5 Lexicology and Lexicography

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AnIntroductiontoLexicography
DICTIONARYMAKINGPHASEIIEDITINGSETTINGOFENTRIES
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DictionaryEntry Lexicographicword Contentoftheentry

Headword SpellingandPronunciation Grammaticalinformation
Meaning DescriptionandDefinition Equation
Illustrativeexamples Illustrativepictures Glosses
Crossreference Etymology Labels
5.1.Adictionaryentryusuallyconsistsofasinglelexicalunitanditslexicographicaldescription.Alexicalunitasapartofthelexicalsystemofalanguageisrelated
to the other units of the lexical stock of the language. But when it is presented in the dictionary in an entry form, it has a universe of its own. The entry presents
characteristics of the lexical unit as whole, its denotational representation of the extra linguistic world, its semantic characteristics, its relation and use with other
lexicalunitsinlargerconstructionsasalsothecultural,historicalandsocialpeculiaritiesitrepresents,
5.2Whatisalexicalunitwhichisincludedinadictionary?Itisthesameasalinguisticunit?Oneofthebasicproblemsinlexicographyisthedefinitionofthis lexical
unitorlexicographicword.itiscustomarytoequatethelexicographicwordwiththelinguisticword.(Rohra1978)thisisgenerallydonebecausethebulkofthelexical
unitsofadictionaryarewhatisusuallycalledwordsandthepopularlyusedwords'dictionary'and'lexicon'andotherwordsmeaningthisincludeintheiretymological
sensetheideaofword1.
Butthelexicographicwordisnotnecessarilythesameasalinguisticwordorunit.Awordisvariouslydefinedbylinguisticonthebasisofitsformandfunction.It is
described as "a minimum free form" or a "segment of a sentence bounded by successive points at which pausing is possible". As every language has its own
sentencestructure,thewordisalanguagespecificunit.Thescopeofthelexicographicwordismuchwiderthanthis.Alexicographicwordneednotbeminimum,or
free.
Berg calls dictionary 'a list of socialized linguistic forms'2. But all the linguistic forms do not find a place in a dictionary. In order to be included in a dictionary a
linguisticformhastohaveanindependententity,bothformalandsemantic.
Alexicographicwordmaybe,besidesalinguisticword,anyofthefollowing:
(1)Aletterlikeaorkbecauseofitsspecialfunctioninthelinguisticsystemandthetraditionofthelanguage.
(2)AnaffixHindiku,suEng.anit,pseudo,cracySanskritpari,pratiKhasinongMalayalamute,inte,kal(casesuffixes).
(3)AphraseoridiomoraproverblikeH.aaNkhcurraanaa'toavoidcatchingeyes'Bengaligand?aayand?aadeoyaa,'toavoidone'sdutyinthestateofconfusion',
H. miit?hii churii 'a sweet spoken traitor', red tape, chatter box, bread and butter H. aaNkh ke andhe naam nayansukh 'blind of eyes but the name enjoying the
pleasureofeyes'.Engtoerrishuman,Bengalijhaaljhaar?aa'topacifyone'sangerbyharshwords'.
(4)Agrammaticalstructurewithmanywordsorasentencebaatkhaaliijaanaa'thewordgoingunheeded'.
Alexicographergivesthewordsblackandboardseparatelyinthedictionarybutwhenhefindsthatthesewordsoccurringincombinationhaveaspecialmeaning,he
includes blackboard as a separate entry. As semantic independence is an essential qualification for the inclusion of a lexical unit in a dictionary free combinations
likeheavyrain,redflower,tejchurii,'sharpknife''kaceiirotii''unbakedbread'donotfindplaceinitbecausethemeaningispredictablefromthecombinedmeaningof
thecomponentswhereasheavyfather'seriousorsolemnpartinatheatricalplay'redtape,miit?hiichuriietc.areincludedinitastheirmeaningisnotpredictable.
http://www.ciilebooks.net/html/lexico/link8.htm#title 1/35
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The lexicographer does not include inflected forms of a word like girls, benches, lar?ke 'boys' rot?iyaaN 'breads' unless they show some semantic and functional
peculiarityoftheirownbutheincludesderivativeslikegirlish,lar?akpan'childhood'becausetheyhaveindependenceofmeaning.
As already stated a lexicographic word need not necessarily be a free form. Any bound morpheme with communicative peculiarities and having the potentiality of
being used in a new construction is as good a lexicographic word as the other. The examples of affixes are already given. The postpositions, particles and
prepositionslikeHindine,se,Eng.with,at,classifierslikeBeng.t?i,t?aa,khasingut,tlli,Maltoirwer,ortudonotoccurfreelybutthedictionaryincludesthem
becausetheyformthepartofthelexiconofthelanguageandmakecommunicationpossible.
The next qualification for a lexical unit to be a lexicographic word is that it should have independence in form. Independence of form means that it should be
unpredictablebyrulesofgrammar.Thatiswhyalltheinflectedformsofawordarenotincludedinadictionary,onlyirregularformsaretaken,soformslikeEng.her,
his,my,geese,kine,Hindiis'this',us,'that',mere'my'areincludedinthedictionaryandnotformslikecows,bacce'boys',aurateN'women'althoughthelatterareas
muchlinguisticformsastheformer.
5.3Dictionariesdifferinsizeandpurpose.Thestructureandcontentoftheentryalsodiffersaccordingly.Thecontentsoftheentryinalearner'sdictionarymay not
bethesameasinageneralreferencedictionary.Thetypeofdefinitions,thenumberofillustrativeexamplesandcollocationsdifferinlargerandsmallerdictionaries.
Anentryinahistoricaldictionaryhasspecialfeaturesofpresentingillustrativeexamplesfromdifferenttexts,elaboratetreatmentofetymologiesetc.,whicharenot
foundinordinarygeneralpurposedictionaries.Anentryinapronouncingdictionarycontainsnothingaboutsensediscriminationorillustrativeexamples.
Anentryinageneraldictionaryusuallycontainsthefollowinginformation:
(a)Headword,
(b)SpellingandPronunciation,
(c)Grammaticalinformationormeaning(alsoinflectedformsinsomecases),
(d)Meaning(definition,descriptionorequation),
(e)Illustrativeexamples(alsoillustrativepictures),
(f)Derivatives,
(g)Phrasesandidioms,
(h)Etymology,
(i)Synonymsandantonyms.
It is not necessary that every entry in every dictionary has all these informations. Some may not give synonyms and antonyms while others may add illustrative
examples.ThepronunciationmaynotbenecessaryforamonolingualIndianlanguagedictionarylikeHindiHindidictionary,meantfortheuseofanativespeaker.
Theentrycanbedividedintotwoparts.Thefirstpartiscalledlemmaandincludestheheadword,spellingandpronunciationasalsogrammaticalinformation.The
grammaticalinformationcanbetakenasapartofthemeaningalso.Thesecondpartgivesthedescriptionofthelexicalunitintermsofitsmeaningandusage.The
firstpartmayalsobecalledthelefthandanddescribedpartandthesecondparttherighthandorthedescriptionpart.
5.4 Head word The head word is also called the citation form or the entry word. What is a head word and how is it fixed for a dictionary? Some of the basic
characteristics of a lexicographic word which are coterminous with head word have been discussed above. The form and meaning are the main criteria for the
selectionofaheadword.forthisthelexicographertakesrecoursetothewordandparadigmmethod.Aparadigmisasumtotalorsystemofthegrammaticalforms,
characteristicofaword.inotherwords,theinflectedformsofawordhavingaconstantlexicalmeaninge.g.ghor?aa,ghor?e,ghor?oNhorse','horses',write,wrote,
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characteristicofaword.inotherwords,theinflectedformsofawordhavingaconstantlexicalmeaninge.g.ghor?aa,ghor?e,ghor?oNhorse','horses',write,wrote,
writtenformtheparadigmofaword.thenumberofformsinaparadigmisquitelargeespeciallyinthecaseofinflectinglanguages.ASanskritverbhasabout1350
forms,aGreekverbhasmorethan200forms.Alltheformsoftheparadigmcannotbegiveninadictionary.Thedictionaryisconcernedwiththeidiosyncraciesor
basic irregularities of a language which are not covered by the rules of grammar. All the inflected forms in a paradigm are accounted by rules of grammar. The
lexicographer abstracts one form from the total paradigm. The abstraction is governed by the inflexional characteristic of the languages concerned and the usual
practiceofexpressionbythemajorityofspeakers.Itisthemostcommonformintheparadigm.Thisformiscalledthecanonicalform.Someofthebasiccriteriafor
abstractionofthecanonicalformare:
(a)Generally,butnotexclusively,ithasthecapacityofoccurringinisolation,
(b)Itisthemostfrequentofalltheforms,
(c)Itcanstandforthewholeparadigm.
But the most notable criterion of abstraction of a canonical form is governed by the grammatical tradition of a language. Every language has a tradition of its
canonicalforms.ForSanskritverbstherootistheentryform.InGreekitisthefirstpersonsingularoftheindicative(Middlevoice).Hindi,PunjabiandGujaratienter
theinfinitiveformoftheverbinthedictionary.Kannada,TamilandMalayalamgivetherootformwhichisalsoimperativesecondpersonsingular.Somelanguages
givethenominativesingularasentryformfornouns(Hindi,Russianetc.)whileothersthestemform(Sanskrit).
