Is lexicography a word

1. Lexicography
   as a branch of Linguistics. The relationship between Lexicography
   and Lexicology.

2. Some basic
   problems of Lexicography.

3. Types of dictionaries.

4. Historical development of
   British and American Lexicography.

5. New Trends in Lexicography.

13.1.
Lexicography
is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries. It’s closely
connected with Lexicology for:

1) they have a common object
of study, i.e the vocabulary of a language;

2) they
make use of each other’s achievements, i.e. the material collected in
dictionaries
is used by linguistists in their research and on the other hand, the
principles of dictionary making are based on linguistic fundamentals.

The difference between them
lies in the degree of systematization and completeness each of them
is able to achieve.

Lexicology
aims at systematization, revealing characteristic features of words.
However, it can’t achieve completeness as regards vocabulary units,
for their number is very great, and systematization and completeness
can’t be achieved simultaneously.

But dictionaries aim at a more
or less complete description of individual words, but in doing so
they can’t attain systematic treatment.

13.2.
The
most important
problems
faced by lexicographers are:

1. the selection of lexical
   units for inclusion;

2. their arrangement;

3. the selection and arrangement
   of word-meanings;

4. the definition of meanings;

5. illustrative material;

6. supplementary material.

1. The selection of units for inclusion

The basic problem is what
lexical units to select for inclusion, and to determine the type and
number of headwords.

Should
we include / the dictionary contain foreign words? technical terms?
archaic words? new words? dialectisms? slang words, etc?

We face the problem of
polysemy and homonymy. Besides, we should decide how to treat
derivatives, esp. those built after the most productive patterns
(such as

v
+ -er → N, A + -ness → N, a + -ly → Adv).
Should they be given special entries or not?

There are no general answers
to these questions. The choice depends on the type of the dictionary,
its aim, size, and some other considerations, and is always more or
less arbitrary.

2. Arrangement of entries

When the problem of
arrangement is settled there arises the question which of the
selected units have the right to a separate entry and which are to be
included under the headword,

e.g
whether «each
other»
is a group of two separate words to be treated separately under the
headwords «each»
and «other»
or whether it is a unit that deserves a special entry.

The
number of entries also depends on how dictionary compilers solve the
problems of polysemy and homonymy and regularly formed derivatives
with such affixes as -er,
-ly, -ness, -ing.

The
order of arrangement
of the entries is different in different types of dictionaries. The
order may be (a)
alphabetical
and (b)
the
cluster-type order,
i.e. words of the same root, or close in their denotational meaning,
or in their frequency value are grouped together.

Each
mode of presentation has its advantages. (a)
The alphabetical order provides for an easy finding of any word, (b)
The cluster-type order requires less space and presents a clearer
picture of the relations of each unit with the others in the language
system.

Practically, however, most
dictionaries use a combination of these two orders of arrangement.

3.
The number of meanings and their choice depend
on:

1) the aim the dictionary
compilers set themselves;

2) how they treat obsolete,
dialectal, highly specialized meanings, how they solve the problem of
polysemy and homomymy.

There
are three
different ways
of arranging word-meanings:

1)
historical
order,
i.e. meanings are arranged in the order of their historical
development (from the earliest to the most recent ones);

2)
actual
(or empirical) order,
i.e. meanings are arranged according to their frequency value (the
most common ones come first);

3)
logical
order,
i.e. meanings are arranged to show their logical connection.

The historical order is mostly
used in diachronical (historical) dictionaries, and in synchronic
ones compilers usually use the empirical and the logical order.

4.
Meanings may be defined
in
different ways:

1) by means of encyclopedic
definitions (such definitions are concerned with objects for which
words are names);

2) by means of descriptive
definitions or paraphrases;

3) with the help of synonymous
words and expressions;

4) by means of
cross-reference.

Descriptive definitions are
used in a majority of cases. They are concerned with words as speech
material.

American dictionaries for the
most part are traditionally encyclopedic. They furnish their readers
with more information about facts and things than British
dictionaries which are more linguistic

Encyclopedic definitions are
typical of nouns, esp. proper nouns and terms.

