Dictionary

DictionaryAdictionaryisabookofalphabeticallylistedwordsinaspecificlanguage,withdefinitions,etymologies,pronunciations,andotherinformation;orabookofalphabeticallylistedwordsinonelanguagewiththeirequivalentsinanother,alsoknownasalexicon.AccordingtoNielsen2008adictionarymayberegardedasalexicographicalproductthatischaracterizedbythreesignificantfeatures:(1)ithasbeenpreparedforoneormorefunctions;(2)itcontainsdatathathavebeenselectedforthepurposeoffulfillingthosefunctions;and(3)itslexicographicstructureslinkandestablishrelationshipsbetweenthedatasothattheycanmeettheneedsofusersandfulfilthefunctionsofthedictionary.Inmanylanguages,wordscanappearinmanydifferentforms,butonlytheundeclinedorunconjugatedformappearsastheheadwordinmostdictionaries.Dictionariesaremostcommonlyfoundintheformofabook,butsomenewerdictionaries,likeStarDictandtheNewOxfordAmericanDictionaryaredictionarysoftwarerunningonPDAsorcomputers.TherearealsomanyonlinedictionariesaccessibleviatheInternet.HistoryTheoldestknowndictionarieswereAkkadianempirecuneiformtabletswithbilingualSumerian-Akkadianwordlists,discoveredinEbla(modernSyria)anddatedroughly2300BCE.Theearly2ndmillenniumBCEUrra=hubulluglossaryisthecanonicalBabylonianversionofsuchbilingualSumerianwordlists.AChinesedictionary,theca.3rdcenturyBCEErya,wastheearliestmonolingualdictionary,althoughsomesourcescitetheca.800BCEShizhoupianasadictionary,modernscholarshipconsidersitacalligraphiccompendiumofChinesecharactersfromZhoudynastybronzes.ApolloniustheSophist(fl.1stcenturyCE)wrotetheoldestextantGreeklexicon,whichlistsHomericvocabularyandmeanings.ThefirstSanskritdictionary,theAmarakośa,waswrittenbyAmaraSinhaca.4thcenturyCE.Writteninverse,itlistedaround10,000words.AccordingtotheNihonShoki,thefirstJapanesedictionarywasthelong-lost682CENiinaglossaryofChinesecharacters.TheoldestexistingJapanesedictionary,theca.835CETenreiBanshōMeigi,wasalsoaglossaryofwrittenChinese.Arabicdictionarieswerecompiledbetweenthe8thand14thcenturiesCE,organizingwordsinrhymeorder(bythelastsyllable),byalphabeticalorderoftheradicals,oraccordingtothealphabeticalorderofthefirstletter(thesystemusedinmodernEuropeanlanguagedictionaries).Themodernsystemwasmainlyusedinspecialistdictionaries,suchasthoseoftermsfromtheQur'anandhadith,whilemostgeneralusedictionaries,suchastheLisanal-`Arab(13thc.,stillthebest-knownlarge-scaledictionaryofArabic)andal-Qamusal-Muhit(14thc.)listedwordsinthealphabeticalorderoftheradicals.TheQamusal-MuhitisthefirsthandydictionaryinArabic,whichincludesonlywordsandtheirdefinitions,eliminatingthesupportingexamplesusedinsuchdictionariesastheLisanandtheOxfordEnglishDictionary.TheearliestmodernEuropeandictionarieswerebilingualdictionaries.TheearliestintheEnglishlanguagewereglossariesofFrench,ItalianorLatinwordsalongwithdefinitionsoftheforeignwordsinEnglish.Anearlynon-alphabeticallistof8000EnglishwordswastheElementariecreatedbyRichardMulcasterin1592.ThefirstpurelyEnglishalphabeticaldictionarywasATableAlphabeticall,writtenbyEnglishschoolteacherRobertCawdreyin1604.TheonlysurvivingcopyisfoundattheBodleianLibraryinOxford.Yetthisearlyeffort,aswellasthemanyimitatorswhichfollowedit,wasseenasunreliableandnowhereneardefinitive.PhilipStanhope,4thEarlofChesterfieldwasstilllamentingin1754,150yearsafterCawdrey'spublication,thatitisasortofdisgracetoournation,thathithertowehavehadno…standardofourlanguage;ourdictionariesatpresentbeingmoreproperlywhatourneighborstheDutchandtheGermanscalltheirs,word-books,thandictionariesinthesuperiorsenseofthattitle.ItwasnotuntilSamuelJohnson'sADictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(1755)thatatrulynoteworthy,reliableEnglishDictionarywasdeemedtohavebeenproduced,andthefactthattodaymanypeoplestillmistakenlybelieveJohnsontohavewrittenthefirstEnglishDictionaryisatestamenttothislegacy.Bythisstage,dictionarieshadevolvedtocontaintextualreferencesformostwords,andwerearrangedalphabetically,ratherthanbytopic(apreviouslypopularformofarrangement,whichmeantallanimalswouldbegroupedtogether,etc.).Johnson'smasterworkcouldbejudgedasthefirsttobringalltheseelementstogether,creatingthefirst'modern'dictionary.Johnson'sDictionaryremainedtheEnglish-languagestandardforover150years,untiltheOxfordUniversityPressbeganwritingandreleasingtheOxfordEnglishDictionaryinshortfasciclesfrom1884onwards.Ittooknearly50yearstofinallycompletethehugework,andtheyfinallyreleasedthecompleteOEDintwelvevolumesin1928.ItremainsthemostcomprehensiveandtrustedEnglishlanguagedictionarytothisday,withrevisionsandupdatesaddedbyadedicatedteameverythreemonths.Oneofthemaincontributorstothismoderndaydictionarywasanex-armysurgeon,WilliamChesterMinor,aconvictedmurdererwhowasconfinedtoanasylumforthecriminallyinsane.SpecializeddictionariesAccordingtotheManualofSpecializedLexicographyaspecializeddictionary(alsoreferredtoasatechnicaldictionary)isalexiconthatfocusesuponaspecificsubjectfield.FollowingthedescriptioninTheBilingualLSPDictionarylexicographerscategorizespecializeddictionariesintothreetypes.Amulti-fielddictionarybroadlycoversseveralsubjectfields(e.g.,abusinessdictionary),asing