Expanded microstructure: headword and information in separate lines
paisley /peyz-lee/ / 'peɪz li/
noun, plural paisleys
1. A soft woollen fabric woven with a pattern of colourful and minutely detailed figures.
2. A shawl, scarf, tie, or other article made of this fabric.
3. A silk print simulating this fabric and weave.
4. Also called paisley print. A pattern resembling the design or figure on this fabric or material.
adjective
5. Made of paisley: a paisley shawl.
6. Having the pattern of a paisley.
Illustrated entry
paisley /'pazlē/
noun [usu. as adj.]
A distinctive intricate pattern of curved, feather-shaped figures based on a pine-cone design from India: a paisley silk tie.
ORIGIN early 19th cent.: named after the town Paisley, Scotland, the original place of the manufacture.
Go to activity 2
Summarize the main characteristics of the four structures of dictionaries
megastructure macrostructure microstructure mesostructure
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2.5 The language and conventions of dictionaries
Apart from their structural idiosyncrasy, dictionaries also differ from other books in their particular use of language and textual conventions, a use that results from dictionaries’ need to pack a lot of information in a reduced space (textual condensation). For instance, dictionaries seldom offer complete sentences in definitions, and make abundant use of abbreviations, symbols etc., which means that their users must be familiarized with the conventions followed by dictionaries in order to make a good use of this lexicographic tool.
According to Svensйn (2009), the most typical strategies of textual condensation involve using (a) structure indicators, (b) symbols, and (c) standardized abbreviations.
| Condensation strategies | Function within dictionary | Examples | ||
| 1. structure indicators | make entry structure evident | brackets () | ||
| boldface | ||||
| 2. symbols | replace text | hyphens − | ||
| avoid repetition | swung dashes ∼ | |||
| 3. standardized abbreviations | maximize space | n. pl. U fig. |
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You can complete this table by adding data from your dictionary
I+ Resources
If you want to know more about dictionaries, one of the most comprehensive books on the topic is the following:
Svensйn, Bo (2009). A Handbook of Lexicography. The Theory and Practice of Dictionary-Making. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
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TYPES OF DICTIONARIES
The differences among dictionaries are reflected everywhere, i.e., affect
• their overall organization (macrostructure);
• the relations between their lexical entries, typically in the cross-references to synonyms, antonyms etc. and to information on word usage (mesostructure); and
• the type of information and organization of their lexical entries (microstructure). Dictionaries may be classified according to various criteria, among which three stand out:
1. the number of languages offered by the dictionary
2. the type of user, i.e. the reason why they use the dictionary, which determines the kind of words included in the dictionary and the information provided in their entries
3. the temporal span of the words included in the dictionary
In other words, there is not a single criterion for classifying dictionaries, but many. The three main aspects underlying the differences among dictionaries are described in the following sections.
3.1 The number of languages
The number of languages covered by the dictionary is the main difference between monolingual, bilingual, and multilingual dictionaries.
3.2 The target user
The first thing that dictionary makers take into account is the kind of person that will benefit the most by using their dictionary. If we take into account the specific users of dictionaries,
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we find dictionaries designed for general users, that is, people who do not need specific lexis 10
and, therefore, use the dictionary to find out general information about words. Other people use dictionaries when they are learning a language different from their own, as illustrated by the growing number of learner dictionaries in the market. Finally, many professionals need specific dictionaries for working purposes and this has given rise to dictionaries devoted to professional terminology and jargon (e.g. business, politics, law or engineering).
| Type of user | Example of dictionary | ||
| Find | one or | ||
| several | dictionaries | ||
| for each type of user | |||
| seen in this section | |||
Dictionaries may also be specific in terms of their contents or their approach to the words in them (which, as pointed out earlier, results from the type of user dictionary makers have in mind). Dictionaries with a specific focus may
• cover specific lexis, for instance, professional terminology, jargon, slang, etc. or
• provide particular information about words, as in dictionaries concerned with the
etymology of words, their pronunciation, etc.
In fact, most dictionaries in the market are specific, that is, are designed for particular users and, therefore, meet particular needs. The table below shows some types of specific dictionaries:
| Focus on social aspect of words’ usage | Focus on formal aspects of words | |
| • dictionaries of dialects | • | dictionaries of pronunciation |
| • dictionaries of professional/technical lexis – | • | dictionaries of homonyms |
| glossaries | • | dictionaries of abbreviations, |
| • dictionaries of slang, jargon, neologisms, etc. | acronyms etc. | |
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| Focus on meaning | Focus on word combinations | |||
| • | dictionary of synonyms | • | collocation dictionaries | |
| • | dictionary of antonyms | • dictionaries of proverbs and | ||
| • | thesaurus | idioms | ||
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| Other dictionaries | ||||
| dictionaries of literary terms | pocket dictionaries | children’s’ dictionaries | ||
Of course, although dictionaries may be classified into types, many good dictionaries nowadays display characteristics of different types.
I+ Resources
If you are interested in dictionaries, you may find the following interesting:
• http://ir.nmu.org.ua/bitstream/handle/123456789/128748/28dff2ac236ed1ba93ebd72a1512d 9c8.pdf?sequence=1
• http://www.christianlehmann.eu/ling/ling_meth/ling_description/lexicography/index.html?
