Sven Tarp

Online dictionaries: today and tomorrow

This article initially provides a panoramic overview and a preliminary typologization of present and future online dictionaries based upon their application of the available technologies and suggests that the future of lexicography will be the development of highly sophisticated tools which may provide individualized solutions to the users’ punctual information needs. In this respect, it analyses the relation between the type and the individual and argues that lexicographers, although having individualization of needs satisfaction as their goal, still have to work with types of user, situation, need, consultation, and data. The article then proceeds to the discussion of some advanced information science techniques that may contribute to the desired individualization. Upon this basis, it fi nally discusses the interaction between online dictionaries and external sources like the Internet and other corpora from where data can be imported as mashups in the dictionary articles, as well as the problems related to the validation of these automatically selected data.

Theory and Practice of Specialised Online Dictionaries: Lexicography versus Terminography

This book is an update on the Function Theory of Lexicography that offers convincing arguments on the independent academic status of lexicography as well as its association with related disciplines. It discusses the topic of specialised e-lexicography in full, from its theoretical foundations to its practical application in the design, compilation, and updating of high-quality specialised online dictionaries.

Reflections on dictionaries designed to assist users with text production in a foreign language

After a discussion of a selected part of the existing theoretical literature, the concept of foreign-language text production is analysed within the framework of the broader concept of the foreign-language learning process. Two main types of foreign-language text production are discussed, i.e. text production with and without an outline in the learners mother tongue, followed by an analysis of the kind of assistance dictionaries can provide to the user. The main conclusion drawn from this discussion is that a dictionary designed to assist a user with both types of text production should include both an L1–L2 word list and an L2 (or L2–L1) word list. On this basis, a proposal for the lexicographic data that should be included in the respective word lists is presented, and this data is then compared with the data needed to assist the user in foreign-language text reception. The conclusion is that it is quite possible to conceive bifunctional dictionaries that can provide assistance for both foreign-language text production and foreign-language text reception. Keywords: lexicography, learners lexicography, learners dictionaries, lexicographic functions, communication-orientated functions, foreignlanguage text reception, foreign-language text production, user characteristics, user needs, user situations, lexicographic data

Lexicography and the Relevance Criterion

Until recently, lexicography and information science could rightly be considered two disciplines which had developed along parallel lines but with no or very little formal relation between them. Although the two disciplines developed in almost complete isolation from each other, during the last few years it has nevertheless become increasingly clear that they have a lot in common. This trend began within lexicography which started viewing lexicographical works as a special kind of tool designed to be consulted in order to obtain information. Upon this basis, it has been suggested that lexicography should be considered a part of information science and, hence, integrated into it (cf. e.g. Bergenholtz and Bothma 2012, Tarp 2009). It is evident that this integra- tion of two hitherto independent disciplines with long traditions of their own is not something to be solved overnight and neither can it be a unilateral process. This article will explore the concept of relevance in both disciplines in more detail and show, at the hand of examples from lexicographical tools, how the theoretical frameworks of both disci- plines can complement one another. This will be done within the framework of the function theory of lexicography, as discussed in the many works of Tarp and Bergenholtz (e.g. Bergenholtz and Tarp 2002) and others, and relevance theory in information science as defined by Saracevic (1975, 1996), Cosijn and Ingwersen (2000) and others.

Do We Need a (New) Theory of Lexicography

In the current transition from printed to electronic dictionaries the question has been raised whether we need a new theory of lexicography that may guide the conception and production of lexicographical e-tools or if we can use the theories already developed in the era of printed works. In order to answer this question the article first of all discusses the question whether a lexicographical theory exists, is possible at all or even wanted. It shows that the various approaches to this question are mainly due to the fact that the very concept of theory is widely disputed within lexicographical circles. In this respect, it briefly discusses the Anglo-Saxon academic tradition according to which science is only related to natural phenomena and where all other phenomena are referred to the spheres of art and craft, and it shows that this tradition is widely opposed by the traditions in other parts of the world. Upon this basis, the article shows that a lexicographical theory is not only possible but that various highly useful theories already exist. Finally, it claims that these theories, especially the ones that are not only focusing on the printed dictionary form, should not be rejected but should be further enhanced and improved in close interaction between lexicography and other consultation disciplines within the broad area of information science.

