Dictionaries Encyclopedias And Other Word Related Books Multiple Languages With English As One Language

Seminar paper from the year 2003 in the subject English Language and Literature Studies - Linguistics, grade: 2 (B), Bielefeld University (FB Anglistics), course: GK Linguistik 1b How to Make a Dictionary, language: English, abstract: There is a vast amount of different dictionaries available for users of the English language. All these dictionaries share the aspect that they provide information about English words and items, but they are also very different and need to be distinguished from each other. One may need a dictionary in one case and the same dictionary may be absolutely useless when one tries to solve another problem. “Monolingual learners’, general monolingual, and bilingual dictionaries present a problem: in spite of what may be advertised on the outside cover of these texts, no single dictionary can adequately serve all users. A variety of dictionaries is required to suit the backgrounds, needs, and expectations of individual language learners” (BATTENBURG 24). So different users and different questions require different dictionaries. One needs to know where to find the information asked for in a particular case, and one certainly needs more than one dictionary for different aspects of the English language. To avoid getting lost here, it is necessary to distinguish between the different types of dictionaries that exist. This report provides some suggestions for distinction, amongst other things established through empiric research. First, an outline of the different types of dictionaries is given, including general dictionaries (monolingual, bilingual), learner’s dictionaries, historical dictionaries and encyclopedias. Moreover, the typical structure of an entry in a dictionary is explained, because the dictionary entries examined later are mainly checked according to these parts of an entry; it is looked what parts they in- or exclude and how the parts are realized. After the theoretical part, the empiric research is documented. Five dictionaries (monolingual American and British, bilingual English-German, learner’s dictionary, historical dictionary) and one encyclopedia are compared in the way that three different items (general, encyclopedic, and regional) are looked up and the entries are compared in order to find differences and in this way get a guideline how and when to consult what dictionary.

Since the advent of the computer, terminology management can be carried out by almost anyone who has learnt to use a computer. Terminology management has proved to be an efficient tool in international communications in industry, education and international organisations. Software packages are readily available and international corporations often have their own terminology database. Following these developments, translators and terminologists are confronted with a specialised form of information management involving compilation and standardisation of vocabulary, storage, retrieval and updating.A Practical Course in Terminology Processing provides the key to methods of terminology management for the English language, for general and specific purposes. This unique course has been developed on the basis of years of teaching experience and research at the University of Manchester Institute of Science and Technology (UMIST, UK) and is particularly suitable for translation courses, freelance translators, technical writers, as well as for non-linguists who are confronted with terminology processing as part of their profession. The 1996 reprint of the paperback edition includes an index.

First multi-year cumulation covers six years: 1965-70.