PACE WORK (English) 26/05

Тема: Словник

Основна частина.

The present section focuses on a general dictionary.

A dictionary is structured at three levels below the level of the dictionary as a whole:

The dictionary as a whole has a framing structure which comprises a set of main sections that correspond to the chapters of a book.

A subset of these sections – mostly only one – comprises an entry list. The structure of each of these sections is a macrostructure (or the macrostructure of the dictionary).

Each of the entries in a macrostructure has an internal structure of its own, which is the microstructure of the entries of that list (thus, if the dictionary contains only one word list, the microstructure of the dictionary).

                 1.1. Table of contents

The table of contents of a dictionary contains the main sections as enumerated in the schema above and discussed here below.

1.2. Preface

The preface of a dictionary provides at least the following kinds of information:

the purpose of the dictionary,

the intended user-group,

the data that the dictionary is based on and the limitations following from it,

modifications of earlier editions.

The metalexicographic notes (a - c) may as well be taken out of the preface and put into a separate section, the introduction.

1.3. Instructions

The user's guide deals with the following topics:

the macrostructure,

the principles of lemmatization and the selection of lemmas,

the microstructure and each of its components.

The manner in which this information is presented is naturally tuned to the user group envisaged. Hints for colleagues of the same specialty may be terse; explanations for laymen will make less presuppositions.

1.4. Grammatical information

As explained elsewhere, a grammar and a dictionary together account for the significative system of a language. Naturally, often only one is produced without the other. Just as many grammars contain a glossary of the vocabulary of the language as an appendix, many dictionaries that lack a grammar companion contain a grammar sketch as a section.

The section on grammatical information may be an entire grammar in a nutshell, which is sometimes called a dictionary grammar. For well-described languages, it more customarily is restricted to a set of inflection paradigms. It is then organized by inflection classes. For each inflection class, an example word is inflected through the paradigm, commonly in the form of a table. The inflection classes are labeled by abbreviations which are referenced in the grammatical section of dictionary entries.

1.5. Appendices

1.5.1. Transliteration table

In a plurilingual dictionary, a language may use a non-Latin script. For a syllabic or alphabetic script, a transliteration table may be provided.

1.5.2. Conversion table

For an encyclopedia and a bilingual dictionary, conversion tables for units of measure may be provided.

1.5.3. Abbreviations

The entry list of a dictionary with its macrostructure and microstructure fulfills all the usual requirements for the use of abbreviations: standardized categorizations that repeat themselves in thousands of entries need not and should not be spelt out in full, but be abbreviated. The full list of abbreviations used is contained in the present section. Its layout conveniently takes the form of a table. This has at least two columns:abbreviation         full form

adj.    adjective

...       ...

Where the terminology is specialized and variegated, a third column may be necessary that hints at the meaning of the term, e.g.:abbreviation   full form         explication

abs.   absolute          free non-incorporated form of noun

act.    active  case or cross-reference position in active system

...       ...         ...

The abbreviation table may again be printed in two columns per page, as is commonly done with the entry-list itself.

1.5.4. Symbols

Instead of abbreviations, the dictionary may make use of symbols. These are explained like abbreviations:symbol          meaning

~       [copy of lemma]

☞      see

♀       female

...       ...

1.5.5. Bibliography

Just like any piece of intellectual work, a dictionary profits from use of specialized literature, whose bibliographical references are enumerated here.

If the data that the dictionary is based on are a corpus of published texts, then the bibliography should be divided into two subsections: 1) primary sources [i.e. the corpus], 2) specialized literature.