Branches of linguistics. Synchronic vs diachronic approaches to the language study. Lexicology – ‘the science of the word’

A bilingual (translation) dictionary is a word-book containing vocabulary items in one language and their equivalents in another language, e.g. N. I. Balla Modern English-Ukrainian Dictionary.
A polyglot (multilingual) dictionary is dictionary in which information is given in several languages (more than two), e.g. ABBYY Lingvo 10 багатомовна електронна версія.
A general dictionary represents vocabulary as a whole. Some of these dictionaries may have very specific aims and still be considered general due to their coverage. They include:
-a pronouncing dictionary is a dictionary recording contemporary pronunciation, e.g. Jones D. Everyman’s English Pronouncing Dictionary;
-a rhyming dictionary is a list of words in which headwords are arranged in alphabetical order starting with their final letters, e.g. Walker’s Rhyming Dictionary of the English Language;
-a frequency dictionary is a list of words, each followed by a record of its frequency of occurrence in one or several sets of reading matter;
-a dictionary of spelling records contemporary spelling, e.g. Maxwell C. The Pengamon Oxford Dictionary of Perfect Spelling;
-a pictorial dictionary contains graphic illustrations to all topics, e.g. The Oxford-Duden Pictorial English Dictionary.
A special dictionary provides information limited to one particular linguistic aspect. Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending on whether the words are chosen according to:
-the sphere of human activity in which they are used (linguistic dictionary, medical dictionary);
-the type of the units (phraseological dictionary, dictionary of abbreviations);
-the relationships existing between them (dictionary of synonyms and antonyms).
A concordance (O.Fr. concordance (12c.) ‘agreement, harmony’) is a list of all the words which are used in a particular book or in the works of a particular author, together with the contexts in which each word occurs, e.g. The Concordance of the Bible, The Concordance to Shakespeare.
One and the same dictionary can be described as general and special, e.g. a pronouncing dictionary.
45. Important milestones in the history of British and American lexicography.