Lexicography

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(Redirected from Lexicographer)
For the term in mathematics, see Lexicographical order.
Not to be confused with lexicology.
This article includes a list of references, but its sources remain unclear becau
se it has insufficient inline citations. Please help to improve this article by
introducing more precise citations. (May 2009)
Lexicography is divided into two separate but equally important groups:
Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dic
tionaries.
Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing
the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vo
cabulary) of a language, developing theories of dictionary components and struct
ures linking the data in dictionaries, the needs for information by users in spe
cific types of situations, and how users may best access the data incorporated i
n printed and electronic dictionaries. This is sometimes referred to as 'metalex
icography'.
A person devoted to lexicography is called a lexicographer.
General lexicography focuses on the design, compilation, use and evaluation of g
eneral dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that provide a description of the languag
e in general use. Such a dictionary is usually called a general dictionary or LG
P dictionary (Language for General Purpose). Specialized lexicography focuses on
the design, compilation, use and evaluation of specialized dictionaries, i.e. d
ictionaries that are devoted to a (relatively restricted) set of linguistic and
factual elements of one or more specialist subject fields, e.g. legal lexicograp
hy. Such a dictionary is usually called a specialized dictionary or LSP dictiona
ry and following Nielsen 1994, specialized dictionaries are either multi-field,
single-field or sub-field dictionaries.
There is some disagreement on the definition of lexicology, as distinct from lex
icography. Some use "lexicology" as a synonym for theoretical lexicography; othe
rs use it to mean a branch of linguistics pertaining to the inventory of words i
n a particular language.
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).

Contents [hide]
1 Etymology
2 Aspects
3 See also
4 References
5 Further reading
6 External links
6.1 Societies
Etymology[edit]
Coined in English 1680, the word "lexicography" derives from the Greek
a
caph
",[1] m
c ,
ut. 
s, "   wds",[2] m
",[3] ( tu m lego, "to say", "to speak"[4]) and grapho, "to scratch, to ins
, to
rite".[5]
Aspects[edit]
Practical lexicographic
ork involves several activities, and the compilation of

ell crafted dictionaries require careful consideration of all or some of the f

ollo
ing aspects:
profiling the intended users (i.e. linguistic and non-linguistic competences) an
d 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 an
d cross-reference structure)
selecting
ords and affixes for systematization as entries
selecting collocations, phrases and examples
choosing lemma forms for each
ord or part of
ord to be lemmatized
defining
ords
organizing definitions
specifying pronunciations of
ords
labeling definitions and pronunciations for register and dialect,
here appropri
ate
selecting equivalents in bi- and multi-lingual dictionaries
translating collocations, phrases and examples in bi- and multilingual dictionar
ies
designing the best
ay in
hich users can access the data in printed and electro
nic dictionaries
One important goal of lexicography is to keep the lexicographic information cost
s incurred by dictionary users as lo
as possible. Nielsen (2008) suggests relev
ant aspects for lexicographers to consider
hen 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 inst
ance in terms of access to data and lexicographic information costs. Several per
spectives or branches of such academic dictionary research have been distinguish
ed: 'dictionary criticism' (or evaluating the quality of one or more dictionarie
s, e.g. by means of revie
s (see Nielsen 1999)), 'dictionary history' (or tracin
g the traditions of a type of dictionary or of lexicography in a particular coun
try or language), 'dictionary typology' (or classifying the various genres of re
ference
orks, such as dictionary versus encyclopedia, monolingual versus biling
ual dictionary, general versus technical or pedagogical dictionary), 'dictionary
structure' (or formatting the various
ays in
hich the information is presente
d in a dictionary), 'dictionary use' (or observing the reference acts and skills
of dictionary users), and 'dictionary IT' (or applying computer aids to the pro
cess of dictionary compilation).
One important consideration is the status of 'bilingual lexicography', or the co
mpilation and use of the bilingual dictionary in all its aspects (see e.g. Niels
en 1894). In spite of a relatively long history of this type of dictionary, it i
s often said[according to
hom?] to be less developed in a number of respects th
an its unilingual counterpart, especially in cases
here one of the languages in
volved is not a major language. Not all genres of reference
orks are available
in interlingual versions, e.g. LSP, learners' and encyclopedic types, although s
ometimes these challenges produce ne
subtypes, e.g. 'semi-bilingual' or 'biling
ualised' dictionaries such as Hornby's (Oxford) Advanced Learner's Dictionary En
glish-Chinese,
hich have been developed by translating existing monolingual dic
tionaries (see Marello 1998).
See also[edit]
List of lexicographers
Lexicology
Lexicon
Lexical definition
Vocabulary

