Chapter 1:
By: Ms. Ola Al-arjani
Basic concepts and terms
Introduction
 What
is a dictionary?
 What
are the different types of dictionaries?
 What
are the elements of a dictionary?

What are the different kinds of information
dictionaries provide?
What is a dictionary?

A dictionary is a book used as a
reference source which contains lists of
words arranged alphabetically or
thematically, with explanations of their
meanings (semantic information in
monolingual dictionaries) or with their
equivalents (in bi-, tri-, or multilingual
dictionaries).
They may also include more
information related to:
 orthography

(spelling, alternate spellings)
morphology (syllabification, word inflections,
derivative forms, morphological paradigm)

phonology (pronunciation, stress pattern)

etymology (word history and origin)
They may also include more
information related to:

syntax (part of speech, verb type, noun
type, etc)

pragmatics (usage, frequency of use,
style, context)
 semantic
information (related words such
as synonyms, antonyms).
A dictionary may variously be
referred to as:
 Word
book
 Lexicon
 Thesaurus
 Vocabulary
 Glossary
 Concordance.
 However,
each one of these is slightly
different in scope. For example, a
thesaurus (also from Latin, and which
means a treasury or a storehouse)
presents synonyms and antonyms; a
glossary usually gives a list of terms
confined to a particular domain of
knowledge with definitions.
What distinguishes a dictionary from
these different types is that none of
them provides all the different kinds
of linguistic information a dictionary
provides.
.
Types of dictionaries:
 Dictionaries
vary in coverage, size, and
scope. They can be classified on the basis
of different criteria. Knowing the types of
dictionaries available is very important to
decide which ones to buy or use. The
following criteria are used to classify
dictionaries:
1) Number of languages:
 Monolingual
dictionaries are written in
one language only. Each word is followed
by its meaning or various meanings and
probably other information related to
pronunciation, grammar, or word history.
 Bilingual
dictionaries are written in two
languages. Each word is followed by its
equivalent or possible equivalents in
another language. Bilingual dictionaries
could be uni- or mono-directional; that is,
they go in one direction only, from English
to Arabic or vise versa.
 bidirectional;
that is, the dictionary is
divided into two parts; the first part is from
Language 1 to Language 2, and the
second one is from Language 2 to
Language 1.
Trilingual
dictionaries are
written in three languages.
Multilingual
language are
written in more than two
languages.
2) Age of the users:
 School
dictionaries are intended for
school students and they are
graded according to children's
age: elementary, middle, and high
school students.

Adult dictionaries, on the other
hand, are intended for adults and
these are the ones that translators
use and they include a variety of
dictionary types such as college
dictionaries, current language
dictionaries.
3) Size of the dictionary:
 This
has to do with how fully a
dictionary covers the lexicon of a
particular language. The number of
words is a measure of its relative size
compared with other dictionaries in
the same language. According to
this criteria, dictionaries can be
classified into the following.
a) Unabridged dictionaries
 Unabridged
dictionaries which are
believed to include all the words of the
English language (400,000 to 600,000
words).
 Examples: Webster's Third New
International Dictionary (NID3), and
Oxford English dictionary (OED) which has
20 volumes. Semi- unabridged dictionaries
are those which include about 315,000
words such as the Random House
Dictionary.
b) College dictionaries

College dictionaries include from 150,000
to 170,000 words (almost 200,000 words).
 Examples:
The American Heritage
Dictionary of the English Language, The
Random House College Dictionary,
Webster's New World Dictionary of
American English. They are called college
dictionaries because they are often used
by college students.
c) Desk dictionaries
Desk dictionaries include from 60,000 to
100,000 words.
 Examples: The American heritage
dictionary, Merriam-Webster's Collegiate
Dictionary. They are called desk
dictionaries because they are often kept
on desks for frequent reference. College
and desk dictionaries are often abridged
versions of larger dictionaries.
 e.g. Concise Oxford Dictionary, Longman
Concise English Dictionary.

d) Pocket size dictionaries
 Pocket
size dictionaries, which
include from 40,000 to 60,000 words;
 e.g.
Pocket Oxford Dictionary.
4) Scope of coverage by subject:
 Subject-field
dictionaries are confined to
a special subject, such as law or
medicine.
 Special-purpose dictionaries are limited
to one aspect of language: collocations,
slang, pronunciation, etymology,
synonyms, usage, offensive and taboo
words, spelling, dialect, etc.
A functional classification of dictionaries:
For the purpose of the present course,
which ultimately aims at training students to use
dictionaries as professional translators, we will
adopt the following classification that is based
on the functions of dictionaries.
Dictionaries are divided into two types:
traditional and electronic dictionaries.
I. Traditional (or regular) dictionaries:
 Traditional
dictionaries are printed
dictionaries (paper /print
dictionaries). They are divided into
four main categories
Traditional (or regular) dictionaries
are divided into four main
categories:
Linguistic
visual
 picture
encyclopedic dictionaries.