Synonyms are most often used
to define verbs and adjectives, and (cross-) reference is used to
define derivatives, abbreviations and variant forms.

5.
Illustrative examples raise
the following questions:

1) when are examples to be
used?

2) what words may be listed
without any illustrations?

3) should they be made up or
borrowed from books and/or periodicals? (In diachronic dictionaries
quotations are used and they are carefully dated).

4) How much space should they
occupy?

6.
The supplementary material
appended to the dictionary may be:

1) material of linguistic
nature pertaining to the vocabulary (e.g. geographical names, foreign
words, standard abbreviations);

2) material of encyclopedic
nature (may include lists of colleges, universities, tables of
weights and measures, military ranks, etc.).

13.3.
All
dictionaries are divided into encyclopedic
and linguistic.
They differ in (1)
the choice of items included and (2)
in the information given about them.

Linguistic
dictionaries
are word-books. Their subject-matter is lexical units and their
linguistic properties (pronunciation, meaning, usage, etc.).

Encyclopedias
are thing-books, giving information about the extralinguistic world.
They deal with objects, phenomena and concepts. Encyclopedic
dictionaries
give both types of information.

The most famous encyclopedias
in English are the Encyclopedia Britannica (in 32 volumes) and
Encyclopedia Americana (30 volumes). Besides there are reference
books confined to some particular fields of knowledge,

e.g. the Oxford Art
Dictionary, the Oxford Companion to English Literature, «Who’s
Who» Dictionary, etc.

Linguistic dictionaries can be
classified by different criteria:

1)
According to the
nature of their word-list
they are general
and restricted.

General
dictionaries
contain lexical units in ordinary use in different spheres of
communication.

Restricted
dictionaries
make their choice from a certain part of the vocabulary,

e.g. phraseological
dictionaries, dialectal dictionaries, dictionaries of new words,
terminological dictionaries and so on.

2)
According to the
information supplied
dictionaries may be explanatory
and specialized.

Explanatory
dictionaries
provide information on all aspects of lexical units (graphical,
grammatical, etymological, stylistic, semantic, etc.).

Specialized
dictionaries
deal with only some aspect of lexical units,

e.g. English Pronouncing
Dictionary by Daniel Jones.

3)
According to
the
language
in which information is given dictionaries may be: monolingual
end bilingual
(translation).

4)
According to the
prospective user dictionaries
are divided into those
meant for scholars
(e.g. etymological dictionaries), for
language learners/students
(e.g. Oxford Student’s Dictionary of Current English by A.S. Hornby)
and for
the general public
(e.g. The Concise Oxford Dictionary).

