Chapter: lexicology and its object subject matter of Lexicology

3. Entry of a dictionary.
The entry of translation dictionaries presents the meanings of words with the help of other languages. Different types of dictionaries differ in their aim, in the information they provide and in their size. They differ in the structure and content of the entry. Compare the following dictionary entries from the point of view of the way lexical meanings are presented. For example. awful
I. N. C. Wyld. The Universal Dictionary of the English Language.
1. a ) apt to fill others with awe, inspiring awe; dreadful, apalling;
b) deserving and inspiring respect and reverence, solemnly impressive awful dignity.
2. (colloq) used as a mere intensive: an awful nuisance: awful nonsense.
II, The Concise Oxford Dictionary.
awful
inspiring awe, worthy of profound respect; solemnly impressive, (arch) reverential:
(si —notable in its kind as — — scrawl, bore, relief, something. HI. The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English.
awful
1. dreadful, impressive, causing awe. He died and death. His sufferings were to behold.
2. (colloq intensive) very bad, very great; extreme of its kind, what annuisance! what — handwriting (weather)!
IV. Collin's New English Dictionary.
awful
full of awe, filling with fear and admiration; impressive, venerable; ugly- unsightly; extremely.
V. Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language.
awful
I. inspiring awe. 2. Terrifying, appalling. 3. Worthy of reverence and solemn
respect. 4. (colloq) a) very bad, ugly, disagreeable: unpleasant, etc; as, an awful
joke, b) great as, an awful bore.
Compare the entry for the word arrive given in the following dictionaries.
arrive
Concise Oxford Dictionary
v. /. come to destination (lit, and fig) or end of journey (at Bath , in Paris , upon
scene, at conclusion; (as Gallicism) establish one's repute or position; (of things)
be brought; (of time) come; (of events) come about, [f. OF «ariver» f. L,
«arribare» f. L. A Dripare come to shore (ripa)]
Webster's Collegiate Dictionary.
arrive
v. I (OF, ariver, deriv. of L. adto+ripa shore, bank)
1. Obs. To come to the shore. 2. To reach a place; as, to arrive at home. 3. To gain
an object, attain a state by effort, study, etc; as. to arrive at a conclusion. 4. to
come; — said of time. 5. To attain success or recognition.
syn. arrive, come, arrive implies more definitely than come the attainment of a
destination. —v. t. Archaic. To reach; corns to.
Большой англо-русский словарь под ред. Гальперина И.Р.
arrive
v . i . ( at , in , upon ) — прибывать,приезжать, to ~ in London — прибыть в Лондон :
the police - d upon the scene —на место прошествия прибыла полиция ; to ~
punctually ( tardily , in good time ) — прибыть точно, с опозданием, вовремя;
sold «to ~ » ком . К прибытию ( yc ловия сделки при продаже товара,находящегося в пути ) 2. ( at ) ~ достигать (чего-либо,приходить (к чему-либо ): to ~ at
understanding — достигать взаимопонимания: to ~ at a decision — принять решение ; to ~ at a conclusion — прийти к заключению.
M. West. The General Service List.
arrive
v. 532. 1) Arrive home in London . Arrive at an age when . . . 74%: 2) The parcel
has arrived. The time has arrived when ... 11 %; 3) Arrive at a conclusion ... l2°/°-
Oxford Etymological Dictionary
arrive
+ bring or come to shore, land XIII; come to the end of journey, a goal, etc,
XIV;+reach (a port, etc) XVI; come to pass XVII. —OF ariver (mod, arriver,
arrive, happen) -Pr. aribar, Sp arribar: Rorn+arripare ccme to land, f ad+
ripo shore (of River) Formerly sometimes inflected + arove + ariven; cf
STRIVE. Jones' Pronouncing Dictionary
arrive
arriv/e-s,-ing, ed-[al/s] -[s'raiv]-3, [irj],-d, -[al/z]
The most complicated type of entry is found in explanatory dictionaries. The entry of an explanatory dictionary of the synchronic type usually presents the following data: accepted spelling, pronounciation, grammatical characteristics, the indication of the part of speech, definition of meanings, modern currency, illustrative examples, derivatives, phraseological units, etymology, synonyms, antonyms etc.
Selection and the arrangement of meanings of words in different dictionaries are different. They depend on the aim of the compilers. Diachronic dictionaries list more meanings than synchronic dictionaries of current English as they give not only the meanings in present-day use but also those
which have already become archaic or gone out of use. For example. SOD gives 8 meanings of the verb «arrive» while. COD lists only five. The meanings of words in dictionaries may be defined by means of phrases, synonymous words and exp­ ressions. Frequency dictionaries, spelling books, etymological, ideographic and other dictionaries may have illustrative examples.
''"The structure of the dictionary consists of an Introduction and Guide to the use of the dictionary. It explains all the peculiarities of the dictionary and also gives a key to pronounciation, the list of abbriviations. Dictionaries have some supplementary material. It may include addenda and various word-lists: geographical names, foreign words, tables of weights and measures.
«Students should know something about the large, unabridged dictionaries to which they have ready access in college. They might well be given brief sketches of the 'Oxford English Dictionary, The English Dialect by Joseph Wright, the old Century Dictionary (12 volumes) and the modern unabridged Webster. These may be called the «Big Four» in the dictionary field.
An acquaintance with these larger works will not only make the students aware of what kind of information about words is available in them, but it will leave him much better prepared to make efficient use of the desk — size dictionary with which he has some familiarity. «clinic» is from a Greek word meaning a bed, and the meanings of the word and those of its derivatives and combination stem from this significance. (MitfordM. Mathews)
The Oxford English Dictionary (OED) is not a dictionary to which you turn to see whether or not a certain word is a «good» word to use. It is a book which attempts scientifically to record the history and development of every printed word in the language from the time of King Alfred to the current date of publication ...
the OED does not try to set a standard for English. It tells you as completely as possible what the language is and where it has been.
The entries for single words in the OED "after" run on four pages. The word «set» with its definition and other materials fills more than eighteen pages «go» fills thirty — five columns and over seventy separate senses or given for «get».
In all the OED contains over 414.000 definitions, which are in turn illustrated by almost two million quotations. The total number of words in all the volumes is estimated at fifty million.
Thus, the OED records 414,825 words, of which 240.165 are main words 67,105 subordinate words, 47,800 special combinations and 59.755 obvious combinations. There are about 500.000 definitions and more than 1,800,000 illustrative quotations. There are 16,570 pages in its 13 volumes. (L. I. Stupin.)