Lexicography. The main types of dictionaries.

Lexicography, that is the theory and practice of compiling dictionaries, is an important branch of applied linguistics. It has a common object of study with lexicology as both describe the vocabulary of a language.

The term ' dictionary ' is used to denote a book that lists the words of a language in a certain order (usually alphabetical) and gives their meanings, or that gives the equivalent words in a different language.

Dictionaries may be classified under different heads.

1. According to the choice of items included and the sort of information given about these items dictionaries may be divided into two big groups — encyclopedic and linguistic.

Encyclopedic dictionaries are scientific reference books dealing with every branch of knowledge, or with one particular branch, usually in alphabetical order, e.g. the Oxford Paperback Encyclopedia, Random House Webster's Biographical Dictionary. Encyclopedic dictionaries are thing-books, that give information about the extra-linguistic world, they deal with facts and concepts. The best-known encyclopedias of the English-speaking world are the Encyclopaedia Brittannica and the Encyclopaedia Americana.

Linguistic dictionaries are word-books the subject-matter of which is lexical units and their linguistic properties such as pronunciation, meaning, origin, peculiarities of use, and other linguistic information.

Linguistic dictionaries can be further divided into different categories by different criteria.

1. According to the scope of their word-list linguistic dictionaries are
divided into general and restricted.

General dictionaries represent the vocabulary as a whole with a degree of completeness depending upon the scope and the bulk of the book in question. Some general dictionaries may have very specific aims and still be considered general due to their coverage. They include frequency dictionary, a rhyming dictionary, a Thesaurus, etc., e.g. the Collins CO BUILD Thesaurus.

Restricted dictionaries cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary. Restricted dictionaries can be subdivided depending on whether the words are chosen according to the sphere of human activity in which they are used (1), the type of the units themselves (2) or the relations existing between them (3).

The first subgroup registers and explains technical terms for various branches of knowledge (medical, linguistic, economical terms, etc.), e.g. the Merriam-Webster s Dictionary of Law. The second subgroup deals with specific language units, i.e. with phraseological units, abbreviations, neologisms, borrowings, toponyms, dialectal words, proverbs and sayings, e.g. the Oxford Concise Dictionary of Proverbs. The third subgroup contains a formidable array of synonymic dictionaries, e.g. the Merriam-Webster's Pocket Guide to Syno­nyms.

2. According to the information they provide all linguistic dictionary
fall into two groups: explanatory and specialized.

Explanatory dictionaries present a wide range of data, especially with regard to the semantic aspect of the vocabulary items entered, e.g«| the New Oxford Dictionary of English.

Specialized dictionaries deal with lexical units only in relation to
some of their characteristics, i.e. only in relation to their etymology,
frequency, pronunciation, usage, e.g. the Longman Pronunciatio
Dictionary.

3. According to the language of explanations, i.e. whether the
information about the items entered given in the same language or in
another language, all dictionaries are divided into: monolingual and
bilingual.

In monolingual dictionaries the words and the information about them are given in the same language, e.g. the New Shorter Oxford English Dictionary.

Bilingual dictionaries are those that explain words by giving their equivalents in another language, e.g. the English-Russian Phraseolo­gical Dictionary (by A.V.Kunin). They may have two principal purposes: reference for translation and guidance for expression. Bilingual dictio­naries must provide an adequate translation of every item in the target language and expression in the source language.

4. Dictionaries also fall into diachronic and synchronic with regard to time

Diachronic (historical) dictionaries reflect the development of the English vocabulary by recording the history of form and meaning for every word registered, e.g. the Oxford English Dictionary.

Synchronic (descriptive) dictionaries are concerned with the present-day meaning and usage of words, e.g. the Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English.

The boundary between the mentioned types of dictionaires is, however, not very rigid and the two principles may be blended as, for example, in the Concise Oxford Dictionary. Some synchronic dictionaries are at the same time historical when they represent the state of vocabulary at some past stage of its development.

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