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Развитие лексикографии. Основные типы словарей.Что такое словарь,его компоненты и функции.
Introduction…………………………………………………………………………...8
1 Lexicography as a science of а dictionary compiling……………………………...10
1.1 The principal aspects of lexicography…………………...………………………11
1.2 The notion of a dictionary…………………………...…………………………..12
1.2.1 The principal functions of a dictionary………………………………………...12
1.2.2 The basic components of a dictionary…………………………...………....….13
1.3 Historical development of British lexicography…………………………………13
1.4 Historical development of American lexicography……………...………………17
1.5 The characteristics of Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learner.…..18
1.6 The basic types of English dictionaries and parameters of their classification….19
1.7 Some essential problems of lexicography………...……………………………..20
1.8 Prescription and description of dictionaries……………………………………..23
1.9 Comparison between monolingual and multilingual dictionaries………...……..24
1.10 Modern trends in English lexicography……………....…………………….......25
1.10.1 Corpus-based linguistics in modern lexicography……………………………26
1.10.2 Computational linguistics in modern lexicography…………………………..27
1.10.3 The potential of an electronic dictionary……………………………...……...27
2 Development of lexicography……………………………………………………..28
2.1 Investigation of dictionary usage………………………………………………...28
2.2 The method of bilingual dictionary usage…………………………………...…..29
2.3 The method of bilingual phraseology dictionary usage………………………….31
2.4 The method of bilingual slang dictionary usage………………………………....31
Conclusion………………………………………………………………………...…32
Bibliography……………………...………………………………………………….34
Appendix……………………...…………………………………………………..…35
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 (or metalexicography) concerns the same aspects as lexicography, but is meant to lead to the development of 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, «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. In spite of a relatively long history of this type of dictionary,
it is often said to be less developed in a number of respects than its
monolingual 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 [6,
331].
1.2 The notion
of a dictionary
If we speak about the dictionary as a linguistic term, it is a list of words with their definitions, a list of characters, or a list of words with corresponding words in other languages. Many dictionaries also provide pronunciation information; grammatical information; word derivations, histories, or etymologies; illustrations; usage guidance; and examples in phrases or sentences. Dictionaries are most commonly found in the form of a book, but more and more dictionaries are produced as software runs from electronic PDA or a general purpose computer. Most dictionaries are produced by lexicographers.
Since words and their meanings develop over time, dictionary entries are organized to reflect these changes. Dictionaries may either list meanings in the historical order in which they appeared, or may list meanings in order of popularity and most common use.
Dictionaries
also differ in the degree to which they are encyclopedic, providing
considerable background information, illustrations, and the like, or
linguistic, concentrating on etymology, nuances of meaning, and quotations
demonstrating usage [7, 27].
1.2.1
The principal functions of a dictionary
Any dictionary has been designed to fulfill one or more functions. The dictionary functions chosen by the maker(s) of the dictionary provide the basis for all lexicographic decisions, from the selection of entry words, over the choice of information types, to the choice of place for the information. There are two main types of function:
1. The communication-oriented functions comprise text reception (understanding), text production, text revision, and translation.
2. The knowledge-oriented functions deal with situations where the dictionary is used for acquiring specific knowledge about a particular matter, and for acquiring general knowledge about something. The optimal dictionary is one that contains information directly relevant for the needs of the users relating to one or more of these functions. It is important that the information is presented in a way that keeps the lexicographic information costs at a minimum [8, 44].
1.2.2 The basic components of a dictionary
Anybody learning a foreign language knows the value of a good dictionary. We all know how useful a bilingual dictionary can be in providing a quick translation for something when we don’t know a simple concrete word which translates easily. On the other hand a good well-organized monolingual dictionary can help a lot.
Let’s begin by looking at meaning. You know that one word can have a whole range of different meanings, some of them very similar to each other and some completely different. Which definition should you choose? Well, the first way in which a dictionary can help is by listing meanings so that the most common or frequent comes first, and at least common comes last. A good dictionary will also provide example sentences for each of the different meanings; it can solve a lot of problems if you can see how the word is actually used in a sentence.
The example sentence should also help with understanding the way the word combines with other words in a sentence. For example, you can’t really use a verb unless you know that it should be followed by a gerund or an infinitive or «that» clause or whatever.
Another important thing is the use of certain preposition after some adjectives which a dictionary will prompt to you. Besides, dictionaries give examples of common compounds and phrases which include the word you’ve looked up.