13.4.
Historical
Development of British and American Lexicography.

period
I	5th — 13th c. Glossaries	A gloss is a note made in a margin or between lines, usu. a word or phrase, explaining or translating a difficult word in a MS or other text. Such glosses have played an important role in the history of lexicography. The first vocabulary lists in English were 8th-century Anglo-Saxon glosses, in which words were written between Latin lines. Later, these words were collected together as lists, more or less alphabetically. Such lists were known as «glossae collectae» (collected glosses), later «glossaria» (glossaries). These are ancestors of the first Latin-English dictionaries. The first printed dictionary in Britain appeared in 1500, it was «Ortus Vocabulorum», a Latin-English dictionary.
II	16th c. Foreign — Language Dictionaries	The rapid development of international trade in the 16 th century led to a demand for translation dictionaries: French-English, Spanish-English, Italian-English, etc.
III	17th c. Dictionaries of Hard Words	These dictionaries were meant to give information on hard and exotic words: borrowings from Latin, Greek, new European languages, obsolete Anglo-Saxon words, etc. The first monolingual English dictionary of this type appeared in 1604. It was «Table Alphabeticall» (compiled by Robert Cawdry, a school-master), which contained fewer than 3.000 «hard usuall English words» listed alphabetically, with the barest explanations. It was designed for quick consultation by «unskillful persons» to help them understand and use foreign borrowings.
IV	17th c. — the first half of the 18th c.	Dictionaries of hard words were gradually replaced by dictionaries giving information on current usage. The first attempt at a dictionary including all the words of the language, not only hard ones, was made by Nathaniel Bailey, who published the first edition of his Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721), a one-volume reference dictionary of some 40.000 entries that was strong on bookish and technical vocabulary, weak in definition and semantic covering, up-to-date in spelling and provided the accepted etymologies of its day. It was the standard dictionary of the 18th c. The 28th and last edition was in 1800. Nathaniel Bailey was the first to give information on the pronunciation and etymology of English words.
V	second half of the 18th c. — first half of the 19th c. Prescriptive Dictionaries	It was a very important stage in the history of British Lexicography because in 1755 Dr Samuel Johnson’s famous dictionary appeared. It differs from the works of his predecessors in both scale and intention. Dr Johnson sought to encapsulate the «best» usage of his day, and did this on the basis of over 100.000 quotations from the best authrs in the 16th c. to his own time. In definitions and the internal arrangement of entries, Johnson also went beyond his rivals. By arranging the senses chronologically, Johnson enabled his readers to follow the evolution of each word and provided the foundation for the historical lexicography of the 19th c. Johnson gave little attention to collocation, idiom, and grammatical information, although he provided a brief grammar at the front. In cases of divided or uncertain usage he provided a prescriptive comment, e.g. «a proper word». His dictionary enjoyed unique authority among successive generations of users in the matter of word choice and word usage. In spelling it represents a strongly conservative tradition, compared with which Bailey was progressive. Pronouncing dictionaries became established in the latter half of the 18th c., of which John Walker’s «Critical Pronouncing Dictionary of the English Language» (1791) was the foremost. The Walker pronunciations were effectively married with Johnson’s Dictionary in many of the abridged versions of Johnson’s Dictionary, which lasted well into the 19th c.
VI	latter half of the 19th c. — the 1970’s	contributed to dictionary making (1) the development of encyclopedic dictionaries and specialized dictionaries (such as of dialect and technical words), (2) recording of word-history through dated quotations. The 19th c. saw many largescale dictionary projects, produced by teams of compilers. In 1858 the English Philological Society started work on compiling the Oxford English Dictionary on Historical Principle. It was first published in 1928. This excellent dictionary covers the English vocabulary with a completeness unrivalled in linguistic history. The second edition of the OED was published in 1989, in 20 volumes. The Concise Oxford Dictionary and the Shorter OED are its variants. The 20th c. saw the development of Lexicography as a scholarly subject, largely under the influence of Linguistics, and promoted especially by the growth of academic societies, such as the Dictionary Society of North America (1975), and the European Association for Lexicography (1983).

13.5.
Since the 1970s, the flow of dictionaries has been unabated, as
publishers try to meet the needs of an increasingly
language-conscious age. New editions and supplements to the
well-known dictionaries have appeared and several publishers have
launched new general series (e.g.Longman). Reader’s Digest .produced
its great Illustrated Dictionary in 1984, the first full-colour
English dictionary, in the encyclopedic tradition. Prominent also
have been the dictionaries for special purposes (foreign language
teaching, linguistics, medicine, chemistry, etc.). For the first
time, spoken vocabulary has begun to find its way into dictionaries.

The
1980s will one day be seen as a watershed in lexicography — the
decade in which computer applications began to alter radically the
methods and the potential of lexicography: the future is on disc, in
the form of vast lexical databases, continuously updated, that can
generate a dictionary of a
given
size and scope in a fraction of the time it used to take. Special
programs have become available enabling people to ask the dictionary
special questions (e.g. «find all words ending in -esse»).
Access to large machine-dictionaries is becoming routine in offices
and homes.

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From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

«Dictionary structure» redirects here. For the dictionary data structure, see Associative array.

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]

Focus[edit]

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[edit]

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[edit]

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
• 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 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).