The situation is quite comfortable to the lexicographer of languages which have some grammatical or lexicographical tradition of canonical forms. For languages,
whichdonothaveanygrammaticalandlexicographertradition,thelexicographerhastofixthecanonicalforms.Inordertofindoutthecanonicalformhehastodo a
completegrammaticalanalysisofthelanguage.Thecanonicalformneednotbeovertlyfoundinalltheformsofaparadigm.Itisareferencepointandisperceivable
inmost,ifnotall,formsoftheparadigm.
Although the lexicographer selects the canonical form as the head word for his dictionary, all the forms in a paradigm are to be examined carefully. If there is any
formintheparadigmwhichisirregularandcannotbecoveredbythegeneralinflectionalrulesofthelanguages,itistobegivenspecialtreatment.e.g.
Eng.goosen.pl.geese
sellv.pastsold
writev.pastwrotepp.written
Hindijaanaav'togo'pastgayaa
AbujMadiaarjn'bear'pl.arsk
Irregularformsshouldbeincludedinawaysoastobringforththeirrelationtothecanonicalformabstractedandirregularitiesexplainedasfaraspossible.
Generallysuchformsaretreatedinthefollowingwayinadictionary:
The canonical form is given as head word. the irregular form is given along with it in the entry. When the irregular form occurs at its alphabetical place a cross
referenceismadetotheheadword.e.g.
Hindijanaavi'togo'pastgayaa
gayaapastofjaanaaorseejaanaa
Eng.knowvipastknew
AbujMadiaarjn'bear'pl.arsk.
arsknpl.orarjorseearj.
Malayalamveekuka'tocome'pastventu.
ventuseeveekuka.
Atypeofirregularitytobenotedbythelexicographeristheoneregardingthedepletedparadigms,wheresomeformsarelackingintheparadigm.Theymayalsobe
calledparadigmaticgaps.Theclassicalexampleofsuchdepletedparadigmsaresingulariatantumandpluraliatantum.Theseformsareenteredinthedictionarywith
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calledparadigmaticgaps.Theclassicalexampleofsuchdepletedparadigmsaresingulariatantumandpluraliatantum.Theseformsareenteredinthedictionarywith
indicationoftheirpeculiarities.
AbujMadiadaringn.'pulses'onlypl.
notorn.'villagepeople'onlypl.
nakorongn.'earlymorning'onlypl.
HindigehuuNn.'wheat'onlysg.
aaNtaan.'flour'onlysg.
mamataan.'affection'onlysg.
Skt.aapasn.'water'onlypl.
praan?an.'life'onlypl.
Eng.disservicen.(singwithindefinitearticle)
trousersn.onlypl.
Russ.zoloton.'gold'onlysg.
molokon.'milk'onlysg.
chasin.'watch','clock'onlypl.
dengin.'money'onlypl.
Anothertypeofparadigmaticirregularityisfoundinthefollowing:
Eng.be,is,are,am,was,were
HindihE,'is',thaa'was',hogaa'willbe'
Skt.paa'drink'pib
Thesearethecasesofsuppletivismoraadesa.Herethecanonicalformissubstitutedbyanotherforminsomeformsoftheparadigm.Alltheseformsareenteredin
the dictionary separately and are indicated with the head word. a cross reference is made to the headword at the place of their alphabetical order. Such cases of
suppletivismarequitecommonwithpronominalformsinsomelanguages.
Eng.he,his,they,theirI,my,ouretc.
Hindivah,'he'usobliquesg.Unhobliquepl.
Sanskritasmad1stpersonpronounaham'I',mama'my'vayam'we'
Thedictionaryentersthemseparatelywithcrossreferencetothemainentry.e.g.
Hindiuspron.Obliquesingformofvah
Eng.herpers.pron.(asanobjectcorrespondingtoshe)
Sanskritmamagenitivesing.of1stpersonpronoun.
Bengalitahaake,taahaar(seese,taahaa)
Besidestheform,themeaningofthelexicalunitisalsotobekeptinconsiderationintheselectionoftheheadword.Ifanyformintheparadigmdoesnothavethe
samemeaningasthatofthecanonicalform,theformisgivenaspecialtreatment.
Theyaregiveneitherwiththecanonicalformwiththeindicationoftheirpeculiarityorgivenaseparateentry.
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Eng.2arm.N.1(usu.Pl.butnotfivearmsing.)weapons.
watern.(pl.onlyasinexamplesbelow)..cast(throw)one'sbreaduponthewaters,"doagoodactionwithoutrequiringreward,althoughlatersomeunexpected
returnmaycome".
Skt.'kr?paa'mercy'instrumentalsingularkr?payaa'please'
Thisisquiteclearinsuchcaseswherealexicalunithasdoubleformseachformhavingaslightlydifferentlexicalmeaninge.g.brother:brotherspl.ofbrother,but
bretheren'memberofsomecluborsociety'.Thescientificpluralsofindexandformulaasindicesandformulaeasopposedtogeneralpluralsindexesandformulas
arealsotobenotedhere.
5.5. Spelling and Pronunciation: The head word is followed by pronunciation. But it is an optional feature. It depends on the type of the dictionary. In a Hindi
dictionary for a native speaker this may not be necessary the reader can have his own inferences. But if the dictionary is not meant for the native speaker the
pronunciationshouldbegiven.Forlanguagesinwhichthereisnodifferencebetween graphemes and phonemes there is no need to give pronunciation. But for the
languageswhosewritingsystemdoesnothaveonetoonecorrelationbetweenthegraphemesandphonemesitisessentialtogivethepronunciation.
Shouldthepronunciationbegiveninthephonemicscriptorthephoneticscript?Intheguidetopronunciationinthefrontmatterofthedictionaryaninventoryofthe
phonemeswithalltheirallophonesshouldbegiven.Butshouldeachindividualentrygivepronunciationinadetailedphonetictranscriptionorinthephonemicscript?
Wouldtheallophonicdetailsgiveninthefrontmatterbeadequate?Orsincethepronunciationissoimportantthatthereaderistobeprovidedwithactual phonetic
transcription with all the entries to help him find ready information with each entry? An approach which is something like midway may be considered for this. As
suggestedbyKempMelone(1967,117)"Agoodgeneralprincipletofollowmightbethis,makethetranscriptionphonemicforalltheentriesexceptthosewhenthe
userofthebookmaybeexpectedtogoseriouslywrongunlessheisgivenphoneticratherthanmerelyphonemicguidance.Andnaturallythetwosystemsshouldbe
sharplydistinguishedintheusualway,thephonetictranscriptionbeingsetofbysquarebrackets,thephonemiconesbydiagonallines".
Another question associated with the problem of pronunciation is whether it should be given in the alphabet of the International Phonetic Association (IPA) or the
conventionalorthographyofthelanguagewithsuitablemodificationstosuitthepurpose.Itdependsonthenatureofthelanguage,thepurposeofthedictionaryand
ultimately, the decision of the lexicographer. If there is a vast gap between the spelling and the pronunciation in the language and if the dictionary is meant for a
foreign language learner the IPA may be preferred. But for languages whose orthographies do not differ much from the phonological system, modifications in the
existingsystemsmaysuffice.Butwhatevermodificationisdoneorwhatevermethodisadopteditshouldbeclearlyindicatedinthefrontmatterofthedictionary.
Manydictionariesgiveinformationaboutetymologyinthelemma.Somedictionariesgiveetymologiesattheendoftheentry.ThedictionaryofIndianlanguagese.g.
Hindi,Bengalietc.,providethisinformationwiththehelpoforigintagsindicatingthesourcelanguageandthesourceformofthelexicalunit.e.g.
HindikhopRaa(Sanskritkharpara)'sculp'
gallaa(Arabicgul)'noise'
Bengalichot?aks?udra'small'
JiinPersianjiin'thesaddleofthehorse'
Kannadasante(Sanskritsamsthaa)'weeklymarket'
Nepaliacaarpickles,chutney,relish.(loanwordHindiaaNcaarfromPersian)
Thelemmaalsocontainsvariantsoftheheadword.Whenthevariantsoccurattheiralphabeticalplaceacrossreferenceismadetothemainentry.e.g.
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Bengaligai,gaNii'aclassofBrahmins'
chot?,chot?o'small'
Maltoumg/umga'toembrace'
Hindidiwaar,diiwaar'wall'
d?haaras,d?haad?has'consolation'
Dogriakhbaar,akhabaar'newspaper'
Englishcrosierorcrozier
labour(USAlabor)
Thelastexamplepointstoanotheraspectofthelexicographicpractice.Ifitisdecidedtoincluderegional/dialectalformstheseshouldbegiveninthelemma.These
dialectforms,againwhentheyoccurattheiralphabeticalplace,maybecrossreferencedtothemainentry.
5.6.Grammaticalinformationormeaning:asalreadynoted,thegrammaticalinformationcanbetreatedbothasapartofthelemmaasalsooutsidethelemma.
Sinceithelpsintheidentificationoftheformofthelexicalunititformsthepartofthelemma.But,asweshallseelater,italsohelpsinfindingoutthemeaning.It
canbe,therefore,treatedasthesecondpartoftheentryalso.
Thequestionofgivinggrammaticalinformationinadictionaryhastobeexaminedfromtwopointsofviewthequantumandtypeofgrammaticalinformationandthe
methodofitspresentationinadictionary.