The example sentences can give you quite a lot of information about the grammar of the word you’re interested in; but it isn’t the only way in which a dictionary provides grammatical information. A dictionary will indicate to what word class a word belongs. A well-thought-out dictionary will also have a system of abbreviations or symbols to tell you, for example, whether a noun is countable, whether a verb is transitive or intransitive and so on. You won’t be able to use a word correctly in a sentence unless you know the answers to such questions.
English is famous for its unpredictable spellings and a dictionary is obviously going to be very useful here. A dictionary will tell you whether this spelling is British or American. You can even find out whether a verb has an irregular past tense or whether an adjective has an irregular comparative form.
The phonetic alphabet is used in dictionaries to tell you about the
pronunciation of a word, and a special indication will help you get
the stress in the right place [9, 71].
1.3
Historical development of British lexicography
|
A need for a dictionary or glossary has been felt in the cultural growth
of many civilized peoples at a fairly early period. The history of dictionary-making
for the English language goes as far back as the Old English period
where its first traces are found in the form of glosses of religious
books with interlinear translation from Latin. Regular bilingual English-Latin
dictionaries were already in existence in the 15th century [10, 55].
The unilingual dictionary is a comparatively recent type. The first unilingual English dictionary, explaining words by English equivalents, appeared in 1604. It was meant to explain difficult words occurring in books. Its title was «A Table Alphabetical, containing and teaching the true writing and understanding of hard usual English words borrowed from the Hebrew, Greek, Latin or French». The little volume of 120 pages explaining about 3000 words was compiled by one Robert Cawdrey, a schoolmaster. Other books followed, each longer than the preceding one. The first attempt at a dictionary including all the words of the language, not only the difficult ones, was made by Nathaniel Bailey who in 1721 published the first edition of his «Universal Etymological English Dictionary». He was the first to include pronunciation and etymology. Big explanatory dictionaries were created in France and Italy before they appeared for the English language. Learned academies on the continent had been established to preserve the purity of their respective languages. This was also the purpose of Dr. Samuel Johnson’s famous Dictionary published in 1755. The idea of purity involved a tendency to oppose change, and S. Johnson’s Dictionary was meant to establish the English language in its classical form, to preserve it in all its glory as used by J. Dryden, A. Pope, J. Addison and their contemporaries. In conformity with the social order of his time, S. Johnson attempted to «fix» and regulate English. This was the period of much discussion about the necessity of «purifying» and «fixing» English, and S. Johnson wrote that every change was undesirable, even a change for the best. When his work was accomplished, however, he had to admit he had been wrong and confessed in his preface that «no dictionary of a living tongue can ever be perfect, since while it is hastening to publication, some words are budding and some falling away». The most important innovation of S. Johnson’s Dictionary was the introduction of illustrations of the meanings of the words «by examples from the best writers», as had been done before him in the dictionary of the French Academy. Since then such illustrations have become a «sine qua non» in lexicography; S. Johnson, however, only mentioned the authors and never gave any specific references for his quotations. Most probably he reproduced some of his quotations from memory, not always very exactly, which would have been unthinkable in modern lexicology. The definitions he gave were often very ingenious. He was called «a skilful definer», but sometimes he preferred to give way to sarcasm or humour and did not hesitate to be partial in his definitions. The epithet he gave to lexicographer, for instance, is famous even in our time: a lexicographer was «a writer of dictionaries, a harmless drudge...». The dictionary dealt with separate words only, almost no set expressions were entered. Pronunciation was not marked, because S. Johnson was keenly aware of the wide variety of the English pronunciation and thought it impossible to set up a standard there; he paid attention only to those aspects of vocabulary where he believed he could improve linguistic usage. S. Johnson’s influence was tremendous. He remained the unquestionable authority on style and diction for more than 75 years. The result was a lofty bookish style which received the name of «Johnsonian» or «Johnsonese». As to pronunciation, attention was turned to it somewhat later. A pronouncing dictionary that must be mentioned first was published in 1780 by Thomas Sheridan, grandfather of the great dramatist. In 1791 appeared «The Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language» by John Walker, an actor. The vogue of this second dictionary was very great, and in later publications Walker’s pronunciations were inserted into S. Johnson’s text — a further step to a unilingual dictionary in its present-day