Lexicography is the study of lexicons, and is divided into two separate academic disciplines. It is the art of compiling dictionaries.[1]
Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly study of semantic, orthographic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic features of lexemes of 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 situations, and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as 'metalexicography'.
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.
A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer.[2]
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 (Language for General Purpose). 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 Language for specific purposes dictionary and following Nielsen 1994, specialized dictionaries are either multi-field, single-field or sub-field dictionaries.
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 (see e.g. Bergenholtz/Nielsen/Tarp 2009).
Lexicography is the practice of creating books, computer programs, or databases that reflect lexicographical work and are intended for public use. These include dictionaries and thesauri which are widely accessible resources that present various aspects of lexicology, such as spelling, pronunciation, and meaning.
Lexicographers are tasked with defining simple words as well as figuring out how compound or complex words or words with many meanings can be clearly explained. They also make decisions regarding which words should be kept, added, or removed from a dictionary. They are responsible for arranging lexical material (usually alphabetically) to facilitate understanding and navigation.[3]
Etymology
Coined in English 1680, the word "lexicography" derives from the Greek λεξικογράφος (lexikographos), "lexicographer",[4] from λεξικόν (lexicon), neut. of λεξικός lexikos, "of or for words",[5] from λέξις (lexis), "speech", "word"[6] (in turn from λέγω (lego), "to say", "to speak"[7]) and γράφω (grapho), "to scratch, to inscribe, to write".[8]
Aspects
Practical lexicographic work involves several activities, and the compilation of well-crafted dictionaries requires 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 systematization as entries
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 multi-lingual dictionaries
translating collocations, phrases and examples in bi- and multilingual dictionaries
designing the best way in which users can access the data in printed and electronic dictionaries
One important goal of lexicography is to keep the lexicographic information costs incurred by dictionary users as low as possible. Nielsen (2008) suggests relevant aspects for lexicographers to consider when making dictionaries as they all affect the users' impression and actual use of specific dictionaries.
Theoretical lexicography concerns the same aspects as lexicography, but aims to develop 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 (see Nielsen 1999), '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 (see e.g. Nielsen 1894). In spite of a relatively long history of this type of dictionary, it is often said[according to whom?] to be less developed in a number of respects than its unilingual 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 such as Hornby's (Oxford) Advanced Learner's Dictionary English-Chinese, which have been developed by translating existing monolingual dictionaries (see Marello 1998).
^Jackson, Howard (2017-10-02), "English lexicography in the Internet era", The Routledge Handbook of Lexicography, Routledge, pp. 540–553, doi:10.4324/9781315104942-34, ISBN978-1-315-10494-2, retrieved 2022-09-16
^Dzharasova, T. T. (2020). English lexicology and lexicography : theory and practice (2 ed.). Almaty: Al-Farabi Kazakh National University. pp. 93–94. ISBN978-601-04-0595-0.
^λεξικογράφος, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^λεξικός, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^λέξις, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^λέγω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
^γράφω, Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, on Perseus Digital Library
Bergenholtz, Henning & Tarp, Sven (eds.) (1995) Manual of Specialised Lexicography: The Preparation of Specialised Dictionaries, J. Benjamins. ISBN978-90-272-1612-0
Inglis, Douglas (2004) Cognitive Grammar and lexicography. Payap University Graduate School Linguistics Department.
Kirkness, Alan (2004) "Lexicography", in The Handbook of Applied Linguistics ed. by A. Davies & C. Elder, Oxford: Blackwell, pp. 54–81. ISBN978-1-4051-3809-3
Landau, Sidney (2001) Dictionaries: The Art and Craft of Lexicography, Cambridge U.P. 2nd ed. ISBN0-521-78512-X
Marello, Carla (1998) "Hornby's bilingualized dictionaries", in International Journal of Lexicography 11,4, pp. 292–314.
Nielsen, Sandro (2008) "The effect of lexicographical information costs on dictionary making and use", in Lexikos (AFRILEX-reeks/series 18), pp. 170–189.
