Lexicography Lecture Notes PDF

Lexicography Dr Thorsten Brato Department of English and American Studies VL Introduction to English Linguistics: English in Use  Today's lecture 1 Introduction and history 2 Dictionary design 3 Learner's dictionaries 2 ...

Lexicography Dr Thorsten Brato Department of English and American Studies VL Introduction to English Linguistics: English in Use  Today's lecture 1 Introduction and history 2 Dictionary design 3 Learner's dictionaries 2  1 Introduction and history Defining lexicography A very basic definition of lexicography The writing of dictionaries. (Trask 1999: 165) A slightly more detailed definition The term ‘lexicography’ is used in two distinct senses: first, it refers to the compilation of dictionaries; and second, it refers to the study of dictionaries. (Jackson 2013: 1) 3  1 Introduction and history Historical overview – Beginnings Ancient dictionaries were mainly bilingual glossaries, providing translations from one language to another Not comprehensive Not quite systematic Medieval dictionaries were also monoglot, but grouped around semantic fields, rather than alphabetical, e.g. words related to Farming (plough, wheelbarrow, harvest, …) Fruits (apples, pears, plums, …) Robert Cawdrey’s A Table Alphabeticall (1604) is the first alphabetic dictionary Far from comprehensive, but listed hard words, i.e. obscure and difficult words – often of Latin origin 4  1 Introduction and history Historical overview – 18th century 1702: John Kersey: A New English Dictionary The first dictionary to also cover commonly used words 1721: Nathaniel Bailey: An Universal Etymological English Dictionary Most popular dictionary of the 18th century Monolingual dictionary of common words About 900 pages 1755: Samuel Johnson: Dictionary of the English Language ca. 40,000 entries, more than 100,000 quotations Compiled between 1746 and 1755 Generally considered one of the greatest academic achievements of all times 5 1 Introduction and history Johnson’s dictionary Johnson’s Dictionary has many features still found today Stress patterns Word class Word-formation Gloss Attestations Etymology Also, Johnson was known to include some humour in his dictionary 6 1 Introduction and history Historical overview – Webster’s dictionary 1828: Noah Webster: American Dictionary of the English Language 70,000 entries Popularised American spellings (e.g. center or color) Several new editions, most notably Unabridged edition by G & C Merriam Webster Company (1864) with 114,000 entries 3rd edition (1961), which since its most recent update (2005) includes about 476,000 entries Now also available online (see below) 7  1 Introduction and history Historical overview – OED Beginning in 1857, James Murray started compiling a dictionary of English “recording every word, every spelling, and every sense attested in writing in English since the year 1000” Published between 1884 and 1928 as the New English Dictionary on Historical Principles Over 400,000 entries 2.4m quotations 1989: Second edition First computerised edition Included information on pronunciation using IPA 2000-2037(!) Compilation of a fully revised 3rd edition, currently ~600,000 entries 8  1 Introduction and history New entries to the OED Updates four times a year December 2024 update contains ~200 new entries, e.g. burger, n.: “Ghanaian English. A person from Ghana who has migrated to, and often returned from, another country, esp. Germany or elsewhere in Europe.” cuttyhunk, n.: “A type of fishing line made of braided or twisted strands of linen. Frequently as a modifier, esp. in cuttyhunk line. Now historical.” de-age, v.: “transitive. To make (a person) appear younger; (in later use) spec. to make (a person) appear younger in a photograph, film, etc., by using digital…” interrailing, n.: “The action or practice of travelling around Europe by train, using an Interrail pass which allows flexible travel for a certain period of time in…” J-, comb. form: “Forming nouns relating to Japan and its (popular) culture, as J-beauty, J-culture, J- drama, etc.” 9  2 Dictionary design Properties According to Atkins & Rundell (2008: 24f.) there are eight properties of dictionaries 1. Language 2. Coverage 3. Size 4. Medium 5. Organisation 6. Users’ language(s) 7. Users’ skills 8. What the dictionary is used for 10  2 Dictionary design Properties – Language Monolingual Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Bilingual Unidirectional, e.g. source language (SL) English – Target language (TL) French Bidirectional, e.g. 1. SL English – TL French, 2. SL French – TL English Langenscheidt Taschenwörterbuch. Deutsch-Englisch Multilingual, e.g. SL English, TL1 French, TL2 German, TL3, Arabic, … Das große Maritim-Wörterbuch in sechs Sprachen 11  2 Dictionary design Properties – Coverage General language Covering (almost) all areas of language Gage Canadian Dictionary Encyclopaedic and cultural meaning Proper names or persons, e.g. Downing Street, White House, Marie Curie, Michelle Obama Cultural entities, e.g. Big Brother, Father Christmas Terminology or sublanguages Legal terms, cricket, nursing Blackwell Encyclopedic Dictionary of Strategic Management Specific area of language Collocations, idioms, phrasal verbs Duden Redewendungen: Wörterbuch der deutschen Idiomatik 12 2 Dictionary design Properties – Size Standard (or ‘collegiate’) edition Most comprehensive, including also specialised and/or advanced vocabulary Macquarie Dictionary