form. The Golden Age of English lexicography began in the last quarter of the 19th century when the English Philological Society started work on compiling what is now known as OED, but was originally named «New English Dictionary on Historical Principles». The purpose of this monumental work is to trace the development of English words from their form in Old English, and if they were not found in Old English, to show when they were introduced into the language, and also to show the development of each meaning and its historical relation to other meanings of the same word. For words and meanings which have become obsolete the date of the latest occurrence is given. All this is done by means of dated quotations ranging from the oldest to recent appearances of the words in question. The English of G. Chaucer, of the «Bible» and of W. Shakespeare is given as much attention as that of the most modern authors. The dictionary includes spellings, pronunciations and detailed etymologies. The completion of the work required more than 75 years. The result is a kind of encyclopaedia of language used not only for reference purposes but also as a basis for lexicological research. The lexicographic concept here is very different from the prescriptive tradition of Dr S. Johnson: the lexicographer is the objective recorder of the language. The purpose of OED, as stated by its editors, has nothing to do with prescription or proscription of any kind. The conception of this new type of dictionary was born in a discussion at the English Philological Society. It was suggested by Frederick Furnivall, later its second titular editor, to Richard Trench, the author of the first book on lexicology of the English language. Richard Trench read before the society his paper «On Some Deficiencies in our English Dictionaries», and that was how the big enterprise was started. At once the Philological Society set to work to gather the material, volunteers offered to help by collecting quotations. Dictionary-making became a sort of national enterprise. A special committee prepared a list of books to be read and assigned them to the volunteers, sending them also special standard slips for quotations. By 1881 the number of readers was 800, and they sent in many thousands of slips. The tremendous amount of work done by these volunteers testifies to the keen interest the English take in their language. The first part of the Dictionary appeared in 1884 and the last in 1928. Later it was issued in twelve volumes and in order to accommodate new words a three volume Supplement was issued in 1933. These volumes were revised in the seventies. Nearly all the material of the original Supplement was retained and a large body of the most recent accessions to the English language added. The principles, structure and scope of «The Oxford English Dictionary», its merits and demerits are discussed in the most comprehensive treaty by L.V. Malakhovsky. Its prestige is enormous. It is considered superior to corresponding major dictionaries for other languages. The Oxford University Press published different abridged versions. «The Shorter Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principles» formerly appeared in two volumes, now printed on thinner paper it is bound in one volume of 2,538 pages. It differs from the complete edition in that it contains a smaller number of quotations. It keeps to all the main principles of historical presentation and covers not only the current literary and colloquial English but also its previous stages. Words are defined and illustrated with key quotations. «The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English» was first published in 1911, i.e. before the work on the main version was completed. It is not a historical dictionary but one of current usage. A still shorter form is «The Pocket Oxford Dictionary». Another big dictionary, also created by joined effort of enthusiasts, is Joseph Wright’s «English Dialect Dictionary». Before this dictionary could be started upon, a thorough study of English dialects had to be completed. With this aim in view W.W. Skeat, famous for his «Etymological English Dictionary» founded the English Dialect Society as far back as 1873. Dialects are of great importance for the historical study of the language. In the 19th century they were very pronounced though now they are almost disappearing. The Society existed till 1896 and issued 80 publications, mostly monographs [11, 93]. The Johnsonian Method This page illustrates several features of the approach Johnson outlines in his Preface:
Some Johnsonian Definitions There’re not many truly idiosyncratic definitions in the Dictionary, but some have become famous. Lexicographer – a writer of dictionary, a harmless drudge, that busies himself in tracing the original, and detailing the signification of words. Excise – a hateful tax levied upon commodities, and adjudged not by the common judges of property, but wretches hired by those to whom excise is paid. Oats – a grain, which in England is generally given to horses, but in Scotland supports the people. Patron – one, who countenances, supports or protects. Pension – an allowance made to anyone without an equivalent. In England it’s generally understood to mean pay given to a state hireling for treason to his country.
His definitions sometimes got him into trouble. He was threatened with
libel over excise, and much lampooned over pension [12, 99].