See also[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• Atkins, B.T.S. & Rundell, Michael (2008) The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography, Oxford U.P. ISBN 978-0-19-927771-1
• Béjoint, 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 & 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 & Francis, 3 volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-25365-9
• Hartmann, R.R.K. & 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 & 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 978-90-279-1921-2

External links[edit]

• International Journal of Lexicography
• Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography — Revue Internationale de Lexicographie — Internationales Jahrbuch für 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

We can trace the history of English lexicography back to the Old English period (5th century). This was a time when the language of the Roman church was Latin, which meant its priests needed to be knowledgeable in the language to read the bible. As the English-speaking monks learned and read these manuscripts, they would write single-word translations in the margins for themselves and future readers. This is believed to be the beginning of (bilingual) lexicography in English.

Content

• Origin
• Normative lexicography
• Descriptive lexicography
• What does lexicography study?
• Theoretical lexicography
• Practical lexicography
• References

The lexicography It is a discipline that aims to define and teach the procedures to be followed to develop dictionaries. For this reason, many authors define it as a methodology or technique and not as a science. It should be noted that currently lexicography is based on the theoretical foundations of linguistics.

The word lexicography comes from the Greek word leksikographs, which in turn is composed of two words: leksikós, which means word gathering and graphein, which translates as write. Therefore, lexicography is the technique of collecting and writing words.

According to the academic dictionary of 1984, lexicography can be defined as the technique of composing dictionaries or lexicons. It is also defined as a part of linguistics that is dedicated to establishing theoretical principles taking into account the composition of dictionaries.

The lexicographer Manuel Seco, in his reception speech for the Royal Spanish Academy (1980), established that lexicography was not a science, but rather a technique or an art. This is due to the fact that, for this scholar, the lexicographical discipline presents an ambiguity that allows it to be perceived as a craft that requires sensitivity and intuition.

The author Natalia Castillo, in her text Value and difficulty of lexicography (1998), established that lexicography emerged as a prescientific discipline four thousand years ago. This claim is supported by the fact that the Akkadians and Sumerians collected signs that must have functioned as unilingual dictionaries (2,600 BC).

This compilation had a pedagogical motivation and was used in the schools of the scribes. There were also catalogs where the names of objects, trades, divinities, among others, were listed.

Furthermore, the first bilingual glossaries where a list of Sumero-Akkadian words were found date from this time. Eventually, the first of these languages ​​became the diplomatic and cultured language, which happened after the fall of the III Empire of Ur.

In the library of Rap’anu (State Councilor of the kingdom of Ugarit, 1235-1195 BC) even quadrilingual glossaries were found, as they contained words taken from the Sumerian, Hurrian, Akkadian and Ugaritic languages.

Normative lexicography

Until the second half of the 20th century, lexicography had been conceived as «the art of making dictionaries.» During this phase, lexicography was characterized by its normative approach, since it sought to fix the language in its most cultured format.

For this reason, over the course of several centuries the discipline generated dictionaries of selective cut such as, for example, Spanish language treasure (1674) by Sebastián de Covarrubias or Manual dictionary of vicious phrases and language corrections (1893) by Camilo Ortúzar.

Consequently, the dictionaries produced in these times had a logical-objective basis with an encyclopedic approach. This means that these dictionaries described the reality of the objects and not the meanings of each word. For this reason they concentrated on the referents, but not on the linguistic signs.

Descriptive lexicography

In the last decades of the 20th century, lexicography began to be of interest to linguists. For this reason, linguistics experts were incorporated into the lexicographic discipline to investigate its characteristics and introduce them into applied linguistics.

Consequently, lexicography ceased to be considered as a mere art and became a scientific technique. This led to the development of descriptive dictionaries, which to this day do not make value judgments regarding a certain word or use of a language. In fact, they try to describe it in a realistic way without applying any kind of purist restriction.

Within this structure you can cite the works New Dictionary of Americanisms (1988), directed by Reinhold Werner and Günther Haensch. Another example may be the Illustrated Dictionary of Chileanisms, written by Féliz Morales Pettorino between 1984 and 1987.