1) Linguistic dictionaries
 Linguistic
dictionaries are dictionaries that
are concerned with words and provide
linguistic information and may contain
some pictures or illustrations. They are
further divided into four types: general,
learner, children, and specialized
dictionaries.
 a)
General-purpose dictionaries deal with
the common words of a language and are
compiled by language experts. They may
be mono- or bilingual.
 They may be explanatory and help readers
to understand a word meaning, its
pronunciation, spelling, usage, etc.
 They may be translation dictionaries
providing word equivalents. Explanatory
and translation dictionaries may be
unabridged, college, desk, concise, or
pocket dictionaries.
 General-purpose
dictionaries could also
be production dictionaries (alternatively
called activators) which are very useful in
writing; they guide you as to which words
or expressions to use to express similar or
different ideas. They focus on use or
meaning in context and on oral usage,
rather than explaining their meanings.
 The first production dictionary is:
Longman Language Activator: The
World's First Production Dictionary (1993),
Longman Essential Activator
(intermediate level).
 b)
Learners' dictionaries are aimed at
students learning a language.

Examples: Oxford Advanced Learner's
Dictionary, Collins Cobuild English
Dictionary, Macmillan English Dictionary
for Advanced Learners
 c)
Children dictionaries are very
simplified versions specifically
written for children.
 d)
Specialized dictionaries are divided
into two types: subject field dictionaries
and special purpose dictionaries.
 Subject field dictionaries are limited to the
vocabulary of specific fields of knowledge
such as medicine, law, religion, business
and literature, military affairs and politics,
etc.
Special-purpose dictionaries are limited
to one aspect of language:
collocations, slang, pronunciation,
etymology, synonyms, usage, offensive
and taboo words, spelling, dialect, etc.
2) Visual dictionaries
 Visual
dictionaries tend to be complete
dictionaries and rely on illustrations and
photos or pictures.
 e.g. Merriam-Webster's Visual Dictionary
Online
3) Picture dictionaries
 Picture
dictionaries are often organized
by topic instead of being an alphabetic
list of words. They include only a small
corpus of words because they are often
intended for children.
 They may be mono-, bi-, or multilingual.
4)
Encyclopedic dictionaries
Encyclopedic dictionaries has
encyclopedic features; their concern
is not the words of a language but
rather with facts about things, objects,
or people;
 e.g. The Hutchinson Concise
Encyclopedic Dictionary.

II. Electronic dictionaries:
 An
electronic dictionary is an electronic
reference resource that contains a library
of words and their meanings, spellings,
and etymologies
Electronic dictionaries can be:




1) portable (or handheld), battery-operated
devices
2) dictionary programs (on CDs) , or software
running on PDAs or computers and which allow
words or phrases to be input and translated
3) web based dictionaries accessible via the
internet. Electronic dictionaries are more
convenient than paper dictionaries and much
faster to search.
Examples of some online dictionaries: AskOxford
Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current
English, Cambridge Dictionaries Online
EXERCISE:
What type should you buy or
use?



Dictionaries are used by native speakers,
language learners, or translators. Native
speakers use dictionaries to help them in
writing or in understanding unfamiliar words or
phrases.
For this purpose they use adult (unabridged
or college) monolingual dictionaries.
Language learners need learners'
monolingual dictionaries, whether
elementary, intermediate, or advanced
dictionaries depending on their level of
language proficiency.
 Translators,
on the other hand, need both
mono- and bilingual dictionaries. They are
advised to choose the most recent
editions of college or unabridged
dictionaries, as the other types of
dictionaries are limited in their vocabulary
coverage.
 They are also advised to have different
types of specialized dictionaries of: idioms,
collocations, phrasal verbs, usage,
specialized terminology (religious, legal,
political, medical, literary, military,
psychological, scientific, etc).
Elements of dictionaries:
The
elements of any dictionary
can be discussed in terms of
two levels: the macrostructure
and microstructure.
 The
macrostructure is concerned with
dictionary features such as the front
matter, the end or back matter, entry
organization.
 The
microstructure is limited to the
structure of entries and the kinds of
information they provide. We will discuss
these two levels in detail in the following
chapter on general monolingual
dictionaries.
Thank you!