Thefirst and the basic purpose of indicating grammatical information in the dictionary is to indicate the morphosyntactic peculiarities of the lexical unit. But all the
grammaticaldetailsofalexicalunitcannotbegiveninadictionary.Thegrammarofthelanguagetakescareofit.Thelexicographergivesonlythemorphologically
and syntactically important information. This information relates either to irregular and unpredictable forms of the lexical unit or have some direct bearing on the
syntactical function of the lexical unit. For example gender in Hindi is arbitrary and unpredictable. The form and meaning of the word do not provide any indication
aboutthegenderoftheword.Again,genderinHindiisgrammatical.Thereisaconcordancebetweenthesubjectandverb.Soitisessentialforadictionaryof Hindi
togiveinformationaboutgender.Dictionariesgenerallygiveinformationabouttransitiveandintransitiveverbs.Needlesstosaythatthetransitiveverbobjects and
theintransitivedoesnot.Sowhenadictionarygivesthisinformationitgivesthesyntacticalcluetothereader.ThegenitivecaseformsofthenounsinRussianare
irregular.AlltheRussiandictionariesmarkthem.Inthesamewaywhenadictionaryprovidesinformationaboutcountableanduncountablenounsitindicatesthatthe
uncountablenounsdonothavepluralandiftheyhaveitthereisadifferenceintheirsignification.
Anotherpurposeofgivinggrammaticalinformationinthedictionaryistoprovideadditionalindicationofthemeaning.Grammaticalinformationisthefirstclueinthe
entrytounderstandthemeaningandfunctionoftheword.ForexamplewhenwemarkHindiaadmii'man'asnounwelocatethewordinthesystemandeliminatethe
possibilitiesofitsbeinganythingelse.Wealsopointoutthatithascertainstructuralpossibilities.
Thegrammaticalinformation,tobegiveninadictionary,isdeterminedbythenatureofthestructureofthelanguage.Thesimplerthegrammarofthelanguage,the
lesserthegrammaticalinformationneeded.
Therearedifferentwaysofindicatinggrammaticalinformationinadictionary.Theusualmethodisbyprovidinggrammaticallabels(abbreviatedformsofthedifferent
partsofspeech)withtheheadword.Itmaynotbeoutofplaceheretomentionthatthequantumofgrammaticalinformationdependsonthetypeofthedictionary.In
a learner's dictionary there is need of giving more grammatical information than in the general purpose dictionary. Special dictionaries like pronouncing and
orthographicaldonotrequiregrammaticalinformation.
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Thegrammaticalinformationcanbegiveninadictionaryinthefollowingways:
(a)togiveallthenecessaryinformationwitheachlexicalentry.Thisistheusuallexicographicpracticefolloweduniversally.
(b) to give the total grammatical information in appendix or introduction. All the paradigmatic sets are numbered and the entry word is provided with the particular
numberwhichischaracteristicofit.Suchdictionariescontainabriefgrammaticalsketchofthelanguage.
Anidenticalwayofgivingthegrammaticalinformationwiththedictionaryentryistogivethetypicalgrammaticalcharacteristicsofthelexicalunitsnotintheformof
thenumberindexbutintheformofthechieffeatureoftheunit.forexampleSanskritverbsmaybemarkedbygan?as.
(c)togivetheentryonlytheirregulargrammaticalinformation,theregularinformationbeinggivenintheappendixcontainingagrammaticalnote.
It depends on the nature of the language and the decisions of the lexicographer as to what method would be best suited for his dictionary. he may prefer to give
information about some grammatical categories in one way and about the others in another way. In some dictionaries the entries for only one class of words are
classified and marked. This, again, is governed by the nature of that class. If it is more complex it can be classified and rather than giving details about the
morphologicalnatureofthelexicalunitwitheachentry,theclassifiednumberscanbegiven.Wehaveseveralexamplesofthis.TheTamilLexiconclassifiesverbs
accordingtotheirinflectionalpeculiaritiesinto12groups.Theverbalentryisnumberedaccordingtothegroupoftheinflection.e.g.
kat?i111.v.tr.'tobite','biteoff'
InthesamewaytheverbshavebeenclassifiedintosixteengroupsintheMalayalamLexiconandtheentriesaremarkedaccordingly.
In An Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English verbs have been classified into 25 patterns and each entry has been marked with the number of the verb
patterns.e.g.cut.vt,&i1.(VP.1.7,10,18,19)'divide,'separate'.
In the Marathi Dictionary being prepared by the Maharashtra State Board for Literature and Languages, masculine and feminine nouns are classified into seven
groupsaccordingtotheirfinalvowels.Eachclassisfurthersubdividedaccordingtothefunctionofpluralandobliqueforms.Theverbsaredividedinto9groups.
ThepresentationofthegrammaticalinformationinappendixisverycommonindictionariesproducedinSovietUnion,especiallyLearner'sDictionaries.
Grammaticalinformationisalsogivenbyindicatingtheinflectedformsoftheentryword.e.g.
criterion(pl.criteria)
dizzyadj.(ier,iest)
donkey(pl.keys)
Ascanbeseenformtheabove,thisisdoneincaseofirregularformations.Butsometimesevenregularformationsareindicatedinthisway.e.g.
HindighoNghaa(fmghoNghii)'snail'
From the point of view of its nature the grammatical information may be either identificational or delimitational. The identificational information identifies the lexical
entryandisgivenwiththelexicalitemshavingtotalparadigm.Itpertainstotheprimarygrammaticalcategories.e.g.anyindicationofnoun,adjective,verbetc.The
delimitationalinformationisgivenwithlexicalitemswhichhaveonlypartialordepletedparadigms.Forexamplelexicalitemsoccurringonlyinsing.orpl.
Englishdisservice(singwithindefiniteart.Or(u))scissorsonlypl.
HindiaaNt?a'flour'onlysing.
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Abujmadianator'people'onlypl.
Russiandengi'money'onlypl.
Thedelimitationalinformationmaybegivenintwoways.
(a)Positive:Onlythatgrammaticalinformationisgivenwhichisabsentintheparadigmaticform.
Eng.scissorspl.only.
Hindimamataa'affection'sg.only.
(b)Negative:Onlythatinformationisgivenwhichisabsentintheparadigmaticform.
Eng.scissorsnosing.
Madiadaring'pulses'nosing.
HindigehuuN'wheat'nopl.
Whatevermethodisadopted,itshouldbeindicatedinthefrontmatterofthedictionary.itwouldbequiteusefulifabriefskeletongrammarofthelanguageisgivenin
the dictionary in the introduction or appendices. Here again, the nature of the dictionary will determine the form. In a monolingual dictionary the sketch of grammar
maynotbeasnecessaryasinabilingualdictionary.
Another thing the lexicographer could do to the greater benefit of the user is to give in the introduction the form of the entry words along with the grammatical
information.Itwillbemoreusefulifheindicatedthereinthebasisofchoosinggrammaticalcategories.e.g.
"An attempt has been made to keep the categories as generic as possible. Thus aux. will subsume tense, mood and aspect markers. All kinds of pronouns viz.,
interrogative, possessive etc. are brought under 'pronoun'. Particles will include intensifiers, interrogative particles and so on. Although case markers are also post
positions they are considered different categories because they differ in lexical content. Subordinators are subordinate clause markers". (Giridhar, forthcoming,
preface).
Theformofentrywordinthedictionarymayalsobedescribede.g.foraHindiDictionarytheformoftheentrycanbegivenasfollows:
(a)verbsaregivenintheirinfinitiveformasheadwords.Theyaremarkedfortransitiveandintransitive.
kahnaavt'tosay'
daur?navi'torun'
(2)Fornounsthedirectsingularformischosenastheentryword.theyaremarkedforgenderasmasculineandfeminine,e.g.
aaNkhn.f.'eye'
aamn.m.'mango'
thismaybeaccomplishedbysuchinformationascountableanduncountableetc.
5.7. The second part of the dictionary entry gives the semantic description of the lexical unit. The different components of meaning which together constitute the
semanticstructureofawordhavebeendescribedearlier.Therearevariousmethodsofgivingmeaningstolexicalunits.Theseare:
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1.Descriptionanddefinitionofthelexicalunit,
2.equationsthelexicalunitisequatedwithanotherlexicalunitofsimilarmeaning,
3.illustrativeexamples,
4.illustrativepictures,
5.glosses,
6.crossreference,
7.etymology,
8.labels.
Allthedifferentmechanismsemployedbythelexicographerarenotrequiredforalltypesoflexicalunits.Insomecasesonlyonemechanismmaysufficewhilefor
othersmorethanonemayberequired.Forexampleforatechnicaltermtheremaynotbeanynecessityofgivinganillustrativeexample.Butforapolysemousword
likerunthereisaneedofgivingasmanyillustrationsasthenumberofmeaningsandsubmeanings.Forborrowedwordsthesourceortheetymologyisconsidered
essential. For a lexical unit with restricted use some indication of its restriction is useful. Some words may be defined by the base or family words by cross
reference.
It is always useful to define a word in more than one way. As recommended by Urdang, "there should be no one way to define a word in defining (within certain
limitations), the end justifies the means and the end should always be to convey, as accurately and succinctly as possible, the sense of the word being defined".
(Urdang1963,587).