What does lexicography study?

The object of study of lexicography is to know the origin, meaning and shape of words. However, it should not be confused with lexicology, which studies these same factors but from a more general and scientific point of view. Instead, lexicography has a utilitarian role.

This is not to say that lexicography does not have a scientific focus; this discipline does use scientific criteria, as long as it considers that all lexical materials deserve the same attention. This means that lexicography distances itself from scientific study when it makes value judgments about a word or word.

Currently, two aspects or meanings of lexicography have been proposed. On the one hand there is the technique of preparation, that is, the activity itself of collecting dictionaries, lexicons and glossaries. On the other hand, there are methodological and theoretical criteria that a lexicographer must handle in order to correctly carry out his work.

These aspects are known as practical lexicography and theoretical lexicography or metalexicography.

Theoretical lexicography

Theoretical lexicography, also known as metalexicography, is responsible for studying the theoretical aspects related to lexicography. Therefore, theoretical lexicography studies the history of lexicographic activities, as well as the types of dictionaries and the purpose for which they have been conceived.

The metalexicography must also take into account the audience to which each dictionary is directed, the methodology or structure of its preparation and the problems that may arise when carrying out its preparation. In conclusion, this branch of lexicography critically and concretely evaluates each lexicographic product.

Practical lexicography

The practical lexicography is properly the elaboration of the dictionaries. That is, this aspect takes into practice everything acquired from theoretical lexicography. For this it uses other disciplines such as applied linguistics. Before developing a dictionary, every lexicographer should:

— Know the traditional and internationally accepted lexicographic rules.

— Manage the terminology used by lexicography.

— Have the ability to identify the different types of dictionaries.

— Know the necessary bibliographic material that allows you to solve the problems that arise during preparation.

— Conceive the dictionary as a tool to teach a language, but without adding value judgments about a certain word.

References

1. Castillo, N. (1999) Value and difficulty of lexicography. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Dialnet: Dialnet.net
2. Cuervo, C. (1999) General aspects of lexicography. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Cervantes Virtual Library: cvc.cercantes.es
3. Ilson, R. (1986) Lexicographic archeology: comparing dictionaries of the same family. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Google books: books.google.com
4. Karpova, O. (2014) Multi-disciplinary lexicography: traditions and challenges of the XXIst century. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Google books: books.google.com
5. S.A. (2015) The lexicographical activity: theoretical and practical. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Portal UNED: portal.uned.es
6. S.A. (s.f.) Lexicography. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Wikipedia: es.wikipedia.org
7. Tarp, S. (s.f.) Learning lexicography. Retrieved on November 27, 2019 from Dialnet: Dialnet.net

Definition and Examples of Lexicography

Lexicography is the process of writing, editing, and/or compiling a dictionary. An author or editor of a dictionary is called a lexicographer. The processes involved in the compilation and implementation of digital dictionaries (such as Merriam-Webster Online) is known as e-lexicography.

«The fundamental difference between lexicography and linguistics,» says Sven Tarp, «is that they have two completely different subject fields: The subject field of linguistics is language, whereas the subject field of lexicography is dictionaries and lexicographic works in general» («Beyond Lexicography» in Lexicography at a Crossroads, 2009).
In 1971, historical linguist and lexicographer Ladislav Zgusta published the first major international handbook on lexicography, Manual of Lexicography, which remains the standard text in the field.

