Dictionaries and their types

Dictionaries and their types

Introduction

1. Formation of English lexicography. Periodization of English lexicography.
2. Types of English dictionaries and parameters of their classifications
3. Dictionary types
4. Dictionary classification problem
5. Detailed classification of special dictionaries
Conclusion
Literature

1. FORMATION OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE LEXICOGRAPHY
A dictionary is a collection of words organized in a certain way, provided with comments that describe the features of their structure and / or functioning.
Dictionaries in the form to which we are accustomed are of a relatively late origin. They appeared in the period following the invention and spread of printing in Europe in the middle of the 15th century. However, the predecessors of modern dictionaries appeared in ancient times. When studying manuscripts written in other languages, mostly ancient ones, people came across new and unusual words, especially often in the writings of the Greek and Latin classics. A scientist or just a scribe, having determined the meaning of an unfamiliar word, wrote a translation of this word in his native language between the lines or, most often, in the margins of the manuscript. Such a litter was called a gloss (from the Greek glossa "language, word").
Some experts believe that lexicography is not just a technique, not just a practical activity in compiling dictionaries, and not even an art, but an independent scientific discipline that has its own subject of study, its scientific and methodological principles, its own theoretical problems, its place among others. language sciences.
For the first time, this point of view on lexicography was clearly expressed by the famous Soviet linguist Academician L.V. Shcherba. In the preface to the Russian-French Dictionary (1936), he wrote: “I consider it extremely wrong that our qualified linguists have a disdainful attitude towards dictionary work, thanks to which almost none of them have ever done it (in the old days it was done for pennies by random amateurs , who had absolutely no special training) and thanks to which she received such an absurd name "compilation" of dictionaries. Indeed, our linguists, and even more so our "compilers" of dictionaries overlooked that this work should have a scientific character and in no way consist in a mechanical comparison of some ready-made elements".
Developing the provisions put forward in 1936, L.V. Shcherba published an article in 1940 (which later became widely known abroad), in which he began to develop the main theoretical questions of lexicography using a large amount of factual material. The researcher planned to write several articles (etudes, as he called them) on the general theory of lexicography, in which he intended to discuss such important problems as the main types of dictionaries, the nature of the word, the meaning and use of the word, the construction of a dictionary entry in connection with semantic, grammatical and stylistic analysis of the word, etc. However, premature death prevented the implementation of this plan. L.V. Shcherba wrote only the first sketch, "Basic Types of Dictionaries", which began with the following well-known now statement: "One of the first questions of lexicography is, of course, the question of different types of dictionaries. It is based on a number of theoretical oppositions, which need to be opened." Since then, the thesis that lexicography is not only the practice of compiling dictionaries, but also a theoretical scientific discipline, has firmly become one of the starting points of the Russian lexicographic school.
What is science in general? What are its most important features? The main and most important features of science, any scientific discipline are the following:
the presence of a knowledge system;
The need for their objective research.
These two essential features are interconnected, closely intertwined, because only then can a system of knowledge adequate to reality be built when this reality is objectively studied. As applied to lexicography, it looks like this.
If we accept the thesis that lexicography is an art, then the doors open to a subjective understanding of the tasks and subject of lexicography, techniques and methods of its study, and a subjective solution of its problems. It is unlikely that such an approach will be fruitful and certainly not scientifically objective. If we accept the thesis that lexicography is just a technique for compiling dictionaries, a kind of purely practical activity, then we will have to transfer to other sciences (lexicology, semantics, stylistics, etymology, etc.) the solution of all theoretical issues, and lexicography will have to use only ready-made solutions of these sciences. It is unlikely that this will be fruitful, because other sciences of the language are not familiar enough with the state of affairs in lexicography. Consequently, they will solve the problems of lexicography from their own positions, from their own points of view, and therefore it will be detrimental to lexicography. Thus, the thesis that lexicography is a science is the only correct and most fruitful one. From this it follows that lexicography as a science has its own subject of study, its own special research methods, its structure, its place among other linguistic disciplines.
