Lexicography and dictionaries

Lexicography,that is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries, is an important branch of applied linguistics. It has a common object of study with lexicology as both describe the vocabulary of a language.

The term dictionaryis used to denote a book listing words of a language with their meanings and often with data regarding pronunciation, usage and/or origin. There are also dictionaries that concentrate their attention upon only one of these aspects: pronouncing (phonetical) dictionaries and etymological dictionaries.

For dictionaries in which the words and their definition belong to the same language the term unilingualorexplanatoryis used, whereas bilingualortranslationdictionaries are those that explain words by giving their equivalents in another language. Multilingualorpolyglotdictionaries are not numerous, they serve chiefly the purpose of comparing synonyms and terminology in various languages.

Unilingual dictionaries are further subdivided with regard to time. Diachronicdictionaries, of which the Oxford English Dictionary is the main example, reflect the development of the English vocabulary by recording the history of form and meaning for every word registered. They may be contrasted to synchronicordescriptivedictionaries of current English concerned with present-day meaning and usage of words. The examples of such dictionaries are Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionaryof Current English by A.S. Hornby (the new 7th edition in 2005), Macmillan English Dictionary forAdvanced Learners, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English.

Both bilingual and unilingual dictionaries can be general and special.

General dictionaries represent the vocabulary as a whole.

General dictionaries are contrasted to special dictionaries whose stated aim is to cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary. Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending on whether the words are chosen according to the sphere of human activity in which they are used (technical dictionaries),the type of the units themselves (e.g.phraseological dictionaries)or the relationships existing between them (e.g. dictionaries of synonyms).

English lexicography is probably the richest in the world with respect to variety and scope of the dictionaries published.

A dictionary is the most widely used reference book in English homes and business offices. Correct pronunciation and correct spelling are of great social importance because they are necessary for efficient communication.

Bilingual dictionaries

A bilingual dictionary is useful to several kinds of people: to those who study foreign languages, to specialists reading foreign literature, to translators, to travellers, and to linguists. It may have two principal purposes: reference for translation and guidance for expression. It must provide an adequate translation in the target language of every word and expression in the source language. It is also supposed to contain all the inflectional, derivational, semantic and syntactic information that its reader might ever need, and also information on spelling and pronunciation.

The entries of a dictionary are usually arranged in alphabetical order.

What is unfortunately not always realized in connection with the compiling of bilingual dictionaries is that the same bilingual dictionary cannot serve the needs of the speakers of both languages. An English-Russian dictionary for Russians is different from an English-Russian dictionary for British or American readers.

It should also be realized that a bilingual dictionary is not equivalent to a unilingual dictionary.

The English-speaking user of a unilingual dictionary is likely to know the meaning of all the words in the explanatory part and should therefore be able to find the appropriate meaning for his context. The Russian-speaking user of a Russian-English dictionary would refer to its entries in order to express himself in English and he will need to know how the English words he finds there are used.

To sum up: the native-to-foreign and foreign-to-native dictionaries have to meet different requirements as they supply information for different types of work.

A good dictionary is one where you can quickly find what you are looking for.

English-Russian Dictionaryby Professor V.K. MÜLLER is well-known and popular in Russia. It was first published in 1945 and later sustained numerous revised and enlarged editions. It is not a historical dictionary but one of current usage.

The Concise Oxford Russian Dictionaryis an abridgement of The Oxford RussianDictionary,published in 1933. It was first published in 1993; the revised edition was published in 1998. It is the leading intermediate Russian dictionary. This dictionary provides users with an authoritative guide to contemporary Russian and English in a concise and accessible format. The dictionary contains over 120,000 words and phrases, and 190,000 translations. All major fields of reference – from general to technical, business to literary – are covered. Thousands of examples, including modern idioms and colloquial expressions, ensure the user has a detailed picture of contemporary Russian and English. For the convenience of users all headwords in the English-Russian section are transcribed.