How to make a dictionary- 23.10.07

ON DEFINING "DEFINITION"

In the beginning, Mr Gibbon introduced us to two different kinds of dictionaries, which contain different kinds of information:

-semsiological dictionary: reader´s dictionary, decoding dictionary
-> you know which word you´re looking for, but you don´t know the meaning

-onomasiological dictionary: writer´s dictionary, encoding dictionary
-> you know only the meaning and now you´re looking for the right word

After that Mr.Gibbon told us, that dictionaries are texts, and texts ave meanings. So dictionaries have meanings too. To make that clear he showed us a sign, which he uses in nearly every case:



Now we told about basic definition types and Mr. Gibbon told us, what good and bad definitions are.
Good definitions: - standard dictionary definitions: X is a Y kind of Z
- contextual definition
- recursive definition
- real definition: (a) ostensive defintions
(b) models (e.g. illustrations or the text/information model)
Bad (but sometimes unavoidable) defintions: -circular definitions

To give us some examples, he uses the "X is a Y kind of Z"- definition and the "Definitio per genus proximum et differentia specifica" (definition by nearest kind and specific differences).
Examples:

X is a Y kind of Z
a poodle is a dog with a special haircut

Definitio per genus proximum et differentia specifica
babble: to say or talk quickly and foolishly or in a way that is hard to understand
baby: a very young child, especially one who has not yet learned to speak or walk


QUIZ:
(1) What is a dictionary?
A dictionary is a collection of words, either in a printed or in an online version. Words are ordered alphabetically. There are different types of dictionaries.

(2) What kinds of dictionaries are there?
- monolingual dictionaries
- bilingual dictionaries
- Thesaurus
- Name dictionary
- Rhyming dictionary
- Glossaries
- Dictionaries of idioms

(3) What is the difference between a semasiological dictionary and an onomasiological dictionary?
A semasiological dictionary (reader’s dictionary, decoding dictionary) is a dictionary in that terms are described and sometimes put into a context. The definitions in this kind of dictionary are constructive definitions. In an onomasiological dictionary (writer’s dictionary, encoding dictionary) terms are defined by using similar words.