Etymology: From the Greek, «word» + «write»

Pronunciation: LEK-si-KOG-ra-fee

Beginnings of English Lexicography

• «The beginnings of English lexicography go back to the Old English period . . .. The language of the Roman Church was Latin; its priests and monks needed to be competent in Latin in order to conduct services and to read the Bible . . .. As English monks studied these Latin manuscripts, they would sometimes write the English translation above (or below) a Latin word in the text, to help their own learning, and as a guide to subsequent readers. These one-word translations, written between the lines of a manuscript, are called ‘interlinear glosses’; they are seen as the beginnings of (bilingual) lexicography.» (Howard Jackson, Lexicography: An Introduction. Routledge, 2002)

Samuel Johnson (1709-1784) and English Lexicography

• «I am not yet so lost in lexicography, as to forget that words are the daughters of earth and that things are the sons of heaven.»
  (Samuel Johnson)
• «[Samuel] Johnson was not only innovative in his use of 114,000 citations to prove his definitions and the usage of words and connotations. He also noted the author who had first used a word or collocation and who had last used an obsolete word. He also took the liberty of adding prescriptive commentaries whenever there was doubt about usage.»
  (Piet Van van Sterkenburg, A Practical Guide to Lexicography. John Benjamins, 2003)

English Lexicography in the 20th Century

• «In the English language area, the lexical orientation has long remained historical. The first edition of the Concise Oxford Dictionary, by H.W. and F.G. Fowler, dates from 1911 and leans heavily on [James] Murray’s New English Dictionary on Historical Principles [later renamed the Oxford English Dictionary]. It was also due to the fact that the first supplement to the OED was published in 1933 and the second was in preparation from 1950 onwards, to be published in four thick volumes under the general editorship of Robert Burchfield. Incidentally, that supplement did include swear words, sexual terms, colloquial speech etc.
• «Innovations in the English lexicography were to be seen in the dictionaries by Longman and Collins, based on contemporary corpora of electronic texts and anchored entirely in a database structure. . . .
• «In 1988, the first edition of the OED was made available on CD-ROM and the second edition in 1992.»
  (Piet van Sterkenburg, «‘The’ Dictionary: Definition and History.» A Practical Guide to Lexicography, edited by Piet Van Sterkenburg. John Benjamins, 2003)

Crowdsourcing and Contemporary Lexicography

• «Websites such as those for Urban Dictionary and Wiktionary . . . offer what is known as ‘bottom-up lexicography,’ placing ordinary speakers and writers at the core of the ways in which the dictionaries in question are to be made. The definition of dictionary-making which such sites present can be particularly telling. Lexicography: ‘The art of making a dictionary. Anyone who adds to urbandictionary.com [sic] is a lexicographer,’ a post on Urban Dictionary proclaims.» (Lynda Mugglestone, Dictionaries: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford University Press, 2011)
• «A small thing in the larger world perhaps but Collins, the dictionary publisher, may have set a revolution going. If so it’s because they just announced the first instance of a dictionary allowing input not only from the usual suspects—staff lexicographers—but from the public, or to use the pertinent language: the crowd.
• «Crowdsourcing . . . is first recorded in 2004. The philosophy of the more the merrier. And more creative. Now that task could include lexicography. . . .
  «For the last couple of months, Collins has thrown open their files to all-comers. Suggest a word that qualifies for their dictionary and wins a prize! Examples include Twittersphere, sexting, cyberstalking and captcha. . . .
• «Such shout-outs are the antithesis of traditional lexicography. . . . If the dictionary-maker is a humble archivist while the lexicon is being created, they become a deity—or at least a cut-rate Moses—once it appears and becomes a source of supposedly trustworthy information. . . .
• «Letting in the street will end no worlds but will it improve the quality of dictionaries? Form as ever faces off content. The form can be democratic as all hell, but in lexicon-land, surely the content is what matters. . . .
• «Reference should be online. The opportunities for presentation, for breadth of information and for sophisticated searches that would be impossible in a print dictionary are too good to miss. But if reference is to remain useful then it cannot become amateur hour.» (Jonathon Green, «Dictionaries Are Not Democratic.» The Observer, September 13, 2012)

The Lighter Side of Lexicography

• «LEXICOGRAPHER, n. A pestilent fellow who, under the pretense of recording some particular stage in the development of a language, does what he can to arrest its growth, stiffen its flexibility and mechanize its methods.» (Ambrose Bierce, The Devil’s Dictionary, 1911)

English[edit]

Etymology[edit]

From lexico- (prefix meaning ‘speech; words’) +‎ -graphy (suffix meaning ‘something written about a specified subject’).^[1]

Pronunciation[edit]

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˌlɛksɪˈkɒɡɹəfi/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˌlɛksɪˈkɑɡɹəfi/, /-sə-/
• Hyphenation: lex‧i‧co‧gra‧phy

Noun[edit]

lexicography (countable and uncountable, plural lexicographies)

1. (uncountable) The art or craft of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries.

