Lexicography
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What is lexicography?
Lexicography is the creation of dictionaries. It is distinct from lexicology, which is the study of words, their origin, evolution, usage, and meaning. Practical lexicography focuses on compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries to be user-friendly, accurate, current, and comprehensive. Theoretical lexicography researches structural and semantic relationships among words to improve dictionary information organization.
Lexicographers track language by reading various sources and creating citations for new words or usages in a searchable database. They determine if a word meets criteria for inclusion in a dictionary, draft a definition, and forward it to editors for review.
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What do lexicographers do?
Lexicographers are dictionary experts who compile, write, and edit dictionaries. They track language changes by reading various texts and noting new words or usages in searchable databases.
If a word meets criteria like frequent and widespread use, lexicographers draft a definition, which editors review. Once approved, the word and definition are added to the dictionary after being reviewed by a copy editor and proofread.
The digital age allows lexicographers to use web analytics to see which words are frequently searched and revise those definitions. They also consider explanatory hyperlinks and online presentation when structuring entries.
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How does lexicography relate to dictionaries?
Lexicography is the process of compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries. It involves tracking language, including new words and usages, through various sources like books, newspapers, and online content. Lexicographers create citations, analyze databases, and determine if a word meets the criteria for inclusion based on usage. They then draft definitions, which undergo review and editing before being added to the dictionary. Therefore, lexicography is the practical work that results in the creation of dictionaries.
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What are the main steps in creating a dictionary?
Lexicography, the art of compiling dictionaries, involves several key steps. Lexicographers track language changes by monitoring various texts and media, noting new words and usages in a searchable database. They assess if a word's usage is frequent, widespread, and meaningful enough for inclusion.
If inclusion criteria are met, they draft a definition, which undergoes editorial review before being entered into the system. Definitions may consider a word's historical development, core meaning, and frequency of use. Digital dictionaries also utilize web analytics to prioritize revisions of frequently searched words and optimize online presentation. Computer aids can assist with mechanical tasks, but human judgment remains crucial for editing.
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What challenges do lexicographers face when choosing which words to include?
Lexicographers face several challenges when choosing words for inclusion in a dictionary. They track language through various texts, noting new words and usages to determine if they meet criteria like frequent, widespread, and meaningful use.
Usage labeling poses a challenge because language use varies across time, geography, and culture; labels like obsolete or regional can be problematic. Lexicographers also grapple with the complexities of sense division, where they must arbitrarily slice meaning into senses based on collected contexts.
The goal is to make a complete inventory of a language, but practical constraints exist. A dictionary's size is limited by commercial considerations. Slang is also difficult to track because it can be short-lived.
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How has technology changed the way lexicography is practiced today?
Technology has significantly reshaped modern lexicography. Digitalization allows lexicographers to analyze word frequency through web analytics, focusing on revising the definitions of frequently searched words. The Internet provides access to diverse language sources, facilitating the tracking of new words and their histories more efficiently. Digital dictionaries are interactive, enabling lexicographers to strategically place explanatory hyperlinks and structure entries for online presentation. While computers aid in mechanical tasks like alphabetizing and text excerpting, human expertise remains crucial for delicate decisions such as sorting out homographs. The creation of the Backward Index before the digital age aided in identifying related terms and answering public inquiries. Lexicography is distinct from lexicology, which is the study of words. A corpus, a collection of recorded writings and utterances, serves as a basis for descriptive language analysis.
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Lexicography, the compiling, editing, or writing of a dictionary. It is distinct from lexicology, the study of the words in a given language, including their origins, evolution, meanings, usage, and contexts.
History of lexicography
The history of lexicographical practices can be traced back to about 3200 bce, when Sumerians began compiling word lists in cuneiform writing on clay tablets to teach literacy. The history of English lexicography dates back to the expansion of Latin Christianity into England (beginning at the end of the 6th century ce), when English-speaking priests and monks needed to learn Latin to read the Bible and conduct services in the liturgical language. In 1218 John of Garland, an English-born Parisian teacher, coined the word dictionarius (Latin: “of or pertaining to words”) as a title for an elementary Latin textbook. The first examples of modern, comprehensive English dictionaries came in the 18th century. A Dictionary of the English Language, Samuel Johnson’s seminal work in precision of definition and organization, was published in 1755. It included quotations and prescriptive commentaries about word usage.
Practical and theoretical lexicography
Lexicography is divided into two fields: practical and theoretical. Practical lexicography is concerned with compiling, writing, and editing dictionaries. Practical lexicographers focus on creating user-friendly dictionaries with accurate, up-to-date, and comprehensive information. Theoretical lexicography, also called metalexicography, is concerned with dictionary research. Theoretical lexicographers focus on researching structural and semantic relationships among words in current dictionaries to improve information organization and structure in future dictionaries. They often focus their research on specific types of dictionaries or elements of a dictionary’s compilation.
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Types of dictionaries
The different types of dictionaries are vast and varied. In addition to what are considered “general purpose” dictionaries and language learners’, or bilingual, dictionaries, there are specialized dictionaries, including etymological, pronunciation, and usage dictionaries. Some dictionaries focus on the vocabulary of specific fields of knowledge—e.g., biology, psychology, law, medicine, religion, literature, economics, and fine arts.
Practical lexicographical processes
Lexicographers continually track language by reading books, newspapers, industry-specific journals, online corpora, social media, and any text in which they might discover a new word or a new use for an already recorded word. When lexicographers encounter a new word or usage, they create a citation in a searchable database, noting the word’s context and source. Then they search other databases of words from numerous different sources, including everything from articles to popular literature to song lyrics to speeches. Using these databases, they determine if a word meets certain criteria for inclusion in a dictionary—such as frequent, widespread, and meaningful use. If a word meets the criteria, lexicographers draft a definition for the word and forward it to a series of editors for review. Once the word and definition are approved, they are entered into the system, reviewed by a copy editor, proofread, and added to a dictionary.
Lexicography in the digital age
The shift to digital dictionaries has added a new dimension to the way lexicographers write definitions and structure digital dictionary entries. Web analytics allow lexicographers to see which words users look up more frequently, and the lexicographers can spend more time revising the definitions of those words. Because digital dictionaries are interactive, when lexicographers write definitions, they consider where to place explanatory hyperlinks and how to structure entries for online presentation, sometimes breaking up paragraphs into individual lines.