【Chapter10】

1. Whyisthestudyofthedictionarynecessaryinlexicology?

Lexicologyiscloselyrelatedtodictionaries,becauselexicologyismainlyconcernedwiththeform,meaning,usageandoriginsofwordsandtheirequivalentsanddictionarieslisttheseunitsandprovidedataandinformationaboutthem.Theybothdealwithvocabularyofalanguage.Dictionariesarecompiledonthebasisoftheresearchresultsoflexicologyandlexicologymakesuseofthematerialsprovidedindictionariesinfacilitatingtheresearch．Therefore,theyaremutuallybeneficial．

2. Whatarethecharacteristicsofpedagogicalorlearner’sdictionaries?

Pedagogicalorlearner’sdictionariesarecompiledforforeignlearnersofEnglish.Apartfromthedefinition,pronunciationandspellingofwords,thesedictionariesprovideavarietyofotherusefulinformationfortheconvenienceoflanguagelearners,suchasgrammaticalinformation,usagenotesandlanguagenotes,etymologicalinformation,andevensupplementarymatterlikeabbreviations,names,weightsandmeasures,irregularverbs,word-formationelements,etc.

3. WhatarethemajordifferencesbetweenBritishandAmericandictionaries?

AmericandictionariescontainmoreencyclopedicinformationinthemainbodythantheBritishandalotofBritishusages.Britishdictionaries,ontheotherhand,includealotmoregrammarinformationaswellasusageexamplesthantheAmericanones.

Howisanencyclopedicdictionarydifferentfromanencyclopedia?

Encyclopedicdictionarieshavethecharacteristicsofbothlinguisticdictionariesandencyclopedia.Insuchdictionariesonecanfindgeneralinformationasinalinguisticdictionaryandlimitedencyclopedicinformationaswell.Anencyclopediaisnotconcernedwiththelanguageproperbutprovidesencyclopedicinformationconcerningeachheadword.Therethereadercannotfindpronunciationormeaningsorusagesbutotherworldinformation.

Whyaredeskdictionariesmostpopularoftheunabridged,deskandpocket dictionaries?

Unabridgeddictionariesaretoobiginsize,listingtoomanywordsandtoomuchinformationthanordinaryreadersmayneed,andthismakesthedictionarydifficulttouseandlesshelpfulandconvenient.Pocketdictionaries,however,aretoosmall,containingfewerwordsandlessinformation,particularlyusageexamples,thanwhatthegeneralreadersneed.Deskdictionariesaremediuminsize,neithertoobignortoosmall,coveringwordsandinformationsufficientforthegeneralpublic.Thatiswhytheyarethemostpopulardictionaries.

6. Doyouthinkgeneraldictionariesarealwaysbetterthanspecializedones?

No.Forgeneraluseandordinaryreaders,generaldictionariesaregoodenoughbecausetheyprovideenoughwordsandinformationforthereaders.Formoredetailedinformationandforspecialreaderssuchasresearchersandspecialists,specializeddictionariesmaybemoreinformativeandmoresatisfyingbecausespecializeddictionariesprovidemuchmoreinformationinaparticularfieldwhichcannotbefoundingeneraldictionaries.

7. Whichdoyoufavour,abilingualoramonolingualdictionary?Giveyourreasons.

(Differentpeoplemayhavedifferentanswers.Hereisonetypeofanswer.)Ifavourabilingualdictionarywithdefinitionsintwolanguages,becausethemainentriesaredefinedorexplainedinthesamelanguagewithtranslations,IcanrefertotheChineseequivalentsifIdonotquiteunderstandthemeaningsofthenewwordsdefinedinEnglish.

8. Whatfactorsshouldbetakenintoconsiderationinchoosingadictionary?

Generallyspeaking,weshouldconsiderwhetherthedictionaryismonolingualorbilingual,generalorspecialized,BritishorAmerican,earlyeditionorlateeditionaswellastheircontentinaccordancewithourownneeds.

9. Whattypeofinformationdoyoufindmosthelpfulinthedictionarybesidesthemeaning?

(Answersmayvarypersonally.Hereisonetypeofanswer.)TheinformationI findmosthelpfulinthedictionarybesidesthemeaningisgrammarinformation andusageandlanguagenoteswhichareconcernedwithactuallanguageuse.

Thisiswhereforeignlearnersmayfindmostproblems,andthedictionaryprovidessolutionstotheanticipatedproblemsthatlearnersandteachersfrequentlymeetwith.

10. Comparetwodeskdictionariesandlisttheirrespectiveusagelabels.Whatdoyouthinkofthem?Inwhatwayaretheyuseful?

(Opentovariousanswers.)