The meaning of a lexical unit is the sum total of its interpersonal impressions in a society. So the lexicographer has to define his words in the socially accepted
meanings.Thereisnoscopeforpersonalwhimsandfanciesinadictionary.Alexicographercannotdefineawordinthewayhelikes.Hehastodefinethewordasit
existsandnotasitshouldbe."Thewritingofadictionaryisthereforenotataskofsettingupauthoritativestatementsaboutthetruemeaningsofwords,butatask
ofrecording,tothebestofones'abilitywhatvariouswordshavemeanttoauthorsinthedistantorimmediatepast.Thewriterofdictionaryisa historian not a law
giver".(Hayakawa1941,55).
5.8Ofthemechanismslistedabovethedescriptionanddefinitionarethebasiconesfordefiningthewords.
The lexicographer gives the description of a lexical unit for giving the meaning of a lexical unit. this description generally, but no always, pertains to the extra
linguisticorencyclopaediccomponentsofthelexicalunit.e.g.
Hindicakorn.ekprakaarkaatiitarjocandramaakaapremiiaurangaarkhaanewalaamaanaajaalaahE.'Atypeofpartridgewhichisconsideredaloverofthemoon
andwhicheatsfire'.
UrduSekhn.'atitleofthedescendantsofMohammad'.
Bengalicaiin.'acreeperofthepippaliclasswhosebranchesandrootsareusedasmedicines'.
AbujMadiaaakaarn.'secondmonthoftheMadiayearfallingsometimeinJuneJuly'.
Maltokamanen.'ritualconnectedwithdeathceremony'.
AngamikEtsun.'AngamimontharoundMay'.
kenien.'asmallmilleteatenraworcooked'.
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Tangkhulaachonn.'sister(belongingtoanoblefamily),fromofaddressingalady'.
Naga
MarathivanseN'usedforcallingormentioningrespectfullyone'shusband'ssister'.(fromKelkar1968,148).
Thedifferentsemanticfeaturesofalexicalunitputtogetheraredefinedbyparaphraseorrewordingi.e."aninterpretationoftheverbalsignsbymeansofothersigns
ofthesamelanguage".(Jacobson1959,253)
Eng.couragen.'qualitythatenablesapersontocontrolfearinthefaceofdanger,pain,misfortuneetc.,'
Hindijau.N.gehuuNkiitarahkaaekprasiddhapaudaajiskebiijyaadaanekiigintiianaajoNmeNhotiihE.'animportantplantofthetypeofwheatwhoseseedsor
grainsarecountedamonggrains'.
Linguisticdefinitionalonedoesnotsufficetodescribeallthewordsofalanguage.Themeaningofmanyalexicalunitistheresultofaprocessofevolutioninvolving
historical,social,cultural,mythologicalandfolkloretraditionsofthespeakersofalanguage.Sowhiledefiningalexicalunitthelexicographerhastokeepall these
facts in his mind. We may illustrate this by some examples. When a lexicographer defines the word kaamaari 'Siva' in his dictionary, he has to keep in mind the
mythological lore in which Kama was burnt by Siva for causing disturbance in his penance. While defining the world bhagiiratha prayatna 'a great effort', the
lexicographerhastotakerecoursetotheculturalandmythologicaltraditionsofthepeople.When the word kanyaadaan 'giving away of the daughter in marriage' is
defined,thesocialcustomrelatingtothegivingofkanyaa(ayounggirl)inmarriageistakenintoconsideration.Whenthewordniyogaisdefinedinadictionarythe
lexicographerhasnotonlytogivethegeneralmeaninglike'appointment','responsibility'etc., but also the meaning 'an ancient Aryan practice according to which a
childlesswidoworwomanwaspermittedtohavesexualintercoursewithapersonotherthanthehusbandtobegetachild'.
LetusexaminethefollowingwordsinMalayalam:
peal?ahonorificpluralforafemale(pekal?)meaning'sister.
aaal?ahonorificpluralformale(aankal)meaning'brother'.
Thefirstwordisusedonlybythebrothertoaddressthesisterwhereasthesecondisusedtoaddressthebrotherbythesister,usually,bytheChristiancommunity
of Central Travancore3. These specifications of use are to be indicated in a dictionary. The Bengali word bar?gii means 'Old Maharastrian army'. But this meaning
may not be adequate for giving the complete picture of the word. it has to include some information about the ruthless ransacking and plundering of the cities and
villagesbythemembersofthearmy.
Thelexicographicdefinitionneednotbethesameaslogicaldefinition.Thelogicaldefinitionidentifiesthedefinedobjectorideabygivingitintotalcontrastwith all
otherthings.Itputsanobjectinaclass.Thelexicographicdefinitionputsonlythosefeatureswhicharesufficienttodifferentiatetheobjectfromotherunits.Thusthe
lexicographicdefinitiongivesgeneralfeaturestospecifytheobject.Itmaynotbethesameasrequiredbythelogicaldefinition.Adefinitionlikethefollowing,Hindi
sundar4jodekhnemeNachaalage'thatwhichappearsgoodinlooking'islexicographicallyadequatebutitisnotcompletelogically.Athingmaynotbepleasantto
lookbutitmaybesundar.
Wemayexaminethefollowingdefinitionofkoyal'cuckoo'inaHindiDictionaryandseethemeaningofsundar.Koyalfm.Bahutsundarbolanewaalaakaalerangkaa
paks?ii.'Ablackcolouredbirdwhichsingsbeautifullyi.e.melodiously'.Here,theappealisnottotheeyesbuttotheearandsundarisnotpleasingtotheeyesbutto
theears.
Inonefield,genusanddifferentiadefinition,thelexicographicaldefinitionisnearertothelogicaldefinition.Herethespecificisdefinedintermsofthegeneric. The
genus stands for all the semantic features or markers and the specific for special or distinguishing features. When we define the word kamal 'lotus' as 'a kind of
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flower' we include in the definition the features of flower which is the generic term. This is also explained in terms of hyponymy and hyperonymy. (3. 10) in these
definitionsgenusistheexpressionofthelogicaldefinition.
Thedefinitionshouldbeasprecise,accurateandunambiguousaspossible.Itshouldavoidunnecessarywords.Onlyminimumwordswithutmostclarityshouldbe
used for defining a word. In SHSS the word mahaapraan?a is defined as vyaakaran?a ke anusaar vah varn?a jiske uccaaran?a meN praan?avaayu kaa vi ses?a
vyavahaarkarnaapar?taa hE 'According to grammar that letter in pronunciation of which some special use of the praan?avaayu is made'. Here the form 'special
use of praanavaayu' is vague. It does not tell specifically as to how the air comes out of the vocal chords. vyaakaran?a ke anusaar is also unnecessary. An
indicationbythelabelVyaa.forvyaakaran?a'grammar'wouldsuffice.
HindimuuNgphalii!ekprakaarkaaks?upjis?kiikhetiiphaloNkeliyekiijaatiihE.'atypeofcreeperplantwhichiscultivatedforfruits'.Inthisdefinitionthewordks?up
isunusuallydifficultandthewordphaloN'fruits'isambiguous.
Wemaycomparethefollowingdefinitionsinthesamedictionaryandfindouttheunnecessarywordsinoneofthedefinitions.
battiis'thirtytwo'jogintiimeNtiissedojyaadaaho'whichistwomorethanthirtyincounting'.
baais'twentytwo'jobiisaurdoho'whichistwentyandtwo'.
HeretheuseofgintiimeNinthefirstdefinitionseemstobesuperfluous.Indicationthatitisanumeralwillbemoreuseful.Thesameisthecasewiththefollowing:
battissibattiiskaasamuuh'collectionofthirtytwo'.
baaisiibaaisvastuonkaasamuuh'acollectionoftwentytwothings'.
HerethewordvastuoNintheseconddefinitionisnotneeded.
Thedefinitionshouldbesopreciselyandaccuratelywordedthatitdenotesoneandonlyonesense,anditleavesnoscopeformisinterpretation.Itshouldclarifyall
thesemanticfeaturesoftheword.SupposewedefinetheHindiwordkursiiasekprakaarkiichaukiijobEt?hanekekaammeNaatiihE'awoodensquareseatused
forsitting'5.
In this definition the object defined need not be a chair only. It may be a stool, so the definition should contain something like 'a back rest or hands' to make it
specificforchaironly.
The definition should be inclusive. This means that all the words in the definition must also be defined in the dictionary. No word in the definition should be left
undefined.
Wemayexaminesomeentries:
TangkhulNagaEnglishDictionary:
ranrein.'assemblyofpeopleforthecelebrationofmarankasaa
marankasaan.'festivalofcelebratinganewlybuilthouseandtheerectionofatarung.
Tarungn.'atreeerectedinfrontofthehouseasstatussymbol,afterperformingsomeritual'.
Theseareexamplesformabilingualdictionary.Thepointmadehereisthis.Ifthetwounderlinedwordsmarankasaaandtarungwerenotexplainedinthedictionary
themeaningofranreiandmarankasaawouldnotbeunderstoodclearly.
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WemayexamineanentryfromaBengaliDictionary.
d?aakn.'call'aahvaana'call',sambodhana'address'.
Thedefiningwordaahvaanaisnotanentryinthedictionary.itisgivenasoneofthemanymeaningsofaahvaya.Thewordd?aakisnotgiven.Howcanareaderfind
themeaningofd?aak?
Hindi(SHSS)khanjanan.2khiNrrickerangkaaghoraa'ahomeofthecolourofkhi"nr?ric.ThereisnoentryinthedictionaryforthewordkhiNr?ric.
Theentryd?aakintheBengalidictionarytakesustoanotherfieldofdefiningthemeaning.Thewordd?aakismorefrequentandcommonthanaahvaan.Oneofthe
waystodefinealexicalunitistodefinetheunfamiliarwordsofalanguagebyfamiliarand basic words. Every language has a stock of words which are basic and
minimalforit.Thisformsthenucleusofthetotallexiconandconstitutesthebuiltinvocabularyofthelanguage.Asopposedtothesethereareperipheralandlearned
words.Suchwordsmaybecalledthebuiltoutvocabularyofthelanguage.
Thebuiltoutvocabularyisdefinedintermsofthebuiltinvocabulary.Inotherwordstheunknownisdefinedbytheknown.
Marathividhi'law'kaaydaa
saasan'government'sarkaar
pus?pa'flower'phuul
hindipaan?I'hand'haath
bhojan'food'khaanaa
But if the common words are defined by uncommon words it will create difficulties for the reader. The defining language or metalanguage should be very simple.
Difficultanduncommonwordsshouldbeavoidedasfaraspossible.Wehavealreadyalludedtotheuseofthewordkus?pinthedefinitionofaHindiword.
Careshouldbetakentolimitthenumberofwordsusedfordefiningaword.intheInternationalReader'sDictionaryofEnglishthewordlistof2400wordsisdefined
withinavocabularyof1490wordsselectedbyM.West.
Thedefinitionsshouldavoidcircularity,thatisthewordshouldnotberepeatedinboththedefinedanddefiningwords,e.g.
English6
continuity'qualityorstateofbeingcontinuous'
continuous'havingcontinuityofparts'
folly'stageofbeingfoolishorafoolishactoridea'
foolish'exhibitingfolly''proceedingfromfolly'
Hindi:
tasallii:'consolation'aasvaasana,saantvanaa,d?haaras
aasvaiisana:tasallii,saantvanaa,d?har?aas,d?haad?has
aasvaasan:saantvanaa,tasallii
Thedefinitionshouldnotbeunderspecific.Itshouldbeadequatetogiveacompleteandtotalpictureofthedefinedworde.g.
Hindit?aaNkaan.m.1.vahjiskedvaaradociijeN(praayah?kapr?aayaadhaatukii)jor?iijaatiihEN.'thatbywhichtwothings(generallyofclothandmetal)arejoined
together'.Cananadhesiveusedforjoiningmetalsbecalledat?aaNkaainwhichsomestitchingisessentiallyinvolved?Thedefinitioncouldincludethisfeatureinit.
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Narakacaturdasiikaartik kr?s??n?a caturdasii jis din ghar kaa kuur?aa katwaar nikaalkar pheNkaa jaataa hE. 'The fourteenth day of the dark fortnight of Kartik on
which the garbage of the house is thrown out'. This definition is quite good in so far as it gives the present description of the festival. But it has a cultural and
historicalsignificance.Thewordnarkaisthenameofthedemonkilledontheday.So,theinclusionofsuchinformationinthedefinitionisconsidereduseful
Wehavealreadynotedthesignificanceofcultural,socialandothertraditionswhilegivingthedefinitionofaword.
FloraandFauna:underspecificnessofdefinitionsisveryfrequentlyfoundinthetreatmentoflexicalitemspertainingtothefieldoffloraandfauna.Althoughgiving
equivalentsforthemisaproblemforalllanguagesforunwrittenlanguagesespeciallytriballanguages.Theypresentspecialproblems.Theusualwayofdefinethem
istogive'akingofgrass','atypeoftree','aspecies,ofanimals'etc.GivingLatinbotanicalandzoologicalequivalentsisanotherdeviceusedtodefinethesewords.
For a general purpose dictionary both the ways of defining are inadequate. Any grass is a kind of grass and every animal is a species of animal. What would a
generalreaderunderstandoutofit?Againageneralreaderisnotexpectedtounderstandawordlikeadbmosehausesculentusfor'ladyfinger'andazadirachtaindica
for'Neem'.
Ausefulwayofdefiningtheflora,asConklin(1967,122)putsit,isintermsoffolktaxonomiesbydefiningtheitemsunderhierarchiesofplantse.g.
oakpoisonoak,whiteoak
pinepineapple,pitchpine
Anotherapproachissuggestedbelow7.
Thefloraofanyplacemaybebroadlygroupedinthefollowingtwogroupsfromthepointofviewoftheirusefulnessandculturalsignificance.
(a)Thosewhichareusefulintheareasoffood,sheltermedicineandgeneraladornment,and
(b)thosewhichhaveminimalornosignificance.
Alltheplantsofthefirstgroupmaynotbeofequalsignificance.Thesemayagainbeclassedintogroupsonthebasisoftheirbeingcultivatedornot.
(1)Cultivated:Theplantscultivatedbythepeopleandgenerallyusedbythepeople.
(2)Protected:Notcultivatedinthestrictsensebuttheirgrowthwouldnotbeasluxuriantifleftalone.
(3)Wildbuthavingculturalsignificancereceivingnospecialtreatmentbymen.e.g.grasses,shrubs,etc.
(4)Wildplantswithlowculturalsignificance.
Thelexicalunitsofthisclassmaybedefinedbymakinguptheabovecriteriaasthebasisofsemanticfeatures.e.g.
Maltoeepu.n.'awildplant,thefibresofwhichareutilizedtomakechords'.
O:pon.'akindoftreethewoodisusedtomakecombs'.
gurnigoten.'afruitwhichisusedasacureforheadache'.
gurson.'atree,thefruitsofwhichareusedspoisontokillfish'.
Hindi poi: ek lata jiskii pattiyoN kaa saag aur pakaud?iyaaN bantii hEN 'a creeper the leaves of which are used for preparing vegetable and fried vegetablestuffed
preparationofgramflour'.
Angamiluou:'akindofbamboousedformakingflutes'.
Besidestheculturalsignificancementionedabovethephysicalcharacteristicsofthefloraintermsoftheirshape,size,colouretc.mayalsobegiven.Thefloramay
furtherbedescribedintermsofitscomparabilitywithothersimilarobject.Forexampleagrassmightbedefinedintermsofitsnearnesstoanothergrassoraflower
nearertoanotherflower.
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ThedefinitionbyLatinbotanicalandzoologicaltermshasaparticularadvantage.Ifbotanicaltermscanbegiventheobjectsmaybecomparedtoanotherobjectin
anyotherlanguage,sothatitprovidesalistofsimilartreesandplants.
Asimilarmethodmaybeappliedfordefiningfaunaalso.Here,again,besidesgivingthegenus,thesizeandotherphysicaldescriptionstheculturalsignificanceand
usefulnessofthespeciesmaybedescribedinthedefinition.
e.g.Malto
colgdundon.'alargebutterflywhichmakesthechildrencry',
hindijhiiNngur n. ek prasiddha chot?aa kiir?aa jo aNdhere gharoN khetoN aur mEdaanoN meN rahtaa hE. iskii aawaaj bahut tej jhiiN jhiiN hoti hE. 'A famous small
insectwhichlivesindarkrooms,fieldsandplains.IthasaverysharpjhiiNjhiiNvoice'.
Technicalterms:Thedefinitionoftechnicaltermsshouldhaveallthequalitiesprescribedaboveandbescientificallyaccurateandintelligible.Forageneraldictionary
the definition of the technical term should be such as can be intelligible to a nonspecialist. Then comes the question whether only the technical definition is to be
given or a general definition can also be given. For example should the Hindi word namak 'salt' be defined as Nac 1 or as ek prasiddha ks?aar padaartha jiskaa
vyavahaarbhojyapadaarthoNmeNekprakaarkaasvaadutpannakarnekeliehotaahE'afamousalkinesubstancewhichisusedineatablestoproduceatypeof
taste'.Thefirstdefinitionmaybeusefulforaspecialistinthefieldofchemistry,butthegeneralreadermaynotfinditequallyuseful.Soforageneraldictionarythe
treatmentoftechnicaltermsshouldbesuchthatittransmitstheideaofscienceintogenerallanguage.Itwillnotbeadequateincaseofthesewordstodefinethem
bysomeequivalentbutitwouldbemoreuseful,ifthetermsaredescribedalongwiththedefinition.Thisdescriptionmayattainthenatureofencyclopaedicdefinition.
e.g.
coaln.1.'Hardopaqueblackorblackishmineralorvegetablematterfoundinseamsorstratabelowearth'ssurfaceandusedasafuelandinmanufactureofgas,tar
etc.,'.
ForthetreatmentoftechnicaltermthefollowingremarkofBarnhartmaybequiteuseful.
"The vocabulary of science should be related to the general vocabulary of educated people so that the peculiar contributions of any science to our knowledge and
understanding of the universe can be made a part of general knowledge. The basic terms of scientific and technical vocabulary should be so explained that the
beginningstudentcancomprehendthemandrelatethemtothisexperience.Itshouldbepossible,bothingeneralpurposedictionariesandinspecializedtechnical
dictionariestoshowthatscientifictermsarenotmerelyhardwordsbutresultsofadifferentandmoreexactstructuringoftheworldbythescientistparalleldefining
isofgreatimportanceasarecrossreferencestocloselyrelatedterms.Theconceptofatomisrelatedtomoleculeandnucleusandprotononetermcannotreallybe
understoodwithouttheothers"(Barnhart,1978,1927).