Nielsen, Sandro (2009): "Reviewing printed and electronic dictionaries: A theoretical and practical framework". In S. Nielsen/S. Tarp (eds): Lexicography in the 21st Century. In honour of Henning Bergenholtz. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 23–41.ISBN978-90-272-2336-4
Ooi, Vincent (1998) Computer Corpus Lexicography, Edinburgh U.P. ISBN0-7486-0815-X
Zgusta, Ladislav (1971) Manual of lexicography (Janua Linguarum. Series maior 39). Prague: Academia / The Hague, Paris: Mouton. ISBN978-90-279-1921-2
External links
Look up lexicography in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lexicography.
Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography - Revue Internationale de Lexicographie - Internationales Jahrbuch für Lexikographie
Societies
Dictionary Society of North America
Euralex – European Association for Lexicography
Afrilex – African Association for Lexicography
Australex – Australasian Association for Lexicography
Asialex – Asian Association for Lexicography
May 19, 2023
lexicography, term, mathematics, lexicographical, order, confused, with, lexicology, dictionary, structure, redirects, here, dictionary, data, structure, associative, array, this, article, includes, list, general, references, lacks, sufficient, corresponding, . For the term in mathematics see Lexicographical order Not to be confused with Lexicology Dictionary structure redirects here For the dictionary data structure see Associative array This article includes a list of general references but it lacks sufficient corresponding inline citations Please help to improve this article by introducing more precise citations September 2017 Learn how and when to remove this template message Lexicography is the study of lexicons and is divided into two separate academic disciplines It is the art of compiling dictionaries 1 Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling writing and editing dictionaries Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly study of semantic orthographic syntagmatic and paradigmatic features of lexemes of 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 situations and how users may best access the data incorporated in printed and electronic dictionaries This is sometimes referred to as metalexicography 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 A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer 2 Contents 1 Focus 2 Etymology 3 Aspects 4 See also 5 References 6 Further reading 7 External links 7 1 SocietiesFocus EditGeneral 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 Language for General Purpose 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 Language for specific purposes dictionary and following Nielsen 1994 specialized dictionaries are either multi field single field or sub field dictionaries 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 see e g Bergenholtz Nielsen Tarp 2009 Lexicography is the practice of creating books computer programs or databases that reflect lexicographical work and are intended for public use These include dictionaries and thesauri which are widely accessible resources that present various aspects of lexicology such as spelling pronunciation and meaning Lexicographers are tasked with defining simple words as well as figuring out how compound or complex words or words with many meanings can be clearly explained They also make decisions regarding which words should be kept added or removed from a dictionary They are responsible for arranging lexical material usually alphabetically to facilitate understanding and navigation 3 Etymology EditCoined in English 1680 the word lexicography derives from the Greek le3ikografos lexikographos lexicographer 4 from le3ikon lexicon neut of le3ikos lexikos of or for words 5 from le3is lexis speech word 6 in turn from legw lego to say to speak 7 and grafw grapho to scratch to inscribe to write 8 Aspects EditPractical lexicographic work involves several activities and the compilation of well crafted dictionaries requires 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 systematization 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 multi lingual dictionaries translating collocations phrases and examples in bi and multilingual dictionaries designing the best way in which users can access the data in printed and electronic dictionariesOne important goal of lexicography is to keep the lexicographic information costs incurred by dictionary users as low as possible Nielsen 2008 suggests relevant aspects for lexicographers to consider when making dictionaries as they all affect the users impression and actual use of specific dictionaries Theoretical lexicography concerns the same aspects as lexicography but aims to