Like any science, lexicography has two sides: scientific-theoretical and practical-applied. The first one (theoretical lexicography) poses general theoretical problems and works on their solution. The second (practical lexicography) deals directly with the compilation of dictionaries of various types based on theoretical solutions to the main problems. Of course, the division of lexicography into two parts is highly arbitrary. These two aspects of lexicography always go together, they are interconnected: a theoretical lexicographer cannot engage in naked theorizing without working on specific material, without participating in some kind of practical lexicographic work; and, conversely, no practical lexicographer can immerse himself only in his purely empirical work, without knowing the latest problems of lexicography as a science. Nevertheless, the fundamental distinction between the two sides of lexicography is extremely important.
Being part of the science of language, lexicography is closely related to such linguistic disciplines as lexicology, semantics, stylistics, etymology, phonology, etc. With these disciplines, lexicography has a common problem. Sometimes she uses the results of their research, and often ahead of them in solving some problems. Thus, gradually, step by step, lexicography takes shape as an independent linguistic discipline, becoming equal among other linguistic sciences.
Gradually, with the ubiquity of the Latin language in the medieval European civilization, due to the need to read scientific, church and other books in this language, the compilers of ancient glossaries faced a more responsible task. It became necessary not only to explain certain difficult Latin words in manuscripts, but to give English translations to as many Latin words as possible. Certain lexicographic techniques developed in compiling glossaries prepared the next stage in the development of vocabulary in England - the compilation of more deeply thought out and skillfully executed Latin-English and Anglo-Latin glossaries.
The main features of the first lexicographic publications compared to glossaries were, firstly, complete independence, since when compiling a dictionary, the lexicographer made a selection from many texts and focused on the word as a unit of language, not speech. Second, the pairs of equivalents are organized alphabetically.
In the middle of the XV century appears " Medulla Gramatice "- the first Latin-English dictionary, which later became the source for" Ortus Vocabulorum ". In the history of English lexicography" Ortus Vocabulorum is famous for being the first printed dictionary.
A big event is the publication in 1440 of the dictionary " Promptorium Parvulorum "-" Pantry (of words) for children. "It is actually a prototype of modern bilingual dictionaries. It already notes the polysemy of words, which distinguishes this dictionary from previous glossaries.
As noted by V.G. So, the fact of the existence of early educational lexicography is confirmed by the fact that even the names of many dictionaries contain an indication of their educational orientation, intended for students. French-Latin dictionaries published in France were called " Commentarius puerorum ""Explanations for youth", " Dictionariolum puerorum "" A small dictionary for youth", " Seminarium et planetarium fructiferarum "A hotbed (of knowledge) for those who can bear fruit."
During the XV-XVI centuries. translated (bilingual and multilingual) dictionaries were published, which were initially close to bilingual glossaries. They were widely used in schools as reference books on the vocabulary of English and Latin.
The next stage in the development of English lexicography is characterized by the fact that the Latin language - as the language of international communication in Western Europe - begins to lose its influence. Translation dictionaries of new Western European languages appear. The Renaissance, the intensive growth of trade, economic and cultural ties between countries - all this required the creation of translation dictionaries of new European languages.
Palsgrave 's Anglo-French Dictionary , published in 1530, was one of the first such dictionaries. It is an appendix to the French textbook, which indicates its educational orientation.
Then published series others dictionaries : J. Baret " Alvearic or Triple Dictionary, English, Latin, French" (1573), R. Percyvall "Bibliotheca Hispanica " (1591), C Hollyband "A Dictionary of the French and English Tongues" (1593), J. Florio "Dictionary in Italian and English or World of Words" (1598), R. Cotgrave "A Dictionary of the French and English Tongues" ( 1611 ) and others _
Thus, in the XVI century. The English lexicographic tradition of compiling bilingual and multilingual dictionaries was aimed at helping the reader master a foreign language.
By the end of the XVI - beginning of the XVII centuries. an urgent need began to be felt in explaining some part of the English words themselves, the so-called difficult words ( hard words ). The difficult words of that time are , as L.P. emphasizes. Stupin, firstly, numerous borrowings from Latin and Greek into English, especially into written language; secondly, obsolete Anglo-Saxon words, the use of which became extremely fashionable for writers, poets and scientists of that time; and, thirdly, numerous borrowings from new Western European languages.
The average reader, who did not have sufficient education, could not cope with such a huge flow of borrowings without the help of a special reference book.
Dictionaries of difficult words began to appear. A distinctive feature of such dictionaries was that not all were interpreted there, but only difficult, incomprehensible words for the average reader. Simple everyday words, as a rule, were not included in these reference books. For the first time, neologisms began to be included in the dictionaries of difficult words. In the future, the development of dictionaries of new words went along the line of accumulating the language experience of national lexicography, which always reflected the latest achievements of linguistic science.
Later, by combining glosses into one list, a list of words was created with their translation into another language, called a glossary.