Hereitmaynotbeoutofplacetoquotefromtheentryuppu'salt'inMalayalamLexicon.
uppu. a crystalline substance having alkine acidic taste extracted usually from sea water, it dissolves in water, added to food stuff for taste used as a
preservative'thentheentrycontainsthevarioususedofsalt.Thisdefinitiongivesmoreusefulinformationaboutsalt.
Alexicographercannotdojusticewiththedefinitionofallthetechnicaltermsinthedictionaryifhedefinesallofthemhimself.Hehastotakethehelpofexperts in
differentfields.Generallythebiggerdictionaryprojectshaveaconsultativeboardwhichgivesadviceinthematterofthedefinitionofthetechnicalterms.
Syntaxofthemetalanguage:Thelexicographerhastokeepthesyntaxofthemetalanguageinview.Asfaraspossiblethedefinitionshouldbesuchasitcanbe
substitutedforthedefinedwordinacontext.Forthisitisnecessarythatthedefinitionshouldbeinendocentricphrase.Thismeansthatthegrammaticalcategoryof
thedefiningwordorphraseorthetotaldefinition/constructionshouldbethesameasthatofthelexicalunitdefined.Forthisthepossibilitiesofcollocationsshould be
clearlyindicatedbythemetalanguage.Thusanounistobedefinedbyanounphrase,averbbyaverbphrase,anadjectivebyanadjectivephraseetc.
H.naramadj.mulaayamadj.'soft'
thaaliinbhojankarnekaaekprasiddhachichlaabartan
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thaaliinbhojankarnekaaekprasiddhachichlaabartan
'afamousshallowutensilfortakingfood'
Eng.cutn.'actofcutting'
cutv.'divideorseparate','makeanopening'
Bengalitaagaasub.Baahuteparibaaralakaarvises?a'aparticularornamentwornonthearms'.
Angami.unurhi.vi'tohavepresenceofmind''tobealert'.
Thisprinciplecannotbeadheredtostrictlysometimesandthedefinitionistobegivenwithdifferentstructureofthemetalanguage(Weinreich1967,39).
Eng.atprep.(placeanddirection)indicatingtheplaceinwhichsomethingorsomebodywas,isorwillbe.
Hindikaasuffix1.sambandhyaas?as?t?hii(vibhakti)kaacinha'markerofthegenitivecase'
Bengalit?aaBanglaanirdesakapratyayavises?asankhyaabaaparimaannirdesa.'Aparticularsuffixetc.indicatingnumeralormeasurementinBengali'.
Khasinongprefix'expressingagent'.
Maltoortuadj.'one(classifierforhumanbeings)'.
Repetition in Definition: the lexical units defined are sometimes used for defining new related lexical units. Here usually the derivatives are defined by the base or
familywordsdefined.e.g.
seal.n.1.'apieceofwax,leadetc.s?tampledwithadesign,attachedtoadocumenttoshowthatitisgenuineortoaletter,packet,box,bottle,dooretc.toguard
againstitsbeingopenedbyunauthorisedpersons'.
sealvt.'toputaseal'.
Hindijaann.f.praan?,jiiv,'life'
Jaandaaradj.jismeNjaanho(whichhaslife)
naramadj.'soft'
naramin.naramhonekaabhav.'thestateofbeingsoft'.
Bengalikaajaln.'collirium'
kaajalaaadj.'kaajalbarn?ara'ofthecolourofcollirium'.
This practice of defining can be used with advantage because it not only saves space but also indicates the interrelationship of different words. It also stops the
broadeningoftherangeofthemeaningofthederivative,leadingtoambiguityattimes.Gove(1967,10)givesaveryinterestingexample:
'The adjective bothersome is best defined by 'causing bother' in a dictionary that defined bother a few lines away. To define it by 'causing trouble or annoyance'
sweepsupandincludesallthemeaningsoftroubleandannoyanceandaddsthemtothoseofbother'.
Hindi vajanii has been defined as jiskaa bahut bojh ho, 'which has much weight'. It can be defined as jiskaa bahut vajan ho. vajan and bojh are not absolute
synonyms.Oneseeshisvajanonaweightingmachinenothisbojh.Againonecarriesthebojh'responsibility'ofhisfamilyandnotthevajanofit.Sobyputtingbojh
inthedefinitioncertainadditionalandunapplicablefeaturesareaddedtothedefinitionoftheword.
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Hindipesaabn'urine'muut,muutra
pesaabkhanaan.vahsthaanjahaaNlogmuutratyaagkaratehoN.'theplacewherepeoplepassurine'.
Herethereaderhastorefertothedefinitionofmuutratyaaginplaceofwhichpesaabcouldhavebeengivenwhichwouldhavehelpedthereaderstopunnecessary
turningofpagestofindoutthedefinitionofmutratyaag.Andevenifmuutratyaagisdefinedaspesaabkarnaathereaderwillhavetogothroughdoublererouting.
Thisphenomenoniscalledtruncateddefinition.Inusingtruncateddefinitionsthelexicographerhastokeepinmindthefollowingthings:
(1)Thetruncateddefinitionshouldbeformedon'etymologicallymorebasicwordinthefamily'(Gove1967.12)andnotonthederivedword.e.g.completeadj.should
notbedefinedas'whichhasachievedcompletion'rathercompletionshouldbedefinedas'anactofbeingcomplete'.
Hindikrodhn'anger'cannotbedefinedasthenatureofkrodhiibutkrodhiishouldbedefinedasonewhohaskrodhinhisnature.
(2)Theuserofthedictionaryshouldnotbeputtomorethanonereroutingbeforehearrivesattheprimarydefinition.e.g.perfectibleadj.'capableofimprovementor
perfection'.
perfection n.1. 'a quality or state of being perfect'. For knowing the meaning of perfectible the reader has to see the definition of perfect again. If perfectible was
definedintermsofperfectthereaderwouldhavebeensavedofthetroubleofgoingthroughperfection8.
(3)Ifthetruncateddefinitionusesanyoneofthemanynumberedsensesofthebaseword,itshouldbemarkedinthedictionary.Theexampleofsealn.andsealv
isalreadynoted.
Hindi
dhuupaghar?iin.ekyantrajisasedhuupmeNsamaykaajaanhotaahE.
'Amachinebythehelpofwhichtimeisknowninsunlight'.Theworddhuuphasthreemeanings9.
(1)fragrantsmoke.
(2)incense
(3)sunlight
Ifthenumberofthemeaningisindicatedthedefinitionwouldavoidambiguity.
5.9.Equationsoruseofthewordsofsimilarmeaningfordefinition:thelexicalunitswithsimilarmeaningareusedfordefininginthedictionaryintwoways:
(a)Inadditiontothedefinitionsand
(b)Alone,withoutanydefinition.
(a)Manydictionariesgivesynonymouswordsinadditiontothedefinitionofalexicalunittobringforththefinershadesofmeanings.e.g.
eng.curlvt.2.'toformintoaspiralorcurvedshape'coil
Hinditamaacaan.hatheliiauruNgaliyoNsegaalparkiyaahuaaprahar.'theblowonthecheekbypalmandfingers'thappar?'slap'.
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As a matter of fact, synonyms are superfluous if the definition of the lexical unit is adequate to describe the lexical unit clearly and unambiguously. Nevertheless,
therearecertainlexicalunitsforwhichthesynonymsaddtotheclarityindefinition.Forpolysemouswordsthesynonymscanbegivenwithdifferentmeaningsand
submeanings.Besidehelpinginthedisambiguationofpolysemytheyprovidethereaderwithanotherwordforuseinsimilarcontexts.
Hindiboliin.1.muhsenikaaliihuiaavaaj,'voicecomingoutofthemouth'vaan?ii'voice','speech'.
2.arthayuktasabdayaavaakya'significantwordorsentence'vacana'promise'baat'talk','discourse'.
3.vahsabdasamuuhjiskaavyavahaarkisiipradesakenivaasiiapnaavicaarprakat?karnekeliekartehEN.N'thegroupofwordswhichthepeopleofsomeregion
useforexpressingtheirthoughts'bhas?aa'language'.
Synonymshelpindefiningtheoverlappingareasofmeaning.indefiningbywordsofsimilarmeaningitusuallyhappensthatthedefiningworddoesnotgivethetotal
semanticrangeofadefinedword.Somesemanticfeaturesofthelexicalunitmaybeleftundefinede.g.Hindisokan.'mourning'cannotbedefinedbydukhmeaning
'anytypeofsorrow'.Soothersynonymsofthesetlikedard,vis?aadaaetc.aregivensothatthetotalmeaningofallthesynonymsapproximatesthesemanticrange
ofthelexicalunit,therebyexplainingcertainoverlappinginthemeaningsofallthelexicalunits.
In English peace and tranquility one of the meanings of peace 'involving physical and or psychological state of calm' overlaps the meaning of tranquility. So when
peaceisdefinedintermsoftranquilitythatoverlappingofmeaningisexplained.(Nida,1975.98).
Itdependsonthetypeandscopeofadictionarywhethertogivesynonymsinadditiontothedefinitionsornot.Biggerdictionarieshavegreaterscopeforthis.The
smaller dictionaries normally do not give both. In the latter, the lexical units are usually defined by the words of similar meaning. Some dictionaries, specially
American,givealistofsynonymsattheendoftheentry.Othersgivesynonymsalongwiththedefinitionsofthedifferentsensesandsubsensesofthepolysemantic
words.
