanings of phraseIdiomsProverbs Phrasal verbs

Etymology History of lexiconEtmology of words gives information about

the historical changes and development e.g thou to you

Practical lexicograpphyinvolves several activities, the compilation of really crafted dictionaries

require careful consideration of all or some of the following aspects:

Need analysisProfiling the intended users (i.e. linguistic

and non-linguistic competences) identifying their needsDefining the communicative and cognitive

functions of the dictionary

Lexicon acquisition Questionnaire Corpus based Building on existing dictionaries

Lexicography is accretive Danger of mindlessly copying errors and out-of-date information

The reading program: research to find millions of citations But not a balanced corpus

Directed reading research – specialist areas Searching corpus data:

low yield for new words high yield for phraseology, collocation, usage

Trawling the internet. Problems: sorting the “new words” from the corpus many “new words” are in fact multiword expressions They are hard to find by web crawling programs

Structuring lexicon informationStating relation of data categoriesChoosing lemma forms for each word or part

of word to be lemmatizedCollection of data categories may be

language specific or application specificSelecting and organizing the components of

the dictionary

Structuring lexicon informationChoosing 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 systematization as entries

Selecting collocations, phrases and examplesDefining words Organizing definitions

Structuring lexicon informationSpecifying pronunciations of words Labeling definitions and pronunciations for regist

er 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 dictionariesTable structureTree or graph structures

L1 dictionaries and their usersWords and their historiesResearch: getting the words inMacrostructure: the lexical item

Words, multiword expressions, idioms, affixesAbbreviations? Names?

Microstructure: Lemma, pronunciation, meaning, use, ...

The future of L1 dictionariesPrint? CD-Rom? On-line? Hypertext links?

Writing lexicon entriesWriting systems

Time Method

Ancient Type writer

Old Text processor

More recent Database, tables

Recent Toolbox

Advanced Graph editors

Sorting lexicon entriesPurposeRhyming Radicals e.g homonym, synonym

Building on existing dictionariesLexicography is accretiveDanger of mindlessly copying errors and out-of-date information

The Oxford reading program: 150 years of research to find millions of citationsBut not a balanced corpus

Directed reading research – specialist areasSearching corpus data:

low yield for new wordshigh yield for phraseology, collocation, usage

Trawling the internet. Problems:sorting the “new words” from the rubbishmany “new words” are in fact multiword expressionsThey are hard to find by web crawling programs

Johnson (1755)ALCHYMY,

1. the more sublime and occult part of chymystry, which proposes, for its object, the transmutation of metals, and other important operations.

There is nothing more dangerous than this licentious and deluding art, which changeth the meaning of words, as

alchymy doth, or would do, the substance of metals, maketh of anything what it listeth, and bringeth, in the end, all truth to nothing.

Hooker.O he sits high in all the people’s hearts;And that which would appear offence in us,His countenance, like richest alchymy,Will change to virtue, and to worthiness. Shakesp. J. Caesar.

Princes do but play us; compared to this,All honours mimick, all wealth alchymy. Donne.

Johnson (1755)ALCHYMY,

2. A kind of mixed metal used for spoons, and kitchen utensils. The golden colour may be some mixture of orpiment,

such as they use to brass in the yellow alchymy. Bacon.

White alchymy is made of pan-brass one pound, and arsenicum three ounces; or alchymy is made of copper and auripigmentum

. Bacon’s Physical RemainsThey bid cry,

With trumpets regal found, the great result:Tow’rds the four winds, four speedy cherubimPut to their mouth the sounding alchymy,By herald’s voice explained. Milton’s Paradise Lost, book

2

New Oxford Dictionary of English (1998)alchemy … the medieval forerunner of

chemistry, based on the supposed transformation of matter. It was concerned particularly with attempts to convert base metals into gold or find a universal elixir.

figurative A process by which paradoxical results are achieved or incompatible elements combined with no obvious rational explanation: his conducting managed by some alchemy to give a sense of fire and ice.

Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 6th edition (2000)alchemy noun [U] 1 a form of chemistry studied in the Middle Ages

which involved trying to discover how to change ordinary metals into gold. 2 (literary) a mysterious power or magic that can change things.

Comparison In Johnson Literary style of definition writing Citations from literature, especially poetsReliance on scientific and technical authorityVery full coverage of the vocabularyFew concessions to make things easier for the reader In modern A verbless phrase or a full sentence Defining the ‘essence’ of something, or characterizing what it

typically is.How much technical detail to put in, and how to present it?The role of examples.How to express changing beliefs, scepticism (e.g. about alchemy).How to relate figurative extensions to the ‘literal’ meaning (e.g.

alchemy = a former science, but also apparent magic; alcohol = strong drink as well as a chemical)

Updating lexicon entriesNew words are addedNew meanings of existing lexiconNarrowing of meaningBroadening of meanings

Archiving lexicon entriesHistorical principles place the earliest meaning of a

word firstcamera, noun [Latin camera ‘vaulted room’] 1686. 1. a small

room. 2. the treasury of the papal curia. 3. a darkened box or room with a screen in it, onto which an image is projected (camera obscura).... 4. an apparatus for taking photographs or making films. …

Synchronic principles place the current meaning first.camera, noun. an apparatus for taking photographs or

making films. [from Latin camera ‘small room’]camera obscura, noun. a darkened box or room with a

screen in it, onto which an image is projected. ... [Latin: ‘dark room’]

Archiving lexicon entries• The synchronic/historical distinction affects many

words. field: enclosed land. [Old English feld ‘open country’] kind: considerate and friendly. [Old English: ‘noble, well-

bred’] magazine: 1. periodical publication. 2. holder for

cartridges on a gun or revolver. [Arabic: ‘storehouse’ ] sock. [Latin soccus ‘light shoe worn by a comic actor’] size: dimension, magnitude. [from assizes ‘session of a

local law court’: a size loaf was a loaf of court-approved dimensions]

• Today’s exploitation may become tomorrow’s norm.

Thorsten Tripple (2006)

Corpus

concordance

Lexicon acquisition

lexicon

Multimodal output

Conclusion Lexicography involves theory and practice of dictionary

makingThe purpose is to answer all of everbody’s questions

about words, without knowing in advance what the questions are going to be.

The lexicographer must consider the needs, expectations, and limitations of the dictionary user.

Coverage (in addition to core vocabulary)slang and neologisms (journalists love them!)technical vocabulary for a technological world names of famous people and places

A dictionary entry can tell a story.Many dictionaries also give guidance on usage.