develop 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 see Nielsen 1999 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 see e g Nielsen 1894 In spite of a relatively long history of this type of dictionary it is often said according to whom to be less developed in a number of respects than its unilingual 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 such as Hornby s Oxford Advanced Learner s Dictionary English Chinese which have been developed by translating existing monolingual dictionaries see Marello 1998 See also EditLinguistic description Dictionary Bilingual dictionary Monolingual learner s dictionary Specialized dictionary Picture dictionary Multi field dictionary Single field dictionary Sub field dictionary LSP dictionary Glossary defining dictionary Core glossary Reverse Dictionary List of lexicographers Lexicology Lexicon Lexical definition Vocabulary Idioms Lexicon Specialised lexicography English lexicology and lexicography Terminology Dictionary Society of North America Dreaming of WordsReferences Edit Jackson Howard 2017 10 02 English lexicography in the Internet era The Routledge Handbook of Lexicography Routledge pp 540 553 doi 10 4324 9781315104942 34 ISBN 978 1 315 10494 2 retrieved 2022 09 16 Lexicographer job profile Prospects ac uk www prospects ac uk Retrieved 2018 10 29 Dzharasova T T 2020 English lexicology and lexicography theory and practice 2 ed Almaty Al Farabi Kazakh National University pp 93 94 ISBN 978 601 04 0595 0 le3ikografos Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library le3ikos Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library le3is Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library legw Henry George Liddell Robert Scott An Intermediate Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital Library grafw Henry George Liddell Robert Scott A Greek English Lexicon on Perseus Digital LibraryFurther reading EditAtkins B T S amp Rundell Michael 2008 The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography Oxford U P ISBN 978 0 19 927771 1 Bejoint Henri 2000 Modern Lexicography An Introduction Oxford U P ISBN 978 0 19 829951 6 Bergenholtz H Nielsen S Tarp S eds Lexicography at a Crossroads Dictionaries and Encyclopedias Today Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow Peter Lang 2009 ISBN 978 3 03911 799 4 Bergenholtz Henning amp Tarp Sven eds 1995 Manual of Specialised Lexicography The Preparation of Specialised Dictionaries J Benjamins ISBN 978 90 272 1612 0 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 ISBN 978 0 582 36977 1 Hartmann R R K ed 2003 Lexicography Critical Concepts Routledge Taylor amp Francis 3 volumes ISBN 978 0 415 25365 9 Hartmann R R K amp James Gregory comps 1998 2001 Dictionary of Lexicography Routledge ISBN 978 0 415 14144 4 Inglis Douglas 2004 Cognitive Grammar and lexicography Payap University Graduate School Linguistics Department Kirkness Alan 2004 Lexicography in The Handbook of Applied Linguistics ed by A Davies amp C Elder Oxford Blackwell pp 54 81 ISBN 978 1 4051 3809 3 Landau Sidney 2001 Dictionaries The Art and Craft of Lexicography Cambridge U P 2nd ed ISBN 0 521 78512 X Marello Carla 1998 Hornby s bilingualized dictionaries in International Journal of Lexicography 11 4 pp 292 314 Nielsen Sandro 1994 The Bilingual LSP Dictionary G Narr ISBN 978 3 8233 4533 6 Nielsen Sandro 2008 The effect of lexicographical information costs on dictionary making and use in Lexikos AFRILEX reeks series 18 pp 170 189 Nielsen Sandro 2009 Reviewing printed and electronic dictionaries A theoretical and practical framework In S Nielsen S Tarp eds Lexicography in the 21st Century In honour of Henning Bergenholtz Amsterdam Philadelphia John Benjamins 23 41 ISBN 978 90 272 2336 4 Ooi Vincent 1998 Computer Corpus Lexicography Edinburgh U P 1 ISBN 0 7486 0815 X Zgusta Ladislav 1971 Manual of lexicography Janua Linguarum Series maior 39 Prague Academia The Hague Paris Mouton ISBN 978 90 279 1921 2External links Edit Look up lexicography in Wiktionary the free dictionary Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lexicography International Journal of Lexicography Lexicographica International Annual for Lexicography Revue Internationale de Lexicographie Internationales Jahrbuch fur LexikographieSocieties Edit Centre for Lexicography EN version Dictionary Society of North America Euralex European Association for Lexicography Afrilex African Association for Lexicography Australex Australasian Association for Lexicography Nordic Federation for Lexicography Asialex Asian Association for Lexicography Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title Lexicography amp oldid 1150930070, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