Concise edition Abridged version of a standard dictionary, compare OED (~21,700 pages and the Concise OED (~1,600 pages, 240,000 entries) Oxford South African Concise Dictionary Pocket edition Very abridged version, often to carry with you in class or elsewhere Berlitz Mandarin Chinese Dictionary (45,000 entries) 13  2 Dictionary design Properties – Medium Print A hard-copy of a dictionary, usually in book format Comprehensive Dictionary of Food – Großwörterbuch des Lebensmittelwesens Electronic format CD-ROM/DVD Handheld Often together with hard-copy Longman Pronouncing Dictionary Web-based Website or app dict.cc 14  2 Dictionary design Properties – Organisation Word to meaning Most common Cambridge Essential English Dictionary Word to meaning to word Looking up one word leads to other semantically related words ‘careful’ → ‘meticulous’ – someone who is meticulous pays great atttention to every detail in order to make sure that everything is done correctly Longman Language Activator 15  2 Dictionary design Properties – Users’ language A group of users who all speak the same language Often the case for general language dictionaries Oxford English Dictionary Two specific groups of language-speakers Speakers of French and Spanish Larousse Diccionario básico francés-español Learners worldwide of the dictionary’s language Speakers whose native language is another than covered (mainly) in the dictionary Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary 16 2 Dictionary design Properties – Users’ skills Linguists and other language professionals Usually a very comprehensive collegiate dictionary Der Große Muret Sanders Literate adults Ranging from pocket to collegiate Oxford English-Hindi Dictionary Pupils Macmillan School Dictionary Young children Often with pictures and based on semantic fields Oxford Children’s Dictionary Language learners Abridged version, may contain usage guides Longman Dictionary of American English 17  2 Dictionary design Properties – What the dictionary is used for Decoding ale, beer. Both words are more than 1,000 years old, and seem originally to have Understanding the meaning of a word been used as synonyms for the liquor made Translating from a foreign language text into from fermented malt. They were distinguished their own language when beer was appropriated to the kind brewed with an infusion of hops, first imported dict.leo.org in the 16th c. This distinction has now Encoding disappeared; beer has become a generic word comprising all malt liquors except stout and Using a word correctly, e.g. afterward vs. porter, though brewers still call some of their afterwards products ales, especially with a distinguishing Fowler's Modern English Usage Dictionary adjective, e.g. pale, brown, rustic, audit. In Translating a text in their own language into a ordinary use, as at table, beer is the natural word; ale has a flavour of GENTEELISM. foreign language (from Fowler’s Modern English Usage) Language Teaching 18  2 Dictionary design Properties Language: monolingual Coverage: General Size: Concise (185,000) Medium: Print + CD-ROM Organisation: Word-to-meaning Users’ language: A group of users who all speak the same language + learners world-wide Users’ skills: School students + language learners Used for: Decoding + Encoding Self-study activity 1: Take a hard-copy dictionary or use one of the many available online and try to classify it in terms of its properties. Of course, a dictionary may have more than one type. 19  2 Dictionary design Macrostructure The macrostructure describes the general structure of a dictionary Different types of lexical items simple words, abbreviations, multiword expressions The front and back matter How to use the dictionary The types of entry the dictionary will include Include proper names, slang, jargon, rare words? Organisation of the headword list In which order do the words occur? pass, pass away, pass for, pass off, pass out… pass, passage, pass away, passenger, pass for… What about homonyms? bear1, bear² (Atkins & Rundell 2008: 203) 20  2 Dictionary design Microstructure The microstructure is about planning the entries in the dictionary and deciding on their structure and components Navigation of the dictionary entry Lemma headword Pronunciation Variants Frequency markers Inflected forms Etymology (Atkins & Rundell 2008: 192) 21  2 Dictionary design Microstructure Parts of the dictionary entry Lemma section Formal section Semantic-pragmatic section Contextual section Indications Ordering of senses Historical Logical Frequency-based 22  2 Dictionary design Microstructure – The lemma (headword) squash1...v 1 to force or be forced into a flat shape; crush: I sat on my hat and squashed it 2... to push or fit into a small space; squeeze: may I squash in next to you? 3... to force into silence or inactivity; put down: squashed by an unkind remark squash²...n 1 an act or sound of squashing: I heard a squash when I dropped the bag 2 a crowd of people in a small space: a squash of 100 reporters all asking questions at once 3... a game played in a 4-walled court by 2 or 4 people with rackets 4 BrE a sweet fruit drink without alcohol: a glass of (orange) squash squash³...n any of a group of large fairly solid vegetables including marrows and pumpkins 23  2 Dictionary design Microstructure – Polysemy and homonomy Etymological/historical Formal-grammatical bay n. 1. 'horse of a dark brown colour', 2. 'part of squash > OF esquasser 'to crush'; sea', 3. 