|
Transcription or in British Phonetic Notation which is somewhat different in each of the larger reference - book.
For example: /: / is indicated in different dictionaries as ah, aw, o, or and so on.
Many word - books transcribe only the combination of letters that do not conform to the rules of reading. For example: in the word forget COD indicates only the pronunciation of the letter. Grammatical information includes the indication of the part of speech, of the head word and its derivatives, the transitivity or intransitivity of verbs or irregular grammatical forms.
The meaning of the word are usually conveyed to the user with the help of extended definitions or by means of synonyms; the definitions of two meanings of the verb;
Arrive - come to destination or end of journey. Within the entry the explanatory dictionaries of the synchronic type are expected to give priority of place to the more common and widely used meanings, few compilers adopt this principle.
Illustrative examples are either citation from literary sources or sentences invented by compilers. The number and nature of examples depend on the size and purpose of the word book.
By way of illustration we shall consider following entries for the word awful.
I.N.C. Wyld. The Universal Dictionary of the English language.
1. a) apt to fill others with awe, inspiring awe; dreadful, appalling;
b) deserving and inspiring respect and reverence, solemnly impressive awful dignity.
2. (colloq) used as a mere intensive; an awful nuisance; awful nonsense.
II. The Consise Oxford Dictionary
Awful
Inspiring awe, worthy of profound respect; solemnly impressive, (arch) reverential; (si - notable in its kind as - scrawl, bore, relief, something)
III. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English
Awful
1. dreadful, impressive, causing awe,
2. (colloq intensive) very bad, very great; extreme of its kind, want
an - nuisance! What ~ handwriting!
IV. Collin's New English Dictionary
Awful
Full of awe; filling with fear and admiration; impressive, venerable; ugly; unsightly; exteremely
V. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language
Awful
inspiring awe
terrifying, appalling
worthy of reverence and solemn respect
(colloq) a) a very bad, ugly, disagreeable; unpleasant etc; as an awful joke; b) great as an, awful fore.
For the purpose of a dictionary , which must not be too bulky, selection between scientific and technical terms is also a very important task. It is a debatable point whether a unulingual explanatory dictionary should strive to cover all the words of the language, and note with impartial accuracy all the words actually used by English people; Dictionary - makers should attempt to improve and stabilize the English vocabulary according to the best classical temples and advise the readers on preferable usage. A distinctly modern criterion in selection of entries is the frequency of the words to be included.
When the problem of the selection is settled, there is the question as to which of the selected units have the right to the separate entry and which are to be included under one common head word.
These are, the questions of separateness and sameness of words. The first deals with syntagmatic boundaries of word - units and has to solve such questions as whether each other is a group of two separate words to be treated separately under the head- word each and other or whether each other is a unit deserving a special entry.
As to the sameness this deals with the paradigmatic boundaries. How many entries are justified for hound? COD has two - one for the noun and one for the verb. The noun and the verb are thus treated as homonyms
Chamber's Dictionary combines them under one head -word, i.e. it takes them as variants of the same word.
A descriptive dictionary dealing with the current usage has to face its own specific problems. It has to apply a structural point of view and give precedence to the most important meanings. But how is the most important meaning determined upon? So far each compiler was guided by his own personal preference.
There is also lexicographic problem of definitions in a unnilingual dictionary. The explanation of the meaning may be achieved by a group of synonyms which together give a fairly general idea; but one synonym is never sufficient for the purpose because no absolute synonyms exist. Besides, if synonyms are the only type of explanation used, the reader will be placed in a vicious circle of synonymic references, with not a single word actually explained. Definitions serve the purpose much better. These are of two main types. If they are only concerned with things for which words are names, they are termed encyclopedic. The meaning of the word may be also explained by examples, i.e. contextually. The term and the definition are here used.
As conclusion we can say that the most important problems in lexicology are the selection of words, the arrangement of the vocabulary entry.
Do'stlaringiz bilan baham: |
