Compiling Dictionaries
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This document discusses the process of compiling dictionaries. It begins by defining compilation as producing a list of words with meanings from various sources into a single reference work called a dictionary. It notes that lexicographers build upon the work of previous generations in determining headwords and information to include. Key aspects of compilation include selecting headwords, sourcing data from previous dictionaries, citation files, and computer corpora, and writing dictionary entries which may involve teams of specialists. The document also notes changes in the digital age allowing simultaneous work and improved accuracy.
Compiling Dictionaries
- 1. COMPILING DICTIONARIES Amman Arab University Department of English Language and Translation Dr. Khaleel B. Al-Bataineh
- 2. Definition In other words they produce a list of words with each word meaning from various sources to make a book which we call dictionary . To put together (documents, selections, or other materials) in one book or work . Just as a playwright writs plays and poet writes poems , a lexicographer puts together dictionaries .
- 3. Jonathon Green • “ no lexicographer of English starts with blank sheet of paper, but rather stands in a tradition of dictionary making that reaches back more than six centuries “ • Existing dictionaries are edited and updated by some lexicographers to produce a new edition. • Other lexicographers , they invent and hack new ways for lexicography. However, they have to use the work of previous generations of lexicography in tow ways : 1. To determine the head word list . 2. The kind of information to provide .
- 4. Aspects to dictionary compilation The selection of headwords . The sources of data The writing of the entries .
- 5. David Crystal “ Any dictionary contains a selection from the total vocabulary of English, which is difficult to estimate but probably lies between one and two million words”
- 6. Headwords in Dictionary In general dictionaries do not show their head word count and it is not reliable, because it mainly depends on : • what kind of items are used as headwords . • How compounds and derivatives are treated . In a desk-size dictionary you find no more than 100,000 headwords ,as in the CD-ROM version of COD counts a 64,679 headwords . The core vocabulary in similar-sized dictionaries is standard but it differs at margins . Judgements are made on specialist and non- standards ( slang , dialect ) lexemes .
- 7. Comparison between head words table 3.2 page 28
- 9. Sources of data Previous dictionaries , which can be helpful for both the headword list and the lexical information. It is common to find the same definition in older versions of the dictionary . Dictionary publishers keep a ‘ citation file’ that records the publisher`s reading programme in identifying new words together with examples of their context of use in complete sentences. (some citation files go back a long way ,such as Oxford`s it goes back to the mid-nineteen century, when citations began to be collected for what became the OED. Computer corpora which are large collections of texts in electronic form . Using ‘concordance’ programme the lexicographer can perform a KWIC to search each occurrences of a lexeme in a corpus with several context for each , the result of this search recommend the number of senses to identify for the lexeme along with examples of use .
- 10. Computer corpus They can be searched rapidly and efficiently They can be used for checking information Seeking answers to specific queries It provides the raw data for the construction of dictionary entries
- 11. Writing Entries • It`s rare to find a dictionary that is the work of one lexicographer • More usual to find a team of lexicographers with specialists for each lexical description such as : pronunciation specialist, etymology specialist, consultants for technical areas of vocabulary , and other varieties of English. • Lexicographers write the definitions . • The editorial team organize the information given by the rest of the team .
- 12. Dictionaries Nowadays • They are compiled on computer . • Simultaneous access to the team to the developing dictionary text . • More accurate editorial checking before the dictionary is released for publishing
- 13. Reference • Jackson , Howard (2002) Lexicography , Taylor & Francis Routledge , NY, USA .
- 14. By … Aya Nasrallah Acacia Al- Baker Tethkar Al- Manasier