• http://www.ciil-ebooks.net/html/lexico/
3.3 The temporal span of words
Dictionaries can cover contemporary uses of words (synchronic dictionaries) or describe how words have changed throughout time (diachronic dictionaries). Two extreme cases of diachronic dictionaries are etymological dictionaries and historical dictionaries. Etymological dictionaries trace words back to their origins, and tell users the oldest form and use of the words in them. Historical dictionaries describe the history or evolution of the forms and meanings of words in full, not just the origin, and record these changes chronologically. Although there are clear cases of both types, most good synchronic dictionaries nowadays also provide some diachronic information about the words in them, that is, the word entries include information about their origin and/or evolution. The following is the definition of pineapple in the Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English (2015):
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Go to Task 1
After doing the activities in this unit, you may want to complete the chart below with a classification of dictionaries following the criteria explained earlier.
| Type of user | Nє of languages | Type of lexis | Type of information/Focus |
| general | |||
| professional …. | |||
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I+ Resources
Some dictionaries for you to explore:
• http://www.etymonline.com/
• http://www.oed.com/
• http://www.allwords.com/
• http://www.wordspy.com/
• http://www.urbandictionary.com/
• http://wordnet.princeton.edu/wordnet/
• http://www.worldwidewords.org/index.htm
• http://www.memidex.com/
• http://www.onelook.com/
• http://dictionary.reference.com/
• http://www.yourdictionary.com/
• http://www.oxfordlearnersdictionaries.com/
• http://www.alphadictionary.com/slang/
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Activities & Tasks
Activity 1
Look up the words pole and tube in a print dictionary and in one of the two online dictionaries listed below and describe the way these words relate to (a) other entries and/or (b) other sections (i.e., the dictionary’s mesostructure)
Online dictionaries
• https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/english
• https://www.macmillandictionary.com/dictionary/british
Did you have any problems? Did you miss something? If so, describe what you expected to find in each type of dictionary and did not find.
Activity 2
Look up the words assignment and task in a print dictionary and in one of the online dictionaries listed in Activity 2 and describe the way information is organized in them, i.e. the microstructure of their entries. You may want to use a table to organize your description. Did you have any problems? Did you miss something? If so, describe what you expected to find in each type of dictionary and did not find.
TASK 1 Exploring lexis resources & websites
The following websites offer several resources and, among these, dictionaries of various types. Browse them and find information about the following questions:
(a) How many resources/tools do they offer? Group the resources and explain the criteria you have used in your grouping
(b) Find two general dictionaries and two specific dictionaries. Explain why they are
general and/or specific and describe (briefly) their characteristics Websites
• http://www.pearltrees.com/u/1791784-memidex-dictionary-thesaurus
• http://www.lexilogos.com/english/dictionary.htm
• http://www.lexicool.com/
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| websites | resources | dictionaries |
| pearltrees | Organize your results according | Organize your results according to |
| to type of resource | type dictionary | |
| lexilogos | ||
| lexicool | ||
Prepare a brief presentation to discuss your findings in class
A good oral performance involves preparation and rehearsal. Things to take into account to prepare your PowerPoint:
• Choose the contents: the task includes a lot of information, but you cannot present everything. Think which things may interest your classmates and present these.
• Organize the contents and make them fit in the time given by your teacher
• Order the presentation of those contents in a logical and clear way. Do not fill up the slides or use a font that is too small (your classmates will not see anything!).
• When presenting your results, try to answer the following: why we did it, how we did it, what we found, what we learned
Finally, you need to prepare your oral performance. Try to
• Avoid looking at the screen
• Avoid using I (this is a group task!)
• Speak up
In short, think of your audience and try to be accurate + interesting + entertaining.
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TASK 2 Comparing dictionaries
In this task, you are going to use print and online dictionaries in order to explore their different possibilities. The main goal is to provide you with an opportunity to become familiarized with different dictionaries, and help you think critically about them.
• 2 words to look up: cool, rave
• 2 dictionaries to use:
− a monolingual print dictionary of your choice
− a monolingual online dictionary of your choice
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STEP 1
Look up the words in the dictionaries you chose, and pay attention to the information provided in their entries.
STEP 2
Describe the 4 structures of the dictionaries you used in this task (megastructure, macrostructure, megastructure, mesostructured and microstructure). In order to organize your results, you may draw a table like this:
| Name of | Megastructure Macrostructure Microstructure Mesostructure |
Dictionary
STEP 3
Discuss the advantages and disadvantages of the dictionaries you used in this task. Use the table below to compare the dictionaries:
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| Name of dictionary | Dictionary type | Advantages | Disadvantages |
Links (you may add more)
The three websites below provide a very comprehensive number of resources and dictionaries.
Websites
• http://www.pearltrees.com/u/1791784-memidex-dictionary-thesaurus
• http://www.lexilogos.com/english/dictionary.htm
• http://www.lexicool.com/
Prepare a brief presentation to discuss your findings in class
A good oral performance involves preparation and rehearsal. Things to take into account to prepare your PowerPoint:
• Choose the contents: the task includes a lot of information, but you cannot present everything. Think which things may interest your classmates and present these.
• Organize the contents and make them fit in the time given by your teacher
• Order the presentation of those contents in a logical and clear way. Do not fill up the slides or use a font that is too small (your classmates will not see anything!).
• When presenting your results, try to answer the following: why we did it, how we did it, what we found, what we learned
Finally, you need to prepare your oral performance. Try to
• Avoid looking at the screen
• Avoid using I (this is a group task!)
• Speak up
In short, think of your audience and try to be accurate + interesting + entertaining.
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