Words--meaning-and-vocabulary8

Words,meaningandvocabulary:AnintroductiontomodernEnglishlexicology8WordsindictionariesNodictionaryistotallycomprehensive,inthesensethatitcontainsallthewordsinthelanguage.Th20-volumesecondeditionoftheOxfordEnglishDictionary,withits291,500entries(Breg1993:195),needstobereviewed.EachneweditionhastomakeaselectionfromthewordsofcurrentEnglishanddecidewhichtoincludeandwhichtoleaveout.RepositoriesofwordsInformationaboutwordsHowdodictionariesdecide?MeaningDictionariesandvocabularyLexicologyandLexicography8.1RepositoriesofwordsDictionariesclassifiedbypurposeandsizeHowmanywordsSelectionofvocabularyArrangementofvocabulary8.1.1DictionariesclassifiedbypurposeandsizeThreemajorcategoriesofEnglishdictionariesaccordingtopurposeA.general-purposedictionaries,aimedatnativespeakersofthelanguage;B.children’sdictionaries,aimedatthoseacquiringEnglishastheirfirstlanguageorthroughEnglish-mediumeducation;C.learner’sdictionaries,aimedatthoselearningEnglishasasecondorforeignlanguage,usuallyinadolescenceoradulthood.General-purposedictionariescomeinthreemainsizes:A.desk-size(equivalenttocollegedictionariesintheUSA),e.g.CollinsEnglishDictionary(CED),LongmanDictionaryofEnglishLanguage(LDEL),theOxfordDictionaryofEnglish;B.concise-size,e.g.theConciseOxfordEnglishDictionary(COD),CollinsConciseEnglishdictionary,LongmanConciseEnglishDictionary;C.pocket-size,e.g.thePocketOxfordDictionary,etc.8.1.2HowmanywordsItisdifficulttoascertainexactlyhowmany‘words’adictionarycontains,becausedictionariescounttheircontentsindifferentwaysandwillclearlywishtomaximizeanycount(Jackson1998).Twofactorsconcerning‘headwords’:A.‘Headwords’mayincludethefollowinginmoderndictionaries:abbreviations,prefixes,suffixes,andcombiningforms(mal-,mancy);opencompounds;andencyclopedicentries,i.e.namesofpeopleandplaces.B.Dictionariesdifferintheirpolicyonmultipleentrieswhereawordbelongstomorethanonewordclass;forexample,middlemaybeusedasanadjective,anounandaverb,andsomedictionaries(e.g.LDEL1991)havethreeheadwordsmiddle.Anotherwayofcountingthecontentsofdictionariesistoexpressthemintermsofthenumberof‘definitions’or‘meanings’.e.g.monkeyhasfivenumberedmeaningsinLDEL(1991),butithasteninCollinsElectronicDictionary(1992)Thepreferredwayofexpressingthequantificationofadictionary’scontentsisintermsof‘references’.Itis‘asystemdesignedtomaximizethenumberofentriesonecanclaim’(Landau1989:84).…Infact,virtuallyanythinginaboldtypefaceiscountedasa‘reference’.Thedesk-sizeCED(1994)claimstocontain180,000references;itsconciseequivalentclaims125,000references;anditscompactclaims68,000references.8.1.3SelectionofvocabularyThe‘commoncore’ofthevocabularyisoflittleinterested.Whatisofmoreinterestistheselectionpolicyofadictionarybeyondthecommoncore.Alldictionariesnowadayswouldclaimtopayparticularattentiontothevocabularyofscienceandtechnology.Otherareasthatoftenreceivespecialmentionare:informationtechnology,theenvironment,businessandfinance,medicine,sport,andpopularculture.TheeleventheditionoftheCOD(theConciseOxfordEnglishDictionary)claimstohaveincludedsome900newwordsandsenses,including:congestioncharge,cybercrime,gangmaster(工头),nanobot(超微型机械人装置),skymarshal(空中警官),stealthtax(隐形税),wiggleroom(回旋余地).8.1.4ArrangementofvocabularyDictionaryorder=alphabeticalorderDictionariesvaryintheirnestingpolicies.Mostdictionarieswillnestor‘runon’)wordsderivedfromaheadwordbysuffixation.E.g.folksinessisarun-onunderfolksyinCOD9,butfolksyhasheadwordstatus,separatefromitsrootfolk.Nestingpolicydiffersmostinthetreatmentofcompoundwords.compoundsmaybespelteithersolid((landmark)orhyphenated(land-law)oropen(landmass)Twoextremes:a.nestanycompoundsb.accordthemallheadwordstatusAnintermediatealternative:accordsheadwordstatustosolidcompounds,butnestshyphenatedandopencompoundsAnalternativetoanalphabeticallyarrangeddictionaryisonearrangedthematicallyorbylexicalfield.Exercise:8/1Usingadeskorconcisesizegeneral-purposedictionary,readcarefullytheentriesforthefollowingwords:face,narrow-minded,soap,walleye.Noteforeachitem:a.howmanyentries(headwords)yourdictionaryhas;b.whetheryourdictionaryusesnesting(run0ons),andforwhichkindsofitem;c.howyourdictionarytreatscompoundwords.8.2InformationaboutwordsGeneral-purposedictionariesDickHudson(1988)providesin‘TheLingusiticFoundationsforLexicalResearchandDictionaryDesign’achecklistof‘typesoflexicalfact’undereightheadings:1)Phonology:thepronunciationofawordandvariants.2)Morphology:aword’smorphemecomposition,andanyirregularinflections.3)Syntax:thewordclassandparticularstructuresawordmayenter.4)Semantics:the‘meanings’ofawordandthesemanticstructuresitmayenterContext:restrictionsonsocialcontextandstyleinwhichawordmaybeused.Spelling:thenormalandanyvariantspellingsofawordEtymology:theoriginandhistoryofawordUsage:frequencyofuse,whenacquired,anytaboos.5)Context:restrictionsonsocialcontextandstyleinwhichawordmaybeused.6)Spelling:thenormalandanyvariantspellingsofaword7)Etymology:theoriginandhistoryofaword8)Usage:frequencyofuse,whenacquired,anytaboos.8.2.1Phonology8.2.2Morphology8.2.3SyntaxExercise8/2: