Lecture №3: The Architecture of a Dictionary

4-th Session: 7.11.2006

Summary of the session: *-*

Quizzes: *-*

Homework: *-*

 

GO TO THE NEXT LECTURE: Lecture 4 *-*

 

Summary of the session:

• Here the different structures of a dictionary were discussed. Again a lecture fully concentrated on a dictionary creation.

• Check of the homework

• Long-term Homework is given

• Revision: Dictionary information, Model of types of lexical information

• Organization of Lexical Information: this is the architecture of a dictionary/lexicon

  • Examples of dictionaries: semasiological and onomasiological

• Parts of a Dictionary: megastructure, macrostructure, mesostructure, microstructure

  • MEGASTRUCTURE – the entire structure of a dictionary including (it is the publisher"s work):

    • the front matter – front cover, title page, title of the dictionary, editor, publisher, place of publishing, date, etc.;

    • abbreviations and explanations of grammar – what n, adj, adv, v, [C], etc. mean;

    • the body of the dictionary – this is the macrostructure, the real content/essence/core/body of a dictionary – an alphabetical list of words and definitions;

    • the back matter – appendices, tables, license agreements, back cover, advertising, reference to printer.

  • MACROSTRUCTURE – the organization of lexical entries in the body of the dictionary into:

    • lists – in a semasiological dictionary

    • tree structures – based on hierarchical principles of organization; typical of thesauruses or onomasiological dictionaries

    • networks – they are difficult to be printed; electronic dictionaries are based on this principle

  • MICROSTRUCTURE – the consistent organization of lexical information within lexical entries in the dictionary (orthography, pronunciation, POS – part of speech, definition, example; picture/model, synonym-antonym, translation, etymological information)

  • TYPES OF LEXICAL INFORMATION:

    • meaning – pragmatics (use of words by people for particular purposes and in certain situations, in acts of speech), semantics (truth or falsity of a sentence)

    • structure – syntax (text, phrase), morphology (inflexion, word formation)

    • appearance – pronunciation, orthography

  • MESOSTRUCTURE – set of relations between lexical entries and other entities such as other parts of a dictionary or a text corpus. Examples: synonyms or antonyms which are elsewhere in the dictionary; the abbreviation "n" explained in the beginning of the dictionary

  • LEXICON MESOSTRUCTURE – relations between different entries and their components: ID, Orthography, Pronunciation, POS, Gender, Morphology, Inflection class, Definition, Instance:

    • class hierarchy of DATCAT – modality (orthography, pronunciation), grammar (POS, gender, morphology, inflection class), object semantics mini-grammar (linguistic description): orthography, pronunciation, POS, gender, morphology, inflection class, definition

    • linguistic description references – use of abbreviations for POS, characterizations of spelling; the mini-grammar (linguistic description) in the beginning of a dictionary: orthography, pronunciation, POS, gender, morphology, inflection class, definition

    • cross-references between related entries (between definitions and Ids of different entries) – co-hyponyms: synonyms, antonyms

    • corpus references (concordance) – the instances or examples given; they can be either extracted from original texts or invented

back to the beginning

QUIZZES:

I-st QUIZ (after Megastructure):

Give examples of the kinds of information contained in each of these structure types.

• the front matter – front cover, title page, title of the dictionary, editor, publisher, place of publishing, date, etc.;

• abbreviations and explanations of grammar – What n, adj, adv, v, [C], etc. mean;

• the body of the dictionary – this is the macrostructure, the essence/core/body of a dictionary – an alphabetical list of words and definitions;

• the back matter – appendices, tables, license agreements, back cover.

   

II-nd QUIZ (after Macrostructure):

Are semasiological macrostructures more like lists, trees, or networks?

Semasiological macrostructures are more like lists.

III-rd QUIZ (megastructure, macrostructure):

What is the:

• Megastructure – it is the overall structure of a dictionary including the other kinds of structure (macro-, meta- and microstructure). It consists of the front matter, abbreviations and explanations of grammar, body of the dictionary and back matter. The publisher is mostly interested in the Megastructure.

• Macrostructure of a lexicon? Give examples: this is the organization of the lexical entries and it constitutes the body/core of the dictionary. There are 3 different types of organization of the entries: into a list, tree structure or network. Typically macrostructure of a semasiological dictionary is organized into a list and the macrostructure of a onomasiological dictionary is organized into a tree. Networks are difficult to print; they might more easily be created on the internet.

What is a:

• Semasiological dictionary – it is also called reader’s or decoding dictionary; it is organized alphabetically in a list and the words are given their definitions

• Onomasiological dictionary? Give examples – it is also called writer’s or encoding dictionary; it has a tree structure; such kind of a dictionary is the thesaurus.

   

IV-th QUIZ (after Microstructure):

How many types of lexical information can you find?

