Tradition and Innovation in Modern English Dictionaries

There has been an extraodinary increase in the production of monolingual dictionaries of English in the last three decades. Despite some interesting recent developments in dictionary design and layout, in many funamental respects the dictionaries of today are very similar to those produced several centuries ago. This book argues that this conservatism reflects the importance of the dictionary as culturally-constructed artefact. Dictionaries have remained the same because their traditional form exerts a powerful influence on polular ideas of what they should be. Contemporary research and theory will only filter through into dictionary-making when popular ideas about language and dictionaries change. This must be a slow process because the dictionaries are themselves such a powerful influence in the shaping of these ideas. Henri Bejoint is the co-editor of "Vocabulary and Applied Linguistics".Table of ContentPart 1 Dictionaries and the dictionary: definitions; types of dictionaries. Part 2 The lexicographical scene of English-speaking countries: the lexicographical scene of the USA; the lexicographical scene of Great Britain; other English-speaking countries; new trends and old traditions in English-language lexicography. Part 3 The historical origins of the general-purpose dictionary: pre-history - the first dictionaries; monolingual dictionaries from the Renaissance to the 20th century. Part 4 General-purpose dictionaries and society: the functions of the general-purpose dictionary; the popular image of the general-purpose dictionary. Part 5 What are general-purpose dictionaries really for?: the study of reference needs; the skills of the dictionary user. Part 6 The linguistic traditions of lexicography: lexicographpy and linguistics; lexicographical traditions. Part 7 Whither lexicography?: lexicography and the study of idiomaticity; word meaning and lexicography.