MSc in Lexical Computing and Lexicography

LCM01: Lexicography 1

Lexicography is the art and craft of making dictionaries – all types of dictionaries, from scholarly, historical works to dictionaries for language learners in type, from monolingual to bilingual to multilingual in scope, from online to print in format. It includes both theoretical and practical lexicography. Theoretical lexicography covers inter alia the linguistic justification for selecting facts to include in the dictionary entry, the structure of the dictionary ("macrostructure") and of the entries within the dictionary ("microstructure"), the criteria for selecting evidence on which to build a dictionary entry, the importance of the user profile, and the scope of the dictionary style guide.

Theoretical lexicography involves a certain amount of linguistics, and is related to (but is not the same as) lexicology. It must be distinguished from metalexicography, which is the study of dictionaries. Theoretical lexicography underpins practical lexicography, and its concepts must be understood in order to write good dictionary entries. Practical lexicography is, as its name suggests, the actual compilation of dictionaries, and covers not only selecting facts to go in the dictionary, and presenting them appropriately, but also the use of corpus-querying and dictionary-compiling software.

This module will introduce the basic concepts of lexicography, and familiarize students with the vocabulary needed to discuss these concepts. Practice will be given in using the tools for corpus querying. The module will enable students to write simple dictionary entries, to follow a simple style guide, to deconstruct a dictionary entry, and to critique an entry having regard to corpus evidence. It will give students the basis for all further study of lexicography within the course.

Content

1. history of dictionaries and dictionary making
2. the dictionary as a product in the market: production and editorial issues
3. types of users and uses of the dictionary
4. the dictionary entry: macrostructure and microstructure
5. the tasks involved in entry writing; style guides
6. lexicographic evidence: types, uses, limitations
7. lexicographic relevance in linguistic data: frame semantics
8. the lexicographic unit; template entries
9. handling dictionary text: databases, DTDs, final output

Reading

Atkins, B. T. S. 1994. A corpus-based dictionary. In: Oxford-Hachette French Dictionary (Introductory section). Oxford: Oxford University Press. xix-xxxii.

Grefenstette, Gregory. 1998. The future of linguistics and lexicographers: will there be lexicographers in the year 3000? In: Thierry Fontenelle et al. (eds.) EURALEX 1998 Proceedings Liège University of Liège: 25-41. Available here (rtf format)

Hanks, Patrick. 1979. To what extent does a dictionary definition define? In: R.R.K. Hartmann (ed.) Dictionaries and their Users. Exeter: University of Exeter, 32-38.

Landau, S.I. 2001. Dictionaries: the Art and Craft of Lexicography. Second edition. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. See particularly chapters

• 1 What is a dictionary?
• 2 A brief history of English lexicography
• 6 The corpus in lexicography

Sinclair, John. 1991. Corpus, Concordance, Collocation. Oxford: Oxford University Press.