(b)Theuseofwordsofsimilarmeaningalone:Thewordsofsimilarmeaningareequatedwiththelexicalunittogiveitsmeaning.Mostofthedictionariesusethis
device.Thefollowingtypesoflexicalunits,besidesothers,aremoreusuallydefinedbythelexicalunitofsimilarmeaning.
(i)unfamiliarandlearnedwordscouldbeexplainedbytheircommonandbasiccounterparts.(See3.8).
Hindipuraatanaadj.'old'puraanaa
jaln.'water'paanii
nayann.'eye'aaNkh
Beng.kat?i~kat?iin.'waist'komar
tanduln.'rice'caaul
Eng.fraternaln.brotherly
legaladj.lawful
(ii)Themeaningofobsolete,archaicandrarewordsisgivenbycontemporaryandcommonwords:
Hindinirmaan?avt.'tomake','construct'banaanaa
aaharn.'time'samay
jhakhin.'fish'machlii
Bengalicaturdhaa'fourtimes'caarbaar
marks?an?a'apply'maakhaa
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Englishalbeitalthough
Whilomformerly
(iii)Themeaningsofdialectalandstylisticvariationsaregivenbywordsofsimilarmeaningsinthestandardlanguageandthestylisticallyneutralsynonyms.e.g.
Hindijhar?apn.'storm'jhoNkaa
Jhalamal'brightness'camak
Englishkickthebucket'todie'(slang).
Ifawordwithemotiveorstylisticconnotationisdefinedintermsofadenotativewordtheadditionalsemanticfeatureofthedefinedwordshouldbeindicatedsuitably
byglosses,labelsandotherdevices.e.g.
H.tariinifm.'submountainregion'.talahat?ii(Bundeli)
bhakosanaav.'toeat'khaanaa(vulgar0
ularanaav.'tothrow'uchaalnaa(dialect)
Eng.cuteshortforacute
assbuttocks(slang)
Synonymsareusedfordiscriminationofthesensesofpolysemouswords.Differentmeaningsofapolysemouswordcanbesingledoutbygivingsynonyms.e.g.
handsomeman'abeautifulman'
handsomereward'agenerousreward'.
Antonymscanalsobeusedfordefiningsomewords,speciallythepolysemouswords.
Hindimulaayam'soft'sakhtkaault?aa
oppositeofhard.
Englishlight(colour)oppositeofdark
deep(water)oppositeofshallow
wide(difference)oppositeofslight.
5.10.Illustrativeexamples:Verbalillustrationsshowingawordinacharacteristicrevealingcontextareusedforfurtherclarifyinganddistinguishingslightshadesof
meaning. All dictionaries, except a few special ones, use this device. The special dictionaries which do not give examples are dictionaries of frequency count,
orthographicdictionaries,pronouncingdictionariesandreversedictionaries.Sincethepurposeofthesedictionariesistoprovidedifferenttypesofinformationandnot
meaningthereisnoneedofgivingexamplesinthem.
Theusefulnessofexamplesismanifold.Theveryfirstpurposeofexamplesistoshowconcretelythatalexicalunitexistsinthelanguagewithaparticularmeaning.
They help to illustrate the first and last known occurrences of the lexical unit, its typical collocations, sense discrimination of words with multiple meanings, the
differentiationofsynonymsetc.Theillustrativeexampleshelpknowingthegrammaticalcategoriesandthestylisticpeculiaritiesofalexicalunit.Wemayquotefrom
Gleasonregardingtheuseofillustration:
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"The central place in the entry in most cases might be given to what are conventionally called 'illustrations'. They are simply carefully selected and properly
editedcontextsfortheentryword.whataretraditionallycalleddefinitionsmightthenbeconsideredexplanatorycommentoncitations,rubricstoindicatewhat brings
togetheragroupofthemandwhatpeculiaritiesaresignificant.Definitionscanbecentralonlyifthefunctionofadictionaryisactuallytotellwhatawordmeans.Ifit
israthertohelpthenormalprocessoffindingsensesthecitationsmustbecentralfortheyaretheinputinsensediscoveringprocess"(fromBarnhart1979,102103).
Some basic questions are to be considered while giving illustrative examples in a dictionary. Which words are to be given without examples? Which lexical units
requiremoreillustrativeexamples?Whatshouldbethelengthofexamples?Shouldthelexicographergiveconstructedexamplesorhashetogivequotationsfrom
writtentextsonly?Shouldthequotationsbegivenwithcitationsorwithoutcitations?
Answerstothesequestionsdependonthetypeofthedictionaryandthetypeofthelexicalunit.asamatteroffact,nolexicalunitshouldbegivenwithoutillustrative
examples.Onlyafewwordsusedastechnicaltermscanbegivenwithoutexamples.Butevenfortechnicaltermsillustrativeexamplesareusefulindisambiguating
thepolysemyofsometechnicaltermsusedinmorethanonebranchofhumanknowledge.Forthesetheillustratedexampleshelpinlocatingtheparticularsubject
field.e.g.
Eng.
casen.1(medicine)personsufferingfromadisease,instanceofadiseasedcondition:Therewerefive~sof(fivepersonssufferingfrom)influenza.
2.(law)questiontobedecidedinalawcourt,the~forthedefendant,thestatementoffactsetc.inhisfavourwhenwillthe~comebeforethecourt?
3.(grammar)(changeinthe)formofanounorpronounthatshowsitsrelationtoanotherword:ThefirstpersonpronounhasthreecasesI,meandmy.
H.
samiikaran?an.1.(maths)gan?itameNvahkriyaajiseekisiijaatraasikiisahaayataasekoiiajaatraasijaaniijaatiihE.'Inmathematicsthatactionbywhichsome
unknownnumberisknownwiththehelpofsomeknownnumber'.samiikaranakaasiddhaantapar?haanaapaNcaviiNkaks?aakegan?itkepaat?hyakramasesuruu
hojaatahE.'Theteachingofequationstartsformthemathematicssyllabusofclassfive'.
2. (grammar) ek prakaar kaa dhvani parivartan, savarn?ya saaruupaya tathaa anuruupataa bhii iske anya naam hEN. 'a type of phonetic change. saavarn?ya,
saaruupyaandanuruupataaareitsothernames.'.
samskritakeyugmavyajanapraakr?tameNsamikaran?akedvaaraasaralhogaye.'TheconjunctconsonantsofSanskritweresimplifiedbyassimilationinPrakrit'.
ThatillustrativeexamplesareneededfortechnicaltermshasbeenemphasisedinthefollowingstatementofBarnhart.(1978.103).
"Technicaltermscanbeexplained,then,bysimplifyingthedefinitionsusingtechnicaltermswithexplanationasGoldindoesorbygivingillustrativequotations".
Theillustrativeexampleshelpinclearlydefiningthepolysemouswords.Evenifapolysemouswordhasbeenclearlydefined,theillustrativeexampleshavetheirown
significanceingivingconcretereferencesofthecollocationalpossibilitiesoftheword.e.g.
handsome(1)'offineappearance'Heisahandsomefellow.
(2)'generous'Hesaidsomeveryhandsomethingsaboutyou.
takevt.(1)getorlayholdofwiththehand(s)oranyotherpartofthebodytakesomethingonone'sback.
(2)carrytaketheluggageupstairs
(3)eatordrinktakefoodintime.
(4)marry(olduse)whydon'tyoutakeawife.
(5)findout(byenquiry,measurement)thedoctortookmytemperature.
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Hindigharhasmanymeaningswhichcanbeexplainedinabetterwaybyexamples.e.g.usakaagharacchaahE'hishouseisgood',meraagharbanaarashE.'My
birthplace/nativeplaceisBanaras'.vahbar?egharkiibet?IhE.'sheisagirlformahighfamily'.
The illustrative examples clearly indicate the semantic features particular to certain synonyms in the synonymous group. In other words sense discrimination of
synonymsisknownformthecontext.
Hindivaran?,cayanandcunaavallrefertotheexerciseofone'sjudgementinordertofixuponone(ormore)ofanumberofthingsastheone(orones)tobetaken,
accepted,adoptedorthelikevaran?ismakingaselectiononagivenbasisandcunaavisanexerciseinchoicemakingingeneral.(Bahl1974:26.27).Thefollowing
exampleshelpinthesensediscriminationofthesynonyms,e.g.
varan?:candrasekharaajaadnedesakiisvatantratakeliyemr?tyukaavaran?kiyaa.'ChandrasekharAzadselected(preferred)deathforthefreedomofthecountry'.
cayan:adhyaksakenaaanekiivajahsecayansamitikiibEt?haknahosakii.'Themeetingoftheselectioncommitteecouldnotbeheldbecauseofthenotcoming
ofthePresident'.
cunaav.vahsartyahrehegiikipart?anarkaacunaavtaasoNparnachor?akarhamlogsvayamkarleN.'Theconditionisthis(i.e.Ipropose)thatwechooseparties
ourselves'.(Bahl.1974:27).
Setcombinationofwords(includingsetexpressions,idiomsandproverbs)requireillustrativeexamplesforbeingclearlyexplained.Thedefinitionandmeaningof the
idioms and set expressions are not adequate to explain them. The examples provide references and guides for their usage and collocational peculiarities e.g. get
away'managetoleave''escape'Twooftheprisonersgotaway.
seesomebodythrough'givehimsupport,encouragementuntiltheend'youwillhaveadifficulttime,butI'llseeyousafelythrough.
Intheaboveexampleswefindthatalthoughthemeaningsaregivenwithidiomstheillustrativeexamplesmakethemmoreunderstandable.
H.atar?iyoNmeNbalpar?naa.'tohavepainintheintestines'.haNstehoNsteatar?iyoNmeNbar?par?gaye'gotpaininintestineslaughing'aklasat?hiyaanaa'tobe
superanuated'isbud?dh?ekiiaklatosat?hiyaagayiihE.vahanaapsanaapbaktaahE'Thismanhasgonesuperannuated.Hespeaksuselessly'.
Examplesareusefulfordefiningfunctionwords.Ithasalreadybeennotedthatasthereisnodenotatumorreferentforthefunctionwords,alexicographerdescribes
thedifferentfunctionsofthesewords.Thesimpleverbaldescriptionsoftheirfunctionsmaynotbeadequate.Ifsupplementedbyactualcontextsitprovidesthetotal
semanticrangeofthewordasalsoitscollocationalpossibilitiese.g.withprep.1.'having','carrying','characterisedby'acupwithabrokenhandle,awomenwithan
angrylookinhereyes.
Theexamplesillustratethemeaningofthewordmoreclearlyandshowthesyntacticalpeculiaritiesofthelexicalunit.Thefollowingexamplesgivefurtherelucidation
tothemeaningwithtoindicateaccompanimentorrelationship.
awalkwithafriend,mixonesubstancewithother.
Hinditakkisiibaatyaakaaryakiisiimaaathwaaavadhisuucitkaranevaaliivibhakti.'suffixdenotingthelimitorendofamatteroranaction'.
Thedefinitiongivesthereaderthemeaningofthewordbutfromthishecannotknowtheactualusageorthedifferentmeanings'upto''asfaras','until','by'etc. The
followingillustrativeexamplesprovidethisinformation.
gaaNwtakjaanaa'togouptothevillage'.
kaltakrahnaa'tostaytilltomorrow'
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vahakt?ubartaklaut?egaa.'HewillreturnbyOctober'.
HindineisdefinedinaSHSSas'apostpositionusedwiththepasttenseofthetransitiveverbs10'.Thisdefinitiondoesnotgivethefullsemanticstructureofthe
lexicalunitnordoesitgiveanyclueofitsdifferentusages.Thefollowingexamplesillustratethefurtherusesofthelexicalunit:
mohanneuskesaathnaacaa.'Mohandancedwithhimorher'.usnehaNsdiyaa'helaughed'.
usnejorsechiiNkaa.'hesneezedloudly'.
ItisseenfromtheaboveexamplesthatneisusedwiththeverbshaNsnaaandchiiNknaawhicharenottransitive.Thedefinitioninthedictionarystipulatesthatne
couldbeusedinasentencewithtransitiveverbsbuthereitisusedwithintrasitiveverbs.Thisismadeclearbyillustrativeexamplesonly.
Illustrativeexamplesexplainthemeaningofthewordswhichfunctionbothascontentwordsaswellasgrammaticalwords.
rahnaa:
vahyahaaNrahtaahE'heliveshere'
vahkaamkartarahtaahE'hegoesondoingthework'.
paanaa
vahapnekiyekaaphalpaarahaahE.'heisgettingtheresultofhisworks'
laakhkosiskarneparbhiimENapnaakaampuuraanahiiNkarpaayaa.'InspiteofallmyattemptsIcouldnotcompletemywork'.
Eng.hashehasabook
hehasgonetoDelhi
had:Ihadsevenbooksonhistoryinmycollegedays.
Ihadhadmyshareofworries.
As for the length of the quotations, it has been discussed in connection with the extraction of suitable lexicographic context. The examples should be as far as
possibleselfsufficientandunderstandablewithoutanyoutsidehelp.Thelengthofquotations,again,dependsonthetypeofdictionary.Smallerdictionariescan give
smallerorreducedexamplesonlyhighlightingtheuseofthelexicalunits.Suchexamplesindicateonlypeculiarcollocationalfeatures.e.g.
reta:dvt.'check,hinderprogress',amentally~edchild
handicapv.~pedbyillhealth,~pedchildren
t?hand?aaadj.'cold'~paanii'coldwater',~dimaag'coolmind'~khuun'coldblood'~dil'aheartwithoutcompassion'.
The bigger dictionaries can give full sentences as illustrative examples. In some cases especially in bigger type of dictionaries it is not unusual to find quotations
whicharemorethansentences.
Hindi
at?akaanaavt.tostop.
GayetabahiNtEpherinaaaye.suurasyaamvEgahiat?akaaye.'Hehasnotreturnedafterhewent'.Surasayshehasbeenstoppedfromcoming'.
Sanskrtit11
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agnikumaara.n.I(Jaimism)'nameofagroupofBhavanavaasingods'naakino'gnikumaarakaah.citaasutatkaalamagnikaayaanvicakrire.TricasSaPuc1.6.549.
acitraadj.'whichisnotmanifoldormultiple'.
Sarvatrabaalaahsr?nvantidharmantebh?yah?pratisrutvaaaadimadhyaantanirmuktambhaavaabhaavavivarjitam.
Vyaapinamacalamsuddhamacitramcitrasambhavam.Lankaavasu110.4(1041).
The next question relates to the problem as to whether the examples should be constructed or only those which are available in literature or texts be given. This
dependsonthetypeofthedictionaryandtheneedsofdifferentsituations.Insomesituationswemaynotgetquotationsfrombooks.Inahistoricaldictionary,whose
totalpresentationisgovernedbyexamplesbecausethedevelopmentinfromandmeaningofthelexicalunitcanbeillustratedbyexamplesonly,theexamplesare
naturallytakenfromdifferentworksofdifferentperiods,selectedasthecorpusofthedictionary.inexegeticdictionariesthebasisofpresentationisactualexamples
from the work, or works of a writer. For normative dictionaries the examples are taken form different works discussed earlier (chapter 4). The ideal situation for a
reference dictionary would be to give examples from both the written and oral forms of the language and thus the examples can be both constructed by the
lexicographerandalsoquotationsfromwritings.
A problem closely related to this is about giving the citations i.e. actual places of reference for the examples. This, again, depends on the type of dictionaries. In
historical,exegeticand(toagreatextentalso)normativedictionariesthequotationsareaccompaniedwithactualcitations,thenameofthework,page,stanza, line
etc. The actual occurrence of the word lends authenticity to the definition and gives concrete usages of the forms in the language. Any entry form Oxford English
DictionaryorSanskritDictionary(Poona)canbetakenasexample.
In many dictionaries the illustrative examples (quotations) are given without citations. Here the quotations are followed by the name of either the authors or of the
works.e.g.
Hindi
itar4.niic'mean'janudetitarnr?pakarvibhaag'asifgivingtheportionofthemanking'TulasiHSS.
Insomedictionariesonlythecitationsaregivenwithoutanyactualexamplese.g.
Sanskritr?numn.Going,flying,fugitive(asathief).Rv.VI,1.25mfn.Adebtofmoney,moneyowed.MBH.Mn.Yaj.(MonierWilliams)
Citations to the quotations not only lend authenticity to the occurrences of the lexical units but also provide insights into the meaning of a word. The citation itself
helpsindelimitingthedifferentpossibilitiesofaword'smeanings.AnentryfromMonierWilliamswillmakeitclear.
kus?maan?d?aasm.Susruta(bhruun?aantara=astateofwombingestationw.)falseconception(?).
heretheverymentionofSusrutaindicatesthatthemeaningbelongstothesubjectfieldofmedicine.
ketu(Br?haamuhuurtamaadhaviiyam).Thisindicationgivesthecluetothefactthatthisparticularmeaningbelongstothesubjectfieldofastronomyandthewordis
thenameofaplanet.Thisprecludesthepossibilitiesoftheword'sothermeaning'flag'.
Anotheradvantageofgivingcitationsistoenablethereaderchecktheexamplesfromactualworks.
Asforgivingconstructedorfabricatedexample,ithasseveraladvantagessomeofwhicharebeinggivenhere.
(a)Alexicographer,ifheisthenativespeakerofalanguage,canhimselfconstructsuchexamples.Heneednotdependontextsforthem.
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(b)Theconstructedexamplescanbeshort,givingonlypeculiarcollocationalcharacteristicsandthiswouldavoidthelengthyquotations.
(c)Thereisalwaysascopeofgettingvariabilityintheconstructedexamples.Inquotedexamplesallthepossibilitiesofthegenerativepowerofthelexicalunitare
close.
(d)Theconstructedexamplescanbecrosscheckedandverifiedfromdifferentspeakersofthelanguage.Thisiscompletelyrulesoutinquotedexamples.
(e)Thepossibilitiesofgettingfurthernuanceswhereinnewshadesofmeaningcanbediscoveredarealwaysaliveinconstructedexamples.Thismayhappenatthe
timeofcrosscheckingeven.
Thequestionofgivingquotedorconstructedexamplesarisesinthecaseofwrittenlanguagesonly.Forlanguageswithoutanywrittenliteraturethereisnoscopeof
giving quoted examples. Here, the work of the lexicographer becomes