11. WhatarethefeaturesOALD,LDCE,CCEDshareincommonandwhattheuniquefeaturesofeach?

Allthethreedictionariesarepedagogicaldictionaries,i.e.intendedforlearnersandteachersoftheEnglishlanguage.Accordingly,theyallcontainrichgrammarinformationandexamplescollectedfromactualuseoflanguage.Buttheyalsodifferfromoneanotherinsomeaspects.OALDandLDCEdefinewordsinsinglewordsandphraseswhileCCEDinfullsentences;OALDandLDCEfollowthetraditionofarranginggrammarinformationrightbeforeeachdefinitionwhereasCCEDputssuchinformationintheextracolumnarrangedparalleltoeachdefinition(note:theneweditionsfollowOALDandLDCE’sexample).However,theyeachhavesomeuniquefeaturestheirown:

OALD: elaborateverbpatterns;derivedwords,idiomsarrangedunderthesameheadword;abundantsupplementarymatter,etc.

LDCE: cleargrammarcodes;usageandlanguagenotes;controlledvocabularyofdefinition,etc.

CCED: (neweditions)frequencymarker;pragmaticinformation,etc.

12. Whatinformationdoyoufindinyourdictionaryonthespellingofthefollowingpairsofwords?Arethespellingsinterchangeable?Whichdoyouprefer?

draft(AmE)—draught(BrE)

gaol(BrE)—jail(AmE)

aesthetic(BrE)—esthetic(AmE)

check(AmE)—cheque(BrE)

travel(AmE)—travell(BrE)

catalog(AmE)—catalogue(BrE)

MostpeopleprobablypreferAmericanspellingformsbecausetheseformsareclosertothepronunciationofthewordsandeasiertoremember.

13. WhatdosubwayandpublicschoolmeaninBritishEnglishandAmericanEnglishrespectively?

subway(AmE)=underground/tube(BrE)

subway(BrE):undergroundpassagewayacrossaroad

publicschool(AmE)=privateschool(BrEesp.boardingschool)

14. FindinLDCEthedifferencebetweenlaugh,guffaw,chuckle,giggle,titter,snigger.

Whenyoulaughyouproducesoundswiththevoicewhilesmiling.Toguffaw(rare)means“tolaughloudly”andtochucklemeans“tolaughquietlywithpleasureorsatisfaction”.Togiggle(usedespeciallyaboutyounggirls)istolaughrepeatedlyinanuncontrolledway.Totitteristogigglequietlyinanervousorsillyway.Ifyoulaughquietlyinanunpleasantandrudeway,yousnigger(AmEsnicker).Allthesewordscanbeusedbothasverbsandasnouns.

(TheinformationcanbefoundinLongmanDictionaryofContemporaryEnglishNewEdition1987,reprintedalmostyearly,p590.)

15. Whatisthefrequencyofeachofthesynonyms:affluent,rich,wealthy?Aretheyinterchangeable?Whyorwhynot?

TheinformationcanbefoundinCollinsCOBUILDEnglishDictionary(1995 Britain;2000上海外語(yǔ)教育出版社)。

rich: ◆◆◆◆

=belongingto1200words

wealthy: ◆◆

=belongingto3200words

affluent: ◆

=belongingto8100words

Thesewordscannotbeusedinterchangeablybecausetheydifferinintensityof meaning,inrangeofmeaningandinformality.Generallythehigherthe frequencyofuse,themorecommonitis.Comparatively,affluentisthemost formal,strongestandmostinfrequently-usedword.

16. LookuptheworddullinCCEDtofindouthowmanymeanings,synonyms,andantonymsareprovided.

dullhas9meanings;5synonyms;4antonyms;6superordinates(CCED1987, p439)

Whatise-dictionary?

E-dictionariesareelectronicdictionaries,whichincludesoftwaredictionaries(CD-ROM),websitedictionariesandsmartphonedictionaries.

Whatistheuseofsoftwaredictionaries?

Softwaredictionariesareelectronicversionsofdictionarieswhichcanbe installedintotheusers’computerdesktops,smartphonesortabletsetc.Such dictionarieshavepowerfulsearchfunctionswhichallowinstantaccessto definition,illustratingexamples,usagenotesandlabels,collocationandeven pronunciationattheclickofamouse.

Whatarethemeritsanddemeritsofwebsitedictionaries?

Websitedictionariesareinmanycasessoftwaredictionariesinstalledatcertain websites.Thesedictionariesworkonwebplatformsandhaveeasyaccessandof coursearefriendlyinuse.Theynaturallyhaveallthecharacteristicsofsoftware dictionaries.What’smore,manysuchdictionariesareopen-endedandallow userstoaddwordsanddefinitions,whichfollowthetimescloselyinrecording newlanguagephenomena,newmeaningsandnewusages.Butsincethesenew meanings,definitionsandnewusagesarefreelyaddedandnoteditedand authorizedbyspecialists,theymaynotbedependable.Thesemightbring pr