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)
Idioms Lexicon
Specialised lexicography
English lexicology and lexicography
Terminology
Dictionary Society of North America
References[edit]
Jump up ^ , H
y G

Ldd
, Rb
t Sctt, A G

E  sh L
c ,  P
s

bay
Jump up ^ , H
y G

Ldd
, Rb
t Sctt, A G

E  sh L
c ,  P
s
us D
a Lbay
Jump up ^ , H
y G

Ldd
, Rb
t Sctt, A G

E  sh L
c ,  P
s
us D
ta Lbay
Jump up ^ , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, An Intermediate GreekEnglish Lexicon,
on Perseus Digital Library
Jump up ^ , Henry George Liddell, Robert Scott, A GreekEnglish Lexicon, on Perseus Dig
ital Library
Further reading[edit]
Atkins, B.T.S. & Rundell, Michael (2008) The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicogra
phy, 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: Dic
tionaries and Encyclopedias Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorro
. Peter Lang 20
09. ISBN 978-3-03911-799-4
Bergenholtz, Henning & Tarp, Sven (eds.) (1995) Manual of Specialised Lexicograp
hy: The Preparation of Specialised Dictionaries, J. Benjamins. ISBN 978-90-272-1
612-0
Green, Jonathon (1996) Chasing the Sun: Dictionary-Makers and the Dictionaries T
hey 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
& Francis, 3 volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-25365-9
Hartmann, R.R.K. & James, Gregory (comps.) (1998/2001) Dictionary of Lexicograph
y, Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-14144-4
Hayaka
a, Isamu. (2014) T
enty Stories of English Lexicography in Japan, Japanes
e Edition. Tokyo: Texnai. ISBN 9784907162283
Inglis, Douglas. (2004) Cognitive Grammar and lexicography. Payap University Gra
duate School Linguistics Department.
Kirkness, Alan (2004) "Lexicography", in The Handbook of Applied Linguistics ed.
by A. Davies & C. Elder, Oxford: Black
ell, pp. 5481. 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 Jo
urnal of Lexicography 11,4, pp. 292314.
Nielsen, Sandro (1994) The Bilingual LSP Dictionary, G. Narr. ISBN 978-3-8233-45
33-6
Nielsen, Sandro (2008) "The effect of lexicographical information costs on dicti
onary making and use", in Lexikos (AFRILEX-reeks/series 18), pp. 170189.
Nielsen, Sandro (2009): "Revie
ing printed and electronic dictionaries: A theore
tical and practical frame
ork". In S. Nielsen/S. Tarp (eds): Lexicography in the
21st Century. In honour of Henning Bergenholtz. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Be
njamins, 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 978-90-279-1921-2
External links[edit]
Look up lexicography in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.
International Journal of Lexicography
Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography - Revue Internationale de
Lexicographie - Internationales Jahrbuch fr Lexikographie
Societies[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
[hide] v t e
Lexicography
Types of reference
orks
Dictionary Glossary Lexicon Phrase book Thesaurus
Types of dictionaries
Advanced learner's Anagram Bilingual Biographical Conceptual Defining Electronic
Encyclopedic Etymological Explanatory Grammatical Idiom Language for specific p
urposes dictionary Machine-readable Maximizing Medical Minimizing Monolingual le
arner's Multi-field Phonetic Picture Pronouncing Reverse Rhyming Rime Single-fie
ld Specialized Spelling Sub-field Visual Word formation dictionary
Lexicographic projects
Lexigraf WordNet
Other
List of lexicographers List of online dictionaries
Authority control
GND: 4035548-2 NKC: ph122284
Categories: LexicographyLexicologyApplied linguisticsWord-sense disambiguation
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