1.4 Historical development of American lexicography Curiously enough, the first American dictionary of the English language was compiled by a man whose name was also Samuel Johnson. Samuel Johnson Jr., a Connecticut schoolmaster, published in 1798 a small book entitled «A School Dictionary». This book was followed in 1800 by another dictionary by the same author, which showed already some signs of Americanization. It included, for instance, words like tomahawk and wampum, borrowed into English from the Indian languages. It was Noah Webster, universally considered to be the father of American lexicography, who emphatically broke away from English idiom, and embodied in his book the specifically American usage of his time. His great work, «The American Dictionary of the English Language», appeared in two volumes in 1828 and later sustained numerous revised and enlarged editions. In many respects N. Webster follows the lead of Dr. S. Johnson (the British lexicographer). But he has also improved and corrected many of S. Johnson’s etymologies and his definitions are often more exact. N. Webster attempted to simplify the spelling and pronunciation that were current in the USA of the period. He devoted many years to the collection of words and the preparation of more accurate definitions. N. Webster realized the importance of language for the development of a nation, and devoted his energy to giving the American English the status of an independent language, distinct from British English. At that time the idea was progressive as it helped the unification of separate states into one federation. The tendency became reactionary later on, when some modern linguists like H. Mencken shaped it into the theory of a separate American language, not only different from British English, but surpassing it in efficiency and therefore deserving to dominate and supersede all the languages of the world. Even if we keep within purely linguistic or purely lexical concepts, we shall readily see that the difference is not so great as to warrant American English the rank of a separate language, not a variant of English. The set of morphemes is the same. Some words have acquired a new meaning on American soil and this meaning has or has not penetrated into British English. Other words kept their earlier meanings that are obsolete and not used in Great Britain. As civilization progressed different names were given to new inventions on either side of the Atlantic. Words were borrowed from different Indian languages and from Spanish. All these had to be recorded in a dictionary and so accounted for the existence of specific American lexicography. The world of today with its ever-growing efficiency and intensity of communication and personal contacts, with its press, radio and television creates conditions which tend to foster not an isolation of dialects and variants but, on the contrary, their mutual penetration and integration. Later on, the title «International Dictionary of the English Language» was adopted, and in the latest edition not Americanisms but words not used in America (Briticisms) are marked off. N. Webster’s dictionary enjoyed great popularity from its first editions. This popularity was due not only to the accuracy and clarity of definitions but also to the richness of additional information of encyclopaedic character, which had become a tradition in American lexicography. As a dictionary N. Webster’s book aims to treat the entire vocabulary of the language providing definitions, pronunciation and etymology. As an encyclopedia it gives explanations about things named, including scientific and technical subjects. It does so more concisely than a full-scale encyclopaedia, but it is worthy of note that the definitions are as a rule up-to-date and rigorous scientifically. Soon after N. Webster’s death two printers and booksellers of Massachusetts, George and Charles Merriam, secured the rights of his dictionary from his family and started the publication of revised single volume editions under the name «Merriam-Webster». The staff working for the modern editions is a big institution numbering hundreds of specialists in different branches of human activity. It is important to note that the name «Webster» may be attached for publicity’s sake by anyone to any dictionary. Many publishers concerned with their profits have taken this opportunity to issue dictionaries called «Webster’s». Some of the books so named are cheaply-made reprints of old editions, others are said to be entirely new works. The practice of advertising by coupling N. Webster’s name to a dictionary which has no connection with him continues up to the present day. A complete revision of N. Webster’s dictionary is achieved with a certain degree of regularity. The recent «Webster’s Third New International Dictionary of the English Language» has called forth much comment, both favourable and unfavourable. It has been greatly changed as compared with the previous edition, in word selection as well as in other matters. The emphasis is on the present-day state of the language. The number of illustrative quotations is increased. To accommodate the great number of new words and meanings without increasing the bulk of the volume, the editors excluded much encyclopedic material. The other great American dictionaries are the «Century Dictionary», first completed in 1891; «Funk and Wagnalls New Standard Dictionary», first completed in 1895; the «Random House Dictionary of the English Language», completed in 1967; «The Heritage Illustrated Dictionary of the English Language», first published in 1969, and C.L. Barnhart’s et al. «The World Book Dictionary» presenting a synchronic review of the language in the 20th century. The first three continue to appear in variously named subsequent editions including abridged versions. Many small handy popular dictionaries for office, school and home use are prepared to meet the demand in reference books on spelling, pronunciation, meaning and usage [13, 11]. An adequate idea of the dictionaries cannot be formed from a mere description and it is no substitute for actually using them. To conclude I would like to mention that for a specialist in linguistics and a teacher of foreign languages systematic work with a good dictionary in conjunction with his reading is an absolute necessity (see Appendix A). |
1.5
The characteristics of Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced
Learners
The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners was conceived, compiled and edited by the Reference and Electronic Media Division of Bloomsbury Publishing Plc. Managing editor is Michael Mayor. The Dictionary was printed and bound in Malaysia in 2002.
The Dictionary includes words on the basis of their use in the language today. Some words are identified as being trademarks or service marks. Neither the presence nor absence of such identification in this Dictionary is to be regarded as affecting in any way, or expressing a judgement on, the validity or legal status of any trademark, service mark, or other proprietary rights anywhere in the world.