   • 1735 March 5, “Craftsman, Feb. 22 [Julian calendar]. Nº 451.”, in Sylvanus Urban [pseudonym; Edward Cave], editor, The Gentleman’s Magazine, and Historical Chronicle, volume V, London: […] Edward Cave, […], published February 1735, →OCLC, page 85, column 1:

     [T]here are ſeveral Species of Writing, in which a proper Degree of Hebetude is abſolutely neceſſary, as well as in other profeſſions; such as Lexicography, Index-making, and the like; […]

   • 1755 April 15, Samuel Johnson, “Preface”, in A Dictionary of the English Language: […] , volume I (A–K), London: […] J[ohn] and P[aul] Knapton; […], →OCLC:

     And ſuch is the fate of hapleſs lexicography, that not only darkneſs, but light, impedes and diſtreſſes it; things may be not only too little, but too much known, to be happily illuſtrated.

   • 1795 December 22, [John Philpot] Curran, defence counsel, “612. Trial of James Weldon for High Treason, […]”, in Thomas Jones Howell, editor, Cobbett’s Complete Collection of State Trials and Proceedings for High Treason and Other Crimes and Misdemeanors […], volume XXVI, London: […] Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown; [et al.], published 1819, →OCLC, column 267:

     Let me warn you, therefore, against that fallacious lexicography which forms new words, that undergoing the examination of political slander or intemperate zeal, are considered as having a known acception.—What is the word?—A word that should be discarded, when it is sought to affix to it another meaning than that which it bears in the cases where it is used.

   • 1802, Henry Neuman, “Preface”, in A New Dictionary of the Spanish and English Languages; […] In Two Parts, 1st part (The Spanish before the English), London: […] Vernor and Hood, […], →OCLC:

     […] I have not only availed myſelf of all the Aſſiſtance which more ancient Sources of Spaniſh Lexicography could afford, but alſo had particular Recourſe to the Dictionary published at Madrid in 1797 and 1798, […]

   • 1831, Ying Hing Soo, “Book Second”, in Charles Fried. Neumann [i.e., Karl Friedrich Neumann], transl., History of the Pirates who Infested the China Sea, from 1807 to 1810. […], London: […] Oriental Translation Fund, […], →OCLC, footnote, page 54:

     There exist different forms of this character, but I think we should not presume to make an etymology of a Chinese character without being authorized by the Shwǒ wǎn, the oldest and most genuine source of Chinese lexicography.

   • 1999, A[nthony] P[aul] Cowie, “The Role of the Computer in Learner Lexicography”, in English Dictionaries for Foreign Learners: A History, Oxford, Oxfordshire: Clarendon Press, →ISBN, section 4.1 (Introduction), page 118:

     Without doubt, the most important single development in learner lexicography from the mid-1970s onwards has been the steadily increasing involvement of the computer at all stages of the dictionary-making process, from data gathering and analysis at one end, to compilation, production, and revision at the other.

   • 2013, Amy Chi, “Researching Pedagogical Lexicography”, in Howard Jackson, editor, The Bloomsbury Companion to Lexicography (Bloomsbury Companions), London; New York, N.Y.: Bloomsbury Academic, Bloomsbury Publishing, →ISBN, page 165:

     A dictionary, as an art and craft of lexicography, has always been closely associated with the notion of pedagogy.

2. (uncountable, linguistics) The scholarly discipline of analysing and describing the semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon (vocabulary) of a language and developing theories of dictionary components and structures linking the data in dictionaries.

