How to Make a Dictionary, Session 2, Tuesday 2006-10-24
Dictionaries in General
What is the difference between a semasiological dictionary and an onomasiological dictionary?
A semasiological dictionary is also called reader’s dictionary or decoding dictionary.
A learner may use a semasiological dictionary if he searches for the meaning of a word whose form (spelling) is known.
An onomasiological dictionary is a so called writer’s or encoding dictionary.
It presents a list of synonyms which are arranged in a kind of tree structure. A learner uses an onomasiological dictionary when he already knows the meaning of a word and searches for its correct spelling.
What kinds of dictionaries do you have?
A questionnaire about dictionaries has been shown to three different people:
(1) What kind of dictionary do you have?
Person 1 (a student of English and French):
Has got monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries:
Bilingual dictionaries:Dictionaries in General
What is the difference between a semasiological dictionary and an onomasiological dictionary?
A semasiological dictionary is also called reader’s dictionary or decoding dictionary.
A learner may use a semasiological dictionary if he searches for the meaning of a word whose form (spelling) is known.
An onomasiological dictionary is a so called writer’s or encoding dictionary.
It presents a list of synonyms which are arranged in a kind of tree structure. A learner uses an onomasiological dictionary when he already knows the meaning of a word and searches for its correct spelling.
What kinds of dictionaries do you have?
A questionnaire about dictionaries has been shown to three different people:
(1) What kind of dictionary do you have?
Person 1 (a student of English and French):
Has got monolingual, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries:
English-German, German-English
French-German, German-French (2x)
Spanish-German, German-Spanish
Portuguese-German, German-Portuguese
Latin-German
Monolingual dictionaries:
English
French (2x)
German
Bilingual pocket dictionaries:
English-German
French-German
Latin-German
One multilingual dictionary:
German-English-French-Spanish
Theme field dictionary:
French-German
Others:
Dictionary of French Literature
Dictionary of French Authors
Dictionary of French Kings and Queens
Dictionary of Symbols
Dictionary of Names
Vocabulary Notebook
Person 2 (a trainee)
Has got bilingual and monolingual dictionaries:
Bilingual dictionaries:
English-German, German-English
Latin-German
Monolingual dictionaries:
English
German (3x)
Others:
Vocabulary Notebook
Person 3 (a trainee)
Has only bilingual dictionaries:
Bilingual dictionaries:
English-German, German-English
French-German, German-French
Spanish-German, German-Spanish
Dutch-German, German-Dutch
Theme field dictionary:
French-German
Others:
Vocabulary Notebook
Basic Vocabulary lists (French, Spanish)
Basic Verb list (French, Spanish)
(2) Do you own a dictionary or do you borrow it?
Person 1: Owns the dictionaries mentioned in answer (1) and borrows
supplementary dictionaries from the university library.
Person 2: Owns the dictionaries mentioned in answer (1) and seldom borrows
dictionaries from the public library.
Person 3: Owns the dictionaries mentioned in answer (1) and never borrows any
dictionaries
(3) Do you use an online dictionary or do you prefer books?
Person 1: Also uses electronic dictionaries of: German-English, English-German
German-French, French-German, German-Spanish, Spanish-German.
At home the person prefers online dictionaries, because words can be looked up
faster. But written dictionaries (books) often are more exact.
Person 2: Does not use electronic dictionaries.
Person 3: Does not use electronic dictionaries.
(4) What kind of dictionary would you recommend?
Person 1: The most popular dictionaries
For English: Oxford (f.ex. the Advanced Learner’s Dictionary)
For French: Le petit Robert, Hachette,
For German, Latin: Duden, Pons, Langenscheidt
Person 2: Bilingual dictionaries.
Person 3: Would recommend Langenscheidt dictionaries.
(5) How would you find the “best” English dictionary?
Person 1: There is no “best English dictionary”. The choice of a specific dictionary
depends on the learner’s needs, language skills and field of study.
Person 2: A good dictionary contains a lot of lexical entries, synonyms, definitions and
explanations, examples and notes on grammar (Maximising dictionaries).
Person 3: Does only know Langenscheidt dictionaries.
posted by Melanie Zahn @ 10:33 AM
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