The definitions in the Macmillan English Dictionary have been based on information derived from 200 million words of English which make up the World English Corpus.
The Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners is a linguistic dictionary because it describes vocabulary units, their semantic structure, their origin and their usage; words are given in the alphabetical order.
It is a general, explanatory (monolingual) dictionary. The entry consists of the spelling, transcription, grammatical forms, meanings, examples, phraseology.
Except of all the components of this Dictionary we can also single out
such elements as: Language Awareness (the information about numbers,
phrasal verbs, Academic English, metaphor, computer words, pragmatics,
spoken discourse, sensitivity, British and American English, Business
English and word formation) and different illustrations on various topics:
House, Kitchen, Office, Clothes and patterns, Motorway and Types of
vehicle, Transport, Car, Trees, plants and flowers, Fruit, Vegetables,
Animals, Sports, Gym and Games [14, 20].
1.6 The basic types of English dictionaries and parameters of their
classification
All dictionaries are divided into linguistic and encyclopedic.
Encyclopedic dictionaries describe different objects, phenomena and people and give some information about them.
Linguistic dictionaries describe vocabulary units, their semantic structure, their origin and their usage; words are usually given in the alphabetical order.
Linguistic dictionaries are divided into general and specialized dictionaries.
General dictionaries include explanatory (monolingual) and translation (bilingual) dictionaries.
In explanatory (monolingual) dictionaries the entry consists of the spelling, transcription, grammatical forms, meanings, examples, phraseology.
Translation (bilingual) dictionaries give words and their equivalents in the other language.
Specialized dictionaries include dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms, collocations, word frequency, slang, neologisms; etymological, pronouncing, phraseological and other dictionaries. Specialized dictionaries (also technical dictionaries) focus on linguistic and factual matters relating to specific subject fields. A specialized dictionary may have a relatively broad coverage, e.g. a picture dictionary, in that it covers several subject fields such as science and technology (a multi-field dictionary), or their coverage may be more narrow, in that they cover one particular subject field such as law (a single-field dictionary) or even a specific sub-field such as contract law (a sub-field dictionary). Specialized dictionaries may be maximizing dictionaries, i.e. they attempt to achieve comprehensive coverage of the terms in the subject field concerned, or they may be minimizing dictionaries, i.e. they attempt to cover only a limited number of the specialized vocabulary concerned. Generally, multi-field dictionaries tend to be minimizing, whereas single-field and sub-field dictionaries tend to be maximizing.
Phraseological dictionaries describe idioms, colloquial phrases and proverbs. Some of them have examples from literature.
Etymological dictionaries trace present-day words to the oldest forms of these words and forms of these words in other languages.
Pronouncing dictionaries record only pronunciation.
Dictionaries of neologisms contain newly appearing words (see Appendix B).
List of major English dictionaries:
The Penguin English Dictionary
Merriam-Webster Dictionary
Webster's Third New International Dictionary (descriptive)
Random House Dictionary of the English Language
The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language
Webster's New World Dictionary
Oxford English Dictionary (descriptive)
Concise Oxford Dictionary
New Oxford Dictionary of English
New Oxford American Dictionary
Canadian Oxford Dictionary
ITP Nelson Canadian Dictionary
Webster's New Universal Unabridged Dictionary
Samuel Johnson's A Dictionary of the English Language (prescriptive)
Noah Webster's An American Dictionary of the English Language (prescriptive)
The Century Dictionary [15, 105].
1.7 Some essential problems of lexicography
The most burning issues of lexicography are connected with the selection of head-words, the arrangement and contents of the vocabulary entry, the principles of sense definitions and the semantic and functional classification of words.
In the first place it is the problem of how far a general descriptive dictionary, whether unilingual or bilingual, should admit the historical element. In fact, the term «current usage» is disconcertingly elastic, it may, for instance, be stretched to include all words and senses used by W. Shakespeare, as he is commonly read, or include only those of the fossilised words that are kept in some set expressions or familiar quotations, e.g. shuffled off this mortal coil («Hamlet»), where coil means «turmoil» (of life). For the purpose of a dictionary, which must not be too bulky, selection between scientific and technical terms is also a very important task. It is a debatable point whether a unilingual explanatory dictionary should strive to cover all the words of the language, including neologisms, nonce-words, slang, etc. and note with impartial accuracy all the words actually used by English people; or whether, as the great English lexicographer of the 18th century Samuel Johnson used to think, it should be preceptive, and (viewed from the other side) prohibitive. Dictionary-makers should attempt to improve and stabilize the English vocabulary according to the best classical samples and advise the readers on preferable usage. A distinctly modern criterion in selection of entries is the frequency of the words to be included. This is especially important for certain lines of practical work in preparing graded elementary textbooks.