School dictionaries for first-language learners

Acknowledging the ambiguity of terms like school dictionary, childrens dictionary, first language, mother-tongue this article motivates a specific use of school dictionary, first language and learner and focuses on various problems in these dictionaries. The typical functions of these dictionaries are discussed with reference to the lexicographic needs of first-language learners. Looking at a few existing dictionaries, suggestions are made for the inclusion and presentation of certain data types. The importance of the use of natural language in the paraphrases of meaning is discussed. It is emphasised that lexicographers should consult teachers and curriculum experts when planning school dictionaries and that the grade and age of the target user needs to be taken into account. The aim of this article is not to give final solutions to the questions raised but merely to recommend that a number of factors — or variables — are taken into account when planning future school dictionaries. In this respect, a number of questions are formulated that need to be answered when planning the compilation of school dictionaries.

Reflections on the Academic Status of Lexicography

Two main camps have been formed with regard to the philosophical and academic status of lexicography: one considering lexicography an independent scientific discipline, and the other opposing such a scientific status. This article discusses some of the arguments from the sec- ond camp and argues that lexicography should be considered an independent scientific discipline. The argumentation is based on the fact that the subject field of lexicography is different from the subject fields of any other discipline, including linguistics. In this sense, the concept of a lexico- graphical work is broader than the more reduced concept of a dictionary. Lexicographical works, including dictionaries, are considered cultural artefacts and utility tools produced in order to meet punctual information needs detected in society. In this way, they have during the millenniums cov- ered almost all spheres of human activity and knowledge. The theory and science of lexicography should not focus on the differences regarding the specific content of all these works, but on aspects that unite them and are common to all of them. In this regard, some of the core characteristics of lexicography as an independent discipline are discussed together with its complex relation to other disciplines. Lexicographical theory is understood as a systematic set of statements about its subject field. Finally, the article argues that the fact that this theory may seem too abstract and difficult to some working lexicographers does not in itself invalidate its independent scientific status, although a close relation between theory and practice is recommended.

An Alternative Approach to Enlightenment Age Lexicography: The Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce

Abstract This article deals with lexicography from the Age of Enlightenment. The idea is not only to understand what was done but also to see if anything relevant to modern lexicography could be retrieved from this historical experience. With this objective, it will have a closer look at a specific eighteenth-century dictionary, viz. Malachy Postlethwayt’s Universal Dictionary of Trade and Commerce, published in four editions between 1751 and 1774. This work is selected because it is one of the most comprehensive and complex specialised dictionaries produced in that era. The article will first place the dictionary in its historical environment. It will then make a detailed study of its very rich content with a view to systematising the various types of lexicographical data included as well as the structures applied to assist the users when navigating through its highly complex pages. The analysis will show the great variety of items which Postlethwayt put into his dictionary in order to meet the multi-facetted needs of a broad group of users. In some aspects, the dictionary displays very advanced features which may even inspire modern lexicography, especially online lexicography. It seems that relevant lexicographical knowledge from the Age of Enlightenment was more or less forgotten due to the predominance of the erroneous idea that dictionaries are books of words and not of “things” as many eighteenth- century lexicographers described their products. The article therefore makes a call to recover the holistic Enlightenment Age vision of lexicography and re-integrate “dictionaries of things” into modern lexicographical theory and practice.

Lernerlexikographie in Skandinavien – Entwicklung, Kritik und Vorschläge

The Scandinavian learners’ lexicography has developed as a response to the needs of the refugees and immigrants arriving since the 1960’s and has, as such, found its own ways. Learners’ dictionaries have primarily been designed to meet their needs in terms of learning one of the Scandinavian languages. The dictionaries are mainly bilingual, written by the immigrants themselves or by language teachers without any lexicographical training, but with a profound knowledge of the real needs of learners. A number of Scandinavian learners’ dictionaries constitute highly praiseworthy pioneer works without being characterized by high lexicographical standard. The only exception is the Swedish Lexin project which consists of a monolingual “parent” dictionary to which a number of bilingual dictionaries are attached. This project represents innovative lexicographical thinking made possible through public funding.

L2 Writing Assistants and Context-Aware Dictionaries: New Challenges to Lexicography

Dictionaries are increasingly integrated into other tools designed to assist the reading, writing and translation of texts. Write Assistant is a newly developed tool aimed at assisting people writing in a second language. It feeds on big data taken in from corpora and digital dictionaries. The paper discusses the philosophy behind the tool, the techniques applied, its empirical basis and functionality, as well as the extent to which it helps its users. It shows how the tool makes it possible to shorten and even skip some phases in the traditional information-search process and allows its user to maintain the focus on the message to be written without the need to consult external information resources. The paper shows how the underpinning technology gives birth to a new type of dictionary that is context-aware and provides a more personalised user service. But it also indicates that future dictionaries need to be conceptionally adapted to the specific tool in order to optimize the service. All this poses new challenges to lexicography.