Gresham College Lecture series Look it up yourself

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Gresham College Lecture series: Look it up yourself! A History of the Dictionary From

Gresham College Lecture series: Look it up yourself! A History of the Dictionary From dictionary user to amateur lexicographer Possibilities of on-line searches Costas Gabrielatos (Lancaster University) 23 March 2009

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where

Knowledge is of two kinds. We know a subject ourselves, or we know where we can find information upon it. Samuel Johnson (Statement made April 18, 1775, quoted in Boswell's Life of Johnson) • How will the information be used? • Comprehension • Production

Do you know this word? • What does ‘knowing’ a word involve?

Do you know this word? • What does ‘knowing’ a word involve?

To know a word: Form • Written form – Spelling • Spoken form –

To know a word: Form • Written form – Spelling • Spoken form – Pronunciation – Stress – Symbols vs. audio chagrin ‘sh’ or ‘tsh’ chagrin or chagrin /ʃægrɪn / (Br. E) /ʃəgrɪn/ (Am. E)

To know a word: Grammar (a) • Part of speech • Countable/uncountable (for nouns)

To know a word: Grammar (a) • Part of speech • Countable/uncountable (for nouns) – Not independent of meaning – experience [LDOCE] • Derivatives – extend (verb) – extendability / extendibility / extensibility (noun) – extendable / extendible / extensible (adjective)

To know a word: Grammar (b) • Transitivity (for verbs) – She gave a

To know a word: Grammar (b) • Transitivity (for verbs) – She gave a concert / They gave her a present – Prices have been rising • Grammatical patterns: help vs. facilitate – policies that help/facilitate development – help/facilitate a neighbour to move the sofa – help/facilitate a student with an assignment

To know a word: Meaning • Sense(s) • Connotations The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary

To know a word: Meaning • Sense(s) • Connotations The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online http: //www. ldoceonline. com • Image reredos

To know a word: Meaning: specialised words collateralized debt obligation Investor. Words, www. investorwords.

To know a word: Meaning: specialised words collateralized debt obligation Investor. Words, www. investorwords. com

To know a word: The lexical company a word keeps stale bread rancid butter

To know a word: The lexical company a word keeps stale bread rancid butter sour milk

To know a word: The lexical company a word keeps The Longman Dictionary of

To know a word: The lexical company a word keeps The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English Online http: //www. ldoceonline. com

To know a word: Use • Contexts of use – general/specialised • heart attack

To know a word: Use • Contexts of use – general/specialised • heart attack – (acute) myocardial infarction – archaic/formal/informal/colloquial/slang • offspring - minor - child - kid - brat • Frequency – In what contexts?

To know a word: Meaning in relation to other words • Synonyms / Antonyms

To know a word: Meaning in relation to other words • Synonyms / Antonyms • expand Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary http: //www. merriam-webster. com

To know a word: Etymology (the history of a word) Encarta ahttp: //encarta. msn.

To know a word: Etymology (the history of a word) Encarta ahttp: //encarta. msn. com/encnet/features/dictionaryhome. aspx

World Wide Words (Michael Quinion), www. worldwidewords. org

World Wide Words (Michael Quinion), www. worldwidewords. org

To know a word: A holistic view: examples • Examples can demonstrate most of

To know a word: A holistic view: examples • Examples can demonstrate most of the aspects of knowing a word. • What does this word mean? • What does this word do? • The more examples, the better our understanding – patterns and frequency • What kind of examples? • Whose examples?

Prescription or description? 'When I use a word, ' Humpty Dumpty said, in a

Prescription or description? 'When I use a word, ' Humpty Dumpty said, in a rather scornful tone, ' it means just what I choose it to mean, neither more nor less. ' 'The question is, ' said Alice, 'whether you can make words mean so many different things. ' 'The question is, ' said Humpty Dumpty, 'which is to be master - that's all. ' Through the Looking-Glass, and What Alice Found There, Lewis Carroll, 1871

Sources of examples • Corpora – British National Corpus (BNC), 100 million words –

Sources of examples • Corpora – British National Corpus (BNC), 100 million words – http: //sara. natcorp. ox. ac. uk/lookup. html • The web as a corpus – Web. Corp – http: //www. webcorp. org. uk

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad.

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad. • An egregious mistake, failure, problem etc is extremely bad and noticeable. • Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar. • Conspicuous ; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad.

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad. • An egregious mistake, failure, problem etc is extremely bad and noticeable. • Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar. • Conspicuous ; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad.

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad. • An egregious mistake, failure, problem etc is extremely bad and noticeable. • Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar. • Conspicuous ; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad.

egregious • Conspicuously bad or offensive. • Often of mistakes, extremely and noticeably bad. • An egregious mistake, failure, problem etc is extremely bad and noticeable. • Extraordinary in some bad way; glaring; flagrant: an egregious mistake; an egregious liar. • Conspicuous ; especially : conspicuously bad : flagrant <egregious errors> <egregious padding of the evidence — Christopher Hitchens>

egregious in the BNC • 36 instances • • • Action/behaviour/event/result etc. (15) Person/organisation

egregious in the BNC • 36 instances • • • Action/behaviour/event/result etc. (15) Person/organisation etc. (12) Mistake/error etc. (6) Object (2) Other (1)

Types of dictionaries • General - alphabetical • General - thematic (concepts) • Thesaurus

Types of dictionaries • General - alphabetical • General - thematic (concepts) • Thesaurus • Terminological • Pronunciation • Collocations (lexical patterns) • Pictorial • Encyclopaedic

Possibilities of online searches • The ‘ultimate’ reference source (? ) • Free •

Possibilities of online searches • The ‘ultimate’ reference source (? ) • Free • Quick and easy comparison of information • ‘Lexical journeys’ • Primary research

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