When the problem of selection is settled, there is the question as to which of the selected units have the right to a separate entry and which are to be included under one common head-word. These are, in other words, the questions of separateness and sameness of words. The first deals with syntagmatic boundaries of word-units and has to solve such questions as whether each other is a group of two separate words to be treated separately under the head-words each and other, or whether each other is a unit deserving a special entry (compare also: one another). Need such combinations as boiling point, carbon paper, department store, phone box be sub-entered under their constituents? If so, under which of them? Or, perhaps, it will be more convenient for those who use the dictionary if these were placed as separate main entries consisting of a nominal compound or a phrase.
As to the sameness, this deals with paradigmatic boundaries. «How many entries are justified for hound»? COD has two — one for the noun, and the other for the verb: «to chase (as) with hounds»; the verb and the noun are thus treated as homonyms. «Chambers’s Twentieth Century Dictionary» combines them under one head-word, i.e. it takes them as variants of the same word (hence the term «sameness»). The problem is even more complicated with variants belonging to the same part of speech.
This problem is best illustrated by the pun that has already been discussed elsewhere in this book: Mind you, I don’t mind minding the children if the children mind me (Understand, I don’t object to taking care of the children if the children obey me).
Here the dictionary-maker is confronted with the problem of sameness. Should mind be considered one word with several semantic variants, and take one entry? Or is it more convenient to represent it as several words?
The difference in the number of entries for an equal bulk of vocabulary may also depend on a different approach to the regularly formed derivatives, like those with -er, -ing, -ness, and -ly. These are similar to grammatical endings in their combining possibilities and semantic regularity. The derivation is so regular, and the meaning and class of these derivatives are so easily deduced that they are sometimes sidered not worth an entry.
In editing new dictionaries the lexicographers cannot depend only on the scholarly editions such as OED. In order to meet the demands of their readers, they have to sample the reading of the public for whom the dictionary is meant. This textual reference has to be scrupulously examined, so as to account for new words and meanings making their way into the language. Here again some quantitative criteria must be established. If a word or meaning occurs in several different sources over a wide range of magazines and books during a considerable period of time, it may be worth including even into a college dictionary.
The preface to «The Concise Oxford Dictionary», for instance, states that its authors find that sense development cannot be presented in every word, because obsolete words are as a rule omitted. Only occasionally do they place at the beginning a rare but still current sense, if it can throw light on the more common senses that follow, or forms the connecting link with the etymology. The etymologies are given throughout, but otherwise the compilers do not seem to keep to any consistent principle and are guided by what they think is the order of logical connection, familiarity or importance. E.L. Thorndike formulates the following principles: «Other things being equal, literal uses come before figurative, general uses before special, common uses before rare, and easily understandable uses before difficult, and to sum up: that arrangement is best for any word which helps the learner most».
A synchronic dictionary should also show the distribution of every word. It has been traditionally done by labeling words as belonging to a certain part of speech, and by noting some special cases of grammatically or lexically bound meanings. Thus, the word spin is labeled in «The Concise Oxford Dictionary» which gives a general idea of its distribution; its various senses are shown in connection with words that may serve as subject or object, e.g.: «(of spider, silkworm, etc.) make (web, gossamer, cocoon, or abs.) by extrusion of fine viscous thread... spun glass (spun when heated into filaments that remain pliant when cold); spun gold, silver (gold, silver thread prepared for weaving...)». This technique is gradually being improved upon, and compilers strive to provide more detailed information on these points. «The Advanced Learner’s Dictionary...» by A.S. Hornby, E.V. Gatenby and H. Wakefield supplies information on the syntactical distribution of each verb. In their «Notes on Syntax» the compilers state that one who is learning English as a foreign language is apt to form sentences by analogy, which at times may lead him into error. For instance, the student must be warned against taking the use of the verb tells in the sentence Please tell me the meaning as a model for the word explain, because Please, explain me the meaning would be ungrammatical. For this purpose they provide a table of 25 verb patterns and supply the numerical indications in each verb entry. This gives the student the necessary guidance. Indications are also supplied as to which nouns and which semantic varieties of nouns may be used in the plural. This helps the student to avoid mistakes like interesting informations.