   • 1828, Moses Stuart, “Changes of Consonants”, in A Grammar of the Hebrew Language, 3rd edition, Andover, Mass.: Flagg & Gould, →OCLC, part II (Changes and Peculiarities of Consonants and Verbs), § 105, page 51:

     But changes of this nature belong to lexicography, as they do not affect the grammatical forms of words.

   • 1840, Geo. Benedict Winer [i.e., Georg Benedikt Winer], “§ 4. Grammatical Character of the N.T. Diction.”, in J. H Agnew and O. G. Ebbeke, transl., A Grammar of the Idioms of the Greek Language of the New Testament, Philadelphia, Pa.: Herman Hooker, […], →OCLC, part I, page 37:

     What the history of language in general teaches, that in course of time, there is less change in form than signification, in grammar than lexicography, is true of the Greek.

   • 1845 February, Wilhelm Freund, “Article IV. Principles of Latin Lexicography.”, in T[heodore] D[wight] Woolsey, transl.; B[ela] B[ates] Edwards and E[dwards] A[masa] Park, editors, Bibliotheca Sacra and Theological Review, volume II, number V, New York, N.Y.; London: Wiley & Putnam; Andover, Mass.: Allen, Morrill and Wardwell, →OCLC, section I (Of the Idea and Elements of Latin Lexicography), § 1, page 80:

     If Lexicography in general is that science whose task it is to set forth the nature of every single word of a language through all the periods of its existence, it is the task of Latin lexicography in particular to set forth the nature of every single word of the Latin language, as it makes itself known in all the periods of the existence of that language; or more succinctly expressed, it is the object of Latin lexicography to give the history of every single word of the Latin language.

   • 1911 December 13, C. J. Ball, “A Study in Biblical Philology”, in Proceedings of the Society of Biblical Archæology, volume XXXIII, number CCXLIX, London: Society of Biblical Archaeology, →OCLC, page 13:

     [T]he philologist may well refuse to accept a body of triliteral roots, developed on a highly artificial and uniform plan, as the ultimate fact in Semitic lexicography.

   • 2002, Howard Jackson, “Criticising Dictionaries”, in Lexicography: An Introduction, London; New York, N.Y.: Routledge, →ISBN, page 173:

     Academic lexicography, or ‘metalexicography’, as pursued in university departments of English or Linguistics, is concerned not primarily with the compiling of dictionaries – though academics may be involved in this, as consultants, for example – but with researching and teaching about the whole business of making dictionaries: their history, their typology, their structures, their users, and so on […].

3. (countable) A dictionary, a lexicon, a wordbook.

   • 1828 October, Joseph Story, Associate Judge of the Supreme Court; William P. Mason, reporter, “United States vs. an Open Boat and Lading”, in Reports of Cases Argued and Determined in the Circuit Court of the United States, for the First Circuit, volume V, Boston, Mass.: Hilliard, Gray, Little, and Wilkins, published 1831, →OCLC, page 134:

     There can be no doubt, that in a general sense a boat is a vessel, for it is «a vehicle in which men or goods are carried on the water,» which is one of the definitions of a vessel given in our lexicographies; […]

   • 1855 March, “A Bag of Wind”, in Putnam’s Monthly. A Magazine of Literature, Science, and Art, volume V, number XXVII, New York, N.Y.: Dix & Edwards, […]; London: Sampson Low, Son & Co., →OCLC, page 251, column 1:

     «Air put in motion» is the brief description of the wind in lexicographies; but what a contrast in quality according to its direction; […]

   • 1998, Christopher Leigh Connery, “Textual Authority and Textual Practice”, in The Empire of the Text: Writing and Authority in Early Imperial China, Lanham, Md.; Oxford, Oxfordshire: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, →ISBN, page 37:

     The earliest examples of dictionaries or lexicographies in nearly any culture serve more to regularize and standardize the lexicon than to list or inventory it, and as such would tend to take as their object textual rather than spoken language.

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Translations[edit]

References[edit]

Further reading[edit]

• lexicography on Wikipedia.Wikipedia