'compartment', 4. 'deep noise, esp. made squash > Narragansett Indian asquutasquash by dogs when hunting' 'kind of gourd’ bay v. 'to bark' Semantic bay adj. 'reddish-brown’ One headword/one entry squash: (to) crush bay squash: gourd 1. n. …. 2. v…. 3. adj. …. Self-study activity 2: This works best with a hard-copy dictionary or using one of the established dictionaries (e.g. the OED) online. Pick a random entry and check the microstructure of one lemma. 24  2 Dictionary design Types of definition Headword Type of definition baby: a young child Analytical cereal: often eaten for breakfast with milk Functional daft: foolish Synonym badger: omnivorous musteline mammal of the Encyclopaedic subfamily Melinae squeaky: tending to squeak Related lexeme of a different word-class motor vehicle: car or motorcycle or moped or van Examples whom: used as an interrogative or relative Rule-based 25  3 Learner’s dictionaries Expectations The expectations and needs of competent/native speaker users and learners are very different, e.g. in terms of Completeness Language complexity Usage Etymology Grammatical information Frequency … 26  3 Learner’s dictionaries Features Learner’s dictionaries need to fulfil the learners’ decoding and encoding needs Different editions for different needs and levels Das Oxford Schulwörterbuch Language Level: A2-B1 30,000 entries English-German Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (OALD) Language Level: B2-C2 86,000 words Monolingual English 27 3 Learner’s dictionaries Features 28 3 Learner’s dictionaries Features 29  3 Learner’s dictionaries Comparison to general dictionaries baby baby /ˈbeɪbi/ noun, adj., verb noun (pl. babies) 1 a child or animal that is noun (pl. -ies) 1 a very young child or animal: The baby's crying!  a newborn newly or recently born. 2 a timid or baby  My sister's expecting a baby.  She had a baby last year.  a baby boy / childish person. 3 informal a person with girl  baby food / clothes  a baby monkey / blackbird 2 (informal) the youngest whom one is having a romantic member of a family or group: He's the baby of the team. 3 (disapproving) a relationship. 4 (one’s baby) one’s person who behaves like a young child and is easily upset: Stop crying and don't particular responsibility, achievement, or be such a baby. 4 (slang, especially AmE) a word used to address sb, especially concern. your wife, husband or lover, in a way that expresses affection but that can be adjective comparatively small or offensive if used by a man to a woman he does not know immature of its kind. IDM be your / sb's baby (informal) to be a plan or project that sb is responsible for verb (babies, babied) be overprotective and cares about because they have created it leave sb holding the 'baby (informal) towards. to suddenly make sb responsible for sth important that is really your — PHRASES be left holding the baby responsibility: He changed to another job and we were left holding the baby. informal be left with an unwelcome throw the baby out with the 'bathwater (informal) to lose sth that you want at the responsibility. throw the baby out with the same time as you are trying to get rid of sth that you do not want—more at SLEEP bathwater discard something valuable along with things that are undesirable. v. adj. [only before noun] baby vegetables are a very small version of particular — DERIVATIVES babyhood noun babyish vegetables, or are picked when they are very small: baby carrots adjective. verb (ba bies, baby ing, ba bied, ba bied) [VN] to treat sb with too much care, as — ORIGIN probably imitative of an infant’s if they were a baby first attempts at speech. 30  3 Learner’s dictionaries Comparison to general dictionaries Focus on common core vocabulary Focus on structural behaviour Include information on Verb complementation Pronunciation Countable vs. uncountable nouns Definitions Clear way of arranging and presenting Morphological and syntactic information information Usage Standard varieties Simplified defining vocabulary of approx. Collocations 3000 words Authentic examples Order of senses according to No etymology Frequency of usage or date of occurrence Synonyms information about the frequency of words CEFR level Appendices and study pages, illustrations 31  Quiz 2 1 Why might learner’s dictionaries exclude etymologies, while collegiate dictionaries include them? a) Etymologies are primarily of academic interest and less relevant for practical usage b) Etymologies complicate definitions and may confuse learners c) Learner’s dictionaries focus on decoding and encoding needs rather than historical details d) Collegiate dictionaries are only for linguists and scholars 32  Quiz 3 1 How might a lexicographer decide between treating related meanings as polysemy or homonymy? a) By examining historical connections b) By considering user needs c) By analysing semantic relationships d) By consulting usage statistics 33  Keywords Decoding/Encoding Johnson’s Dictionary Learner’s Dictionary lexicography Macrostructure Merriam-Webster Microstructure Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary Oxford English Dictionary Properties of Dictionary Design (you should know about the basics of each property here) 34  References Atkins, B. T. S. & Michael Rundell. 2008. The Oxford guide to practical lexicography. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Trask, Robert L. 1999. Key concepts in language and linguistics, 2nd edn. London: Routledge. 35