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How do linguistic corpora help lexicographers write dictionary definitions?
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Linguistics
Much of the foundation of 20th-century sociolinguistics was created by the Swiss linguist Ferdinand de Saussure (1857–1913).
In lexicography, a corpus (plural: corpora) serves as a vital, data-driven foundation for writing dictionary definitions. Rather than acting as an "idea museum," a dictionary functions as a user's manual for communication, and corpora provide the necessary evidence to ensure definitions are descriptive of how language is actually used.12
Lexicographers use these collections of recorded writings and utterances to perform several key tasks:
- Evidence of Usage: Each instance of a word within a corpus is collected as a citation, including its context and source. These citations provide the raw evidence needed to extract a definition based on how the word is applied in real-world scenarios.23
- Determining Inclusion: By searching through databases containing millions of words, lexicographers evaluate whether a word or a new sense of an existing word meets criteria for frequent, widespread, and meaningful use.23
- Tracking Evolution: Corpora allow editors to detect shifts in language, such as new meanings for established words (e.g., cookie or mouse), which are often harder to identify than newly coined terms.23
Ultimately, these databases allow lexicographers to move beyond personal intuition, ensuring that dictionary entries accurately reflect the current, collective understanding of language users.12