Learner's dictionaries: their characteristics and problems of their compilation

1. Лексикология английского языка: учебник для ин-тов и фак-тов иностр. яз. / Р.З. Гинзбург [и др.]; под общ. ред. Р.З. Гинзбург. — 2-е изд., испр. и доп. — М.: Высш. школа, 1979. — С. 226—233.

2. Лещева, Л.М. Слова в английском языке. Курс лексикологии современного английского языка: учебник для студ. фак-в и отдел. английского языка (на англ. яз.) / Л.М. Лещева. — Минск: Академия управления при Президенте Республики Беларусь, 2001. — С. 150—153.

Key terms: lexicography, dictionary, linguistic dictionary, encyclopedic dictionary, thesaurus, general dictionary, restricted dictionary, explanatory dictionary, specialized dictionary.

Compulsory tasks and exercises:

1. Consider your answers to the following questions:

1. How do you estimate the role of lexicography among linguistic disciplines?

2. What are the relations between lexicography and lexicology?

3. How do different linguists understand the subject matter of lexicography?

4. What are the main problems of lexicography?

5. What lexicological problems have a direct influence on the work of a lexicographer?

6. What is the role of lexicography in language teaching and language learning?

7. What are the main types of dictionaries?

8. What information do encyclopedic dictionaries include?

9. What is the difference between linguistic and encyclopedic dictionaries?

10. By what criteria can linguistic dictionaries be classified?

11. What specialized dictionaries do you know?

12. What are the characteristic features of learner's dictionaries?

13. How is one to know what plan has been followed by the dictionary compilers in selecting the words, arranging the meanings, etc.?

14. What is the role of the preface?

15. How is the semantic structure of the lexicon reflected in dictionaries?

16. Is thematic ordering an alternative to alphabetical ordering in word books?

17. What advances, if any, have been made in modern dictionaries, especially the learner's dictionaries?

18. Why do students need guidance in the use of dictionaries?

2. Read the following text and answer the questions:

1. How do different lexicographers solve the problem of arranging the meanings of words?

2. How is one to know what plan has been followed in arranging the meanings by the dictionary he consults?

3. What does the author consider the most fruitful way to approach the meanings? How does he prove his point?

4. What information does the entry anecdote in the College Edition of Webster's New World Dictionary contain?

5. What new features are to be found in the entry anecdote from Webster's New International Dictionary, Second Edition?

6. What is of interest in the treatment of the same word by the Century Dictionary?

7. What are the peculiarities of the Oxford English Dictionary entry?

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