TYPES OF
DICTIONARIES
1. Number of languages
• monolingual (unilingual or explanatory)
• translating (explain words by giving their
equivalents in another language)
- bilingual
- multilingual (polyglot)
2. Object of description
• Linguistic (lexicons)
• Encyclopaedic
2. Object of description
Linguistic dictionaries
describe the word as a language unit,
its meaning, grammar, orthographic, orthoepical and
stylistic peculiarities are reflected.
2. Object of description
Encyclopaedic dictionaries
contain information of extralinguistic character
and give information on all branches of knowledge.
They deal not with words, but with facts and
concepts.
2. Object of description
CAT (family Felidae), any of a group of carnivorous mammals
that includes the true cats—lion, tiger, jaguar, leopard, puma,
and domestic cat—and the cheetah (see photograph). Cats
typically have soft fur, often strikingly patterned. See also
domestic cat. The history of the cat family can be traced
through the fossil record to the Late Eocene Epoch
(Encyclopaedia Britannica)
2. Object of description
cat [kæt] 1. small , domestic, fur-covered animal often kept
as a pet, to catch mice, etc. (=wild cat) any animal of the
group that includes tigers, lions, panthers and leopards. bell
the cat see bell 2. Let the cat out of the bag see bag 3. Like a cat on
hot bricks, very nervous or jumpy…
(A.S. Hornby. Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of current
English).
2. Object of description
common features:
• often a common glossary or word list
• alphabetic arrangement of material
• partially common definitions
3. Way of language unit
description
• General - contain multiaspect word description
(e.g. explanatory dictionaries)
• Special - reveal only some aspects of words or
relations between them (e.g. etymological,
wordbuilding, orphographical etc.)
3. Way of language unit
description
General dictionaries
represent the vocabulary as a whole
with a degree of completeness depending
upon the scope and bulk of the dictionary
3. Way of language unit
description
• frequency dictionaries, i.e. lists of words, each of which is
followed by a record of its frequency of occurrence in
one or several sets of reading matter (M. West’s General
Service List)
• a rhyming dictionary is also a general dictionary (McGill
English Dictionary of Rhyme with VersePerfect)
3. Way of language unit
description
Special dictionaries
cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary,
for example, terminological dictionaries, phraseological
dictionaries, dictionaries of slang, dictionaries of
synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, etc.
3. Way of language unit
description
Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending
on whether
• the words are chosen according to the sphere of human activity in
which they are used (technical dictionaries),
• the type of the units themselves (e. g. phraseological dictionaries)
• the relationships existing between them (e. g. dictionaries of
synonyms)
3. Way of language unit
description
Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending on
whether
• the words are chosen according to the sphere of human activity in
which they are used
highly specialised dictionaries of limited scope which may appeal to
a particular kind of reader. They register and explain technical terms
for various branches of knowledge, art and trade (linguistic,
medical, technical, economical terms, etc.)
EXAMPLES
3. Way of language unit
description
Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending on
whether
• the type of the units themselves (e. g. phraseological
dictionaries)
The second subgroup deals with specific language units, i.e. with
phraseology, abbreviations, neologisms, borrowings, surnames,
toponyms, proverbs and sayings, etc.
EXAMPLES
3. Way of language unit
description
Special dictionaries may be further subdivided depending
on whether
• -the relationships existing between them
The third subgroup contains a formidable array of
synonymic dictionaries, dictionaries of antonyms etc.
EXAMPLES
4. Selection of vocabulary
(lexicon)
Special dictionaries
in which principle of selection of lexis is presented
according to different criteria (e.g. dictionaries of
synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, abbreviations,
terminological, dialectal, etc.)
4. Selection of vocabulary
(lexicon)
Thesauruses dictionaries
which lack principle of selection aiming at maximum fully
represented all the words of a language and their usage in
texts (e.g. explanatory dictionaries, frequent dictionaries,
translating dictionaries, etc.)
EXAMPLES
4. Selection of vocabulary
(lexicon)
Dictionaries recording the complete vocabulary of
some author are called concordances, they should
be distinguished from those that deal only with
difficult words, i.e. glossaries.
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
4. Selection of vocabulary
(lexicon)
• Biographical dictionaries
• Etymological dictionaries (the word’s primary meaning;
the immediate source of borrowing and its origin)
EXAMPLES
EXAMPLES
5. Time
• Diachronic
• Synchronic (descriptive)
5. Time
Diachronic dictionaries
reflect the development of the English vocabulary
by recording the history of form and meaning for
every word registered.
5. Time
OED “The Oxford English Dictionary”
NED “The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles”
SOD “The Shorter Oxford Dictionary on Historical Principles”
OED “The Oxford English Dictionary”
NED “The New English Dictionary on
Historical Principles”
SOD “The Shorter Oxford Dictionary
on Historical Principles”
5. Time
The synchronic
or descriptive dictionaries
of current English concerned with
present-day meaning and usage of words.
5. Time
COD (the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English)
Webster dictionaries
Collins COBUILD English Language Dictionary (COBUILD – Collins
Birmingham University International Language Database)
COD “The Concise Oxford Dictionary
of Current English”
Collins COBUILD English Language
Dictionary
Webster dictionaries
6. Coverage (the number of words
being included into a dictionary)
• large dictionaries(more then 80 000 words)
• concise or middlesize dictionaries (70 000 - 80 000
words)
• pocket or small- size dictionaries (up to 30 000 words)
6. Coverage (the number of words
being included into a dictionary)
• “The Oxford English Dictionary” has more than
450,000 words,the maximum complete choice
• “Small Abridged Oxford Dictionary” includes 74.000
words, more than 40.000 entries
• “Oxford Illustrated Dictionary” consists of nearly
30.000 words
7. Size
BIG MIDDLE-SIZE POCKET-SIZE
8. Form
Books CD-ROMS Internet
• Fast retrieval
• Lots of information
• Light-weight
Familiarity Free
Advantages • Small size
Ownership Wild-card searching
• Some contain pronunciation files
• Some contain English learning materials
• Some contain lots of pictures
Computer needed
Large size Computer needed Internet connection
Slower retrieval process if users needed
Disadvantages Slow
are computer dummies Slow internet speed
retrieval Some are not well-designed Free ones often have
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