A dictionary is a book that lists words in alphabetical order and describes their meaning. .... include sections listing biographical and geographical names,.
DI C T I ON ARY SK ILLS Prof. Reima Al-Jarf 1998
Prof. Al-Jarf
Dictionary Skills
WHAT IS A DICTIONARY A dictionary is a book that lists words in alphabetical order and describes their meaning. Modern dictionaries include information about spelling, syllabication, pronunciation, word derivation, usage, synonyms, grammar and sometimes illustrations.
WHAT IS AN ENCYCLOPEDIA It is a collection of articles about every branch of knowledge. The articles are arranged alphabetically and they include definitions. Their descriptions go far beyond the information given in a dictionary. Encyclopedic articles are topical, dealing with the entire subject represented by the article's title. Encyclopedia's are about things.
TYPES OF DICTIONARIES Dictionaries can be classified according to : the number of languages, the age of the user, size, and scope covered by subject.
1. Number Of Languages Monolingual dictionaries: they are written in one language. they are chiefly intended for native speakers. They provide many kinds of information about their entry word. Each entry word is rephrased in words in the same language as the entry word.
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Bilingual dictionaries: They contain an alphabetical list of words and expressions in one language for which exact equivalents are given in another language. The purpose of bilingual dictionaries is to provide help for someone who understands one language but not another. Bilingual dictionaries may be unidirectional or bidirectional. They may go in one direction from English to Arabic or may be combined with another dictionary that goes from Arabic to English. Trilingual dictionaries: They consist of 2 widely understood languages as English and French plus one language having much more local use such as a little known African language.
2. The Age Of The User: School dictionaries: they have simplified and graded vocabularies, large type, and attractive graphics, attractive format and illustrations, sometimes in color. The are usually divided into: elementary school (ages 3-8), middle school (ages 6-10), and secondary school (ages 9-12). Children's dictionaries should have controlled vocabulary and limited definitions. Some have graded vocabularies. They assign a grade level to each vocabulary entry. High school dictionaries contain 75,000100,000 entries. Most high school dictionaries resemble adult desk dictionaries, but are set in larger type with more illustrations and have sturdier bindings. School dictionaries definitions are somewhat simpler than those of most adult dictionaries but their vocabulary is various enough for the student to find his own level. 2
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3. The Size Of The Dictionaries: English lexicon has about 4 million. It includes 700,000 in the Meriam-Webster files, 1 million words in the scientific vocabulary, dialectical words, slang, neologisms, exotic words (from other languages), trade names, words derived from place names, obsolete words and spellings of them; 6 million chemical compounds; 200,000 medical terms. Those include Latin anatomical words and expressions. college dictionaries: contain 130,000-160,000 entries. They are used in colleges and schools. For example: o Collins dictionary of The English Language o Longman New Universal Dictionary Desk dictionaries: They contain from 60,000-100,000 words. They can be picked up easily ate a desk. They do not have fewer entries than a college dictionary, but their definitions are briefer and fewer senses are given for each word. For example: o Thorndike-Barnhart Comprehensive Desk Dictionary. Pocket dictionaries: They have 40,000-60,000 entries. They are cheap dictionaries of small size (usually 4" X 6") with paper covers. They are good to use for spelling. Their definitions are close to synonyms. They often include small maps and population statistics. Unabridged dictionaries: They contain between 400,000-600,000 entries. They give full coverage to the lexicon in general use (in common use in the public 3
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press and in ordinary speech in both informal and reserved styles) and substantial coverage to specialized lexicon. For example: o Webster's third New International Dictionary. Semi-abridged = semi-unabridged: They contain 260,000 words
4. Scope Of Coverage By Subject: General dictionaries: Special subject dictionaries: there are subject field dictionaries in law, medicine, biology, electronics, architecture, geography, education, engineering. Some are limited to one aspect of language such as dictionaries of pronunciation, spelling, abbreviations and acronyms, synonyms, etymological, proverbs, quotations, and idioms. Specialized dictionaries tend to be more encyclopedic in content depending on concept rather than terms for classifying information.
5. The Language Of The User: ESL dictionaries: they are designed for those who are learning English as a second language. They provide detailed information on pronunciation, verb patterns and collocations. Definitions are expressed in simplified language and sometimes in a controlled vocabulary. They are designed to enable L2 learners to produce utterances in English not just comprehend them. There 4
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ESL dictionaries for beginning, intermediate and advanced students. The vocabulary of ESL dictionaries contain many idiomatic expressions and culture-specific terms. They contain information that ordinary monolingual dictionaries do not. They tell the user which nouns are countable and which are not, whether verbs are transitive or intransitive and what sort of objects they take if they are transitive. They tell how to inflect verbs, and how to compare adjectives and adverbs, whether adjectives occur before a noun of following a verb; how words are pronounced in British English and in American English and how compounds are stressed. For example: o Longman Dictionary of Current English o Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English
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ELEMENTS OF A DICTIONARY A. Front Matter: includes a guide to the use of the dictionary. The guide describes every part of the dictionary article: entry word, syllabication, pronunciation, inflected forms, various kinds of labels, cross-references, variants, etymology, synonyms and usage notes. The purpose of the guide is to describe as clearly as possible all kinds of information included in the dictionary, show the reader how to interpret the data given and provides clues for locating as quickly as possible particular items of information. A sample page from the A-Z section is often printed with various parts of the entries bracketed and linked to captions that identify each part and refer to sections of the guide where the items are discussed. Desk dictionaries include a history of the English language, pronunciation, usage, and regional varieties of English, etymology, the influence of linguistics on lexicography, computer analysis of language, pronunciation, Americanisms and Canadian English.
B. Back Matter: Contains various linguistic aids such as: lists of irregular verbs, spelling guides, tables of ordinal and cardinal numbers, tables of weights and measures and punctuation guides. Others include sections listing biographical and geographical names, different practical guides to writing, (pronunciation, grammar, style), forms of address, signs and symbols, lists of abbreviations, foreign words and phrases, and given names. 6
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C. Headword: It is the word you look up in the dictionary. Headwords are the words listed alphabetically throughout the dictionary.
D. Entries Consist of a headword and all the information about the headword. Types of entries: There are 2 kinds of entries: main entry and sub entry. Alphabetization of entries: Dictionaries alphabetize letter by letter rather than word by word. For example: power powerful power of attorney Idioms are listed in several places. They are usually run in at the end of the entry for one of the key words of the phrase. Most dictionaries list words under the first word, but exceptions are common. The entry/subentry system is used in scientific and technical dictionaries in which 50% of the total entries are phrasal entries. Phrasal entries are alphabetized under the governing noun and then alphabetizing (usually latter by letter) within the subentry field. For example: blood blood fluke blood bank blood poisoning blood clot blood pressure blood count blood test 7
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Some prepositions, connectives, or articles are ignored in letter-by-letter alphabetization. Chemical terms use the entry/subentry method of alphabetization. They are alphabetized letter-by-letter but appear as subentries if listed as 2 words. methyl cellulose would appear as a subentry under methyl not under cellulose , but methylcellulose would appear in its own alphabetic place as a main entry. The infinitive form is traditionally used for both the entry heading and the translation of verbs. Therefore, it is important to list inflected forms as headwords with cross-references to the infinitive form. Derivatives are usually run on at the end of the entry. They are defined separately if they have peculiar senses. Verbal idioms are listed in several places. They are usually 'run in' at the end of the entry for one of the key words of the phrase. Most dictionaries list idioms under the first word, but exceptions are common. Guide words: suffixes and prefixes compounds EXAMPLES
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au-tumn /O:t m/ AmE also fall--- n [R;C;(U)] the season between summer and winter when leaves turn gold and fruits become ripe fast-ness /fA:stn s 'fa st-/ n 1 [C] a safe place which is hard to reach (esp. in the phr. a mountain fastness) 2 [U] the quality of being firm or fixed: the fastness of a colour /of his hold on the handle USAGE There is no noun formed from fast when it means quick. Use instead speed or quickness. fat' /f t/ adj [Wa1] 1(of creatures and their bodies) having (too) much fat: fat cattle / a fat baby /you'll get even fatter if you eat all those potatoes 2 (of meat) containing a lot of fat 3 thick and well-filled: a fat book / (fig.) a fat bank account 4 (esp. of land) producing plentiful crops: the fatfarms in the valley 5 a fat lot of sl no; not any: A fat lot of good /of use that is! fit-ting1 /'fiti / adj fml right for the purpose or occasion; suitable: It is fitting that we should remember him on his birthday--- opposite unfitting fox1 /f ks faks/ n 1 [C] (fem. vixen) --- a any of several types of small doglike flesh-eating wild animal with a bushy tail, esp. b a type of European animal with reddish fur, preserved in Britain to be hunted and often said to have a clever and deceiving nature 9
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GCE abbrev. For: (in Britain) General Certificate of Education; an examination in one of many subjects set by various universities and taken by pupils aged 15 or over go on2 v prep [T1 no pass.] to use as a reason, proof, or base for further action: We were just going on what you yourself had said. if1 /If/ conj 1 (not usu. followed by the future tense ) supposing that; on condition that: "we can send you a map if you wish" (SEU S.) ep-o-ppe (ep' pe') n. [Fr. epoppe < Gk. epopaiia < epopoios, epic poet : epos , epic + poiein , to make ] 1. epic poetry, esp. as a literary genre. 2. An epic poem. ep-os (epos) n. [Lat. < Gk.]
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CONTENTS OF AN ENTRY HEAD WORD: It is the word that is defined by the dictionary.
(1) Pronunciation: a. phonetic transcription: Dictionaries use the phonetic or phonemic system to show the pronunciation of a word. In the phonemic system, the word is respelled in alphabetic characters with diacritical marks over certain vowels and with primary and secondary stress marks. The pronunciation key is usually printed on every 2 page spread. In the phonetic system, the International Phonetic Alphabet is used. The pronunciation key is usually included in the front matter.Sometimes, dictionaries show 2 pronunciations: Am and Br pronunciations. For ESL dictionary users, pronunciation is of great importance. Bilingual dictionaries generally show one pronunciation only. Pronunciation is regarded of secondary importance in BD. Some scientific and technical dictionaries show pronunciation and some do not. b. Syllabication: c. Stress: English has the following stress rules: 1. first syllable. For example: 'ne-ver , 'break-fast , 'Mon-day . 2. A number of words have two different stress patterns according to whether they are verbs or nouns, e.g.: 11
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absent, accent, conduct, convict, digest, separate, perfect, permit , present, suspect, transport. 3. When a suffix is added to a word, the new form is stressed on the syllable as was the basic word. For example: a-'ban-don a-'ban-don-ment 'ha-ppy 'ha-ppi-ness 'rea-son 'rea-son-able 'de-ve-lop de-'ve-lop-ment 4. words ending in -tion, -sion, -ic, -ical, -ity almost always have primary stress on the syllable preceding the ending , e.g. : 'pub-lic pub-'li-ci-ty 'bio-lo-gy bio-'lo-gi-cal con-'trib-ute con-trib-'u-tion e-'co-no-my e-co-'no-mi-cal 5. If a word ending in -ate or -ment has only two syllables , the stress falls on the last syllable if the word is a verb, but on the first syllable if the word is a noun or an adjective. When stressed , the ending is pronounced [eyt], [mEnt]; when unstressed, it is pronounced [It], [m ´ nt]. For example: create, debate, inflate, locate, climate, senate, private, cognate, ferment, torment, lament, comment 6. If a word ending in -ate, -ment has more than two syllables, the main stress will fall on the third syllable from the end. In verbs, the final syllable is pronounced [eyt], [m nt]; in nouns it is pronounced [It], [m ´ nt]. 12
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For example: ferment, demonstrate, implement, certificate, fortunate, delicate, intimate, ornament, compartment, duplicate, estimate,delegate, separate, supplement, complement, experiment 7. Compound nouns have a primary stress on the first component. For example: 'drugstore, 'thoroughfare, 'weatherman. 8. In compound verbs, the primary stress falls on the second component. For example: understand, overlook 9. In words ending in -ion, -sive, the stress falls on the last vowel before the ending. For example: re-'li-gion, com-'pan-ion, o-'pin-ion, pro-t'ec-tion, re-vo-'lu-tion, o-'cca-sion, agg-'res-sive, ex-'clu-sive, o-'ffen-sive, dec-la-'ra-tion, dis-'cu-ssion, comp-re-'hen-sion. 10. The majority of English compoounds have single stress. For example: 'banana-skin 'bedroom, 'blacksmith, 'doorstep, 'flowerpot, 'birthday, 'earthquake, 'house-keeper. 11. All compounds with a present participle, as the first element, have a single stress. For example: 13
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'dinning-room, 'playing-field,
'drinking-water, 'riding -horse.
12. A double stress is used in compounds of two nouns, if the first noun indicates the material of which or with which the second is made. For example: 'gold 'coin, 'gold 'dust, 'gold 'watch, 'glass 'case, 'metal 'wire, 'lead 'pencil . 13. A double stress is used in compounds consisting of two nouns, each indicating a different characteristic of the same person or thing. For example: 'boy 'scout, 'girl 'guide, 'woman 'teacher (2) Grammatical information: General dictionaries provide the following basic grammatical information: the part of speech of each entry. whether verbs are transitive or intransitive. whether nouns are count or non-count. whether the word should be capitalized or not. grammatical information about function words. ESL dictionaries provide different verb paradigms. safe idiomatic uses. scientific and technical dictionaries provide little grammatical information. Irregular plural forms as for Latin terms may be included.
Children's dictioaries do not include part of speech.
(3) Spelling: 14
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(4) Definitions: (5) Illustrative Examples: (6) Pictorial Illustrations: A picture is at best a representative of he type of thing defined.Concrete objects such as forms of architecture, animals, planta, and man other things marked by a specific shape, such as geometric figures are more easily grasped by means of illustrations than by verbal description. The primary purpose of illustrations is to depict unusual or unfamiliar things. Technical and scientific dictionaries often use pictorial illustrations as well as charts and tables to supplement their texts. (7) Cross Reference: (8) Etymology: It describes a word's form and meaning when it first appeared in english and describes its intemediate and ultimate forms and meanings in other languages. Etymology is not included in ESL dictionaries. They are often included in Scientific and technical dictionaries as they are believed to be essential for understanding meaning. (9) Labels: (10) Idioms: (11) Collocations: (12) Compounds: 15
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(13) Derivatives: (14) Punctuation: (15) Symbols (16) Labels (17) Usage (18) Arrangement Of Homonyms (19) Arrangement Of The Meanings Of Polysemous Words (20) Meaning denotative meaning connotative meaning collocations grammatical meaning polysemes homonyms synonyms hyponyms
SYMBOLS USED IN THE DICTIONARY
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DIFFERENT TYPE FACES USED IN THE DICTIONARY ABBREVIATIONS USED IN THE DICTIONARY 1. Vowels in put get but for cat far better II. Diphthongs late see go two cry house boy, noise III. Consonants /g/ / / / / / / / / / /
good chair Jordan three these shade 17
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/ / / / syllable type V CV VC CVC CCV VCC CCVC CCCVC CCCVCC CCCVCCC CVCC CCVCC CVCCC CCCV VCCC
Dictionary Skills
measure long example a the eat sit tree east stood street streets strengths sips treats depths screw asks
expensive explosion happy television financial
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transcription /iyt/ /sit/ /triy/ /iyst/ /stud/ /striyt/ /striyts/ /strehqs/ /sips/ /triyts/ /depqs/ /skruw/ / sks/
