Dictionary Visions, Research and Practice

Book excerpt: This book is about dictionaries and dictionary making. In six thematic sections it presents nineteen contributions covering a wide field within lexicography: Online Lexicography, Dictionary Structure, Phraseology in Dictionaries, LSP Lexicography, Dictionaries and the User, plus Etymology, History and Culture in Lexicography. Some chapters focus on theoretical aspects, others report on dictionary work in the making, and still others compare and analyze existing dictionaries. Common to all authors, however, is the concern for the dictionary user. Trivial as it may seem, the fact that dictionaries are meant to fulfill the needs of specific user groups has only recently achieved widespread recognition in the lexicographical literature. This volume shows the many ramifications of this functional approach to lexicography by presenting twenty-two authors representing the state of the art in eleven countries: Canada, Denmark, Germany, Great Britain, Iceland, Israel, Latvia, The Netherlands, Poland, South Africa and Spain.