Lexicography is divided into two separate but equally important groups:
Practical lexicography is the art or craft of compiling, writing and editing dictionaries.
Theoretical lexicography is the scholarly discipline of analyzing and describing the
semantic, syntagmatic and paradigmatic relationships within the lexicon 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'. A person devoted to lexicography is called
a lexicographer. 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. Specialized lexicography focuses on the design, compilation,
use and evaluation of specialized dictionaries, i.e. dictionaries that are devoted to a 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 LSP dictionary
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 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. 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.
Etymology Coined in English 1680, the word "lexicography"
derives from the Greek λεξικογράφος lexikographos, "lexicographer", from λεξικόν
lexicon, neut. of λεξικός lexikos, "of or for words", from λέξις lexis,
"speech", "word", and γράφω grapho, "to scratch, to inscribe, to write".
Aspects Practical lexicographic work involves several
activities, and the compilation of well crafted dictionaries require careful consideration
of all or some of the following aspects: profiling the intended users 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 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 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'), 'dictionary history', 'dictionary typology', 'dictionary
structure', 'dictionary use', and 'dictionary IT'.
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 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 Advanced Learner's Dictionary English-Chinese, which have been developed
by translating existing monolingual dictionaries. See also
List of lexicographers Lexicology
Lexicon Vocabulary
Dictionary Bilingual dictionary
Monolingual learner's dictionary Specialized dictionary
Glossary
Idioms Lexicon Specialised lexicography
English lexicology and lexicography Terminology
Dictionary Society of North America References
Further reading Atkins, B.T.S. & Rundell, Michael The Oxford
Guide to Practical Lexicography, Oxford U.P. ISBN 978-0-19-927771-1
Bejoint, Henri Modern Lexicography: An Introduction, Oxford U.P. ISBN 978-0-19-829951-6
Bergenholtz, H., Nielsen, S., Tarp, S.: Lexicography at a Crossroads: Dictionaries and Encyclopedias
Today, Lexicographical Tools Tomorrow. Peter Lang 2009. ISBN 978-3-03911-799-4
Bergenholtz, Henning & Tarp, Sven Manual of Specialised Lexicography: The Preparation
of Specialised Dictionaries, J. Benjamins. ISBN 978-90-272-1612-0
Green, Jonathon Chasing the Sun: Dictionary-Makers and the Dictionaries They Made, J. Cape. ISBN
0-7126-6216-2 Hartmann, R.R.K. Teaching and Researching
Lexicography, Pearson Education. ISBN 978-0-582-36977-1 Hartmann, R.R.K. Lexicography: Critical Concepts,
Routledge/Taylor & Francis, 3 volumes. ISBN 978-0-415-25365-9
Hartmann, R.R.K. & James, Gregory Dictionary of Lexicography, Routledge. ISBN 978-0-415-14144-4
Hayakawa, Isamu. Twenty Stories of English Lexicography in Japan, Japanese Edition. Tokyo:
Texnai. ISBN 9784907162283 Kirkness, Alan "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 Dictionaries: The Art and Craft
of Lexicography, Cambridge U.P. 2nd ed. ISBN 0-521-78512-X
Marello, Carla "Hornby's bilingualized dictionaries", in International Journal of Lexicography 11,4,
pp. 292–314. Nielsen, Sandro The Bilingual LSP Dictionary,
G. Narr. ISBN 978-3-8233-4533-6 Nielsen, Sandro "The effect of lexicographical
information costs on dictionary making and use", in Lexikos, pp. 170–189.
Nielsen, Sandro: "Reviewing printed and electronic dictionaries: A theoretical and practical
framework". In S. Nielsen/S. Tarp: Lexicography in the 21st Century. In honour of Henning
Bergenholtz. Amsterdam/Philadelphia: John Benjamins, 23-41.ISBN 978-90-272-2336-4
Ooi, Vincent Computer Corpus Lexicography, Edinburgh U.P. [1] ISBN 0-7486-0815-X
Zgusta, Ladislav Manual of lexicography. Prague: Academia / The Hague, Paris: Mouton. ISBN
978-90-279-1921-2 External links
International Journal of Lexicography Lexicographica. International Annual for Lexicography
- Revue Internationale de Lexicographie - Internationales Jahrbuch für Lexikographie
Societies 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