Orthography, pronunciation, part of speech, definition, example + a picture (a model), synonyms/antonyms, translation, etymological information.

• Is the microstructure of a semasiological dictionary typically a list, a tree or a network?

It is typically a list.

• What kind of structure do the combined macrostructure and microstructure of a semasiological dictionary have?

It is a table.

• And an onomasiological dictionary?

  It has typically a tree structure. It is simpler because it has less content.

V-th QUIZ (microstructure):

• What is the microstructure of a dictionary? - This is the organization of the lexical information within the lexical entries.

• What kind of lexical information is contained in a dictionary"s microstructure? – information about the structure (Syntax, Morphology), appearance (form: pronunciation, orthography) and meaning (Pragmatics, Semantics) of the lexical item.

• Describe the two dimensions of types of lexical information. – actually it has three dimensions – meaning, structure, appearance.

• How do you define “definition”? Give examples – it is a form of words which states the meaning of a term. It is systematic and concise description of a word. It is dictionary oriented type of text. Examples: ostensive definition, recurent definition, SDD (POODLE ["pu:dl] n 1. a dog with thick curling hair, often cut in special shapes – see picture at DOG), etc.;

VI-th QUIZ (after mesostructure):

• How do lexical entries relate to each other? – for example, by the lexical relations such as antonymy and synonymy.

• How do lexical entries relate to the mini-grammar in the megastructure? – for example, we check in the mini-grammar at the beginning of a dictionary what [C], which can be found in a lexical entry, means.

• How do lexical entries relate to text corpora? – by means of the examples.

VII-th QUIZ (mesostructure):

• What is the mesostructure of a dictionary? – The Mesostructure of a dictionary are the relations between each lexical entry and the other parts of the dictionary or the text corpus.

• Give examples for mesostructural elements concerning:

• Types of information with reference to the sign model – meaning (semantics, pragmatics), appearance (orthography, pronunciation), structure (syntax, morphology)

• Linguistic description references – “n” stands for nouns and is explained in the front matter.

• Cross-references between related entries – antonyms and/or synonyms.

• Corpus references – phrases or sentences which serve as examples and are taken from original texts.

back to the beginning

Homework:

A Description of the Structure of a Dictionary from the Library

The task: take one of your dictionaries, and describe on as much detail as possible its:

- megastructure

- macrostructure

- microstructure

- mesostructure

Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

MEGASTRUCTURE:

1. The front matter:

- front cover: “Longman, Dictionary of Contemporary English, The Living Dictionary”;

- inside front cover: pronunciation table, special signs;

- i page: short forms and labels;

- ii page: grammar codes and patterns ([C] countable, [not in progressive]);

- iii page: title page;

- iv page: acknowledgements (managing editor, editors, lexicographers, pronunciation editor, etc.);

- vi page: publisher (Pearson Education Limited), publisher’s address, copyright, first, last and previous publications, photographs and maps copyright, etc.;

- vii page: contents;

- ix page: foreword;

- x page: introduction;

- xii page: how to use the dictionary: explanations about “pronunciation”, “help with meaning”, ”examples”, “collocation”, “register”, “help with usage”, etc. .

2. The body of the dictionary: pp. 1-1922

3. Language notes in the body of the dictionary: articles, modal verbs, idioms, pragmatics, collocation, full picture pages, etc. .

4. The back matter:

- maps and appendices: CV, resume, tables (numbers, weighs and measures, word formation, irregular verbs, geographical names, etc.);

- last page; Single User License Agreement;

- inside back cover: a CD-Rom;

- back cover.

MACROSTRUCTURE:

The list of all the words in the core/body of the dictionary organized alphabetically and like a table: A, B, C, D ….. or abound, about,etc. .

MICROSTRUCTURE:

The organization of each lexical entry:

Orthography, pronunciation, POS, morphology, grammar, register, definition, example, cross-references:

e.g. ex-emp-tion /ig’zemp..n/ n 1. [C] an amount of money that you do not have to pay tax on: You qualify for a tax exemption on the loan. 2. [C,U] etc.

MESOSTRUCTURE and MICROSTRUCTURE:

- an example of antonymy: liabilities vs. assets;

- an example of synonymy: pager vs. beeper;

- another example:

elevator /`eliveita $ -ar/ n [C] 1. AmE a machine that takes people and goods from one level to another in a public building; =lift BrE: We’ll have to take the elevator. See picture at stay

In terms of microstructure, this is a single entry of the dictionary. In terms of mesostructure, this lexical entry is related to different parts of the dictionary; we must look somewhere else in order to be able to understand the pronunciation, $, n, [C], AmE, or to compare this entry with the synonymous word “lift” or to see more information in the picture of “stay”.

back to the beginning

GO TO THE NEXT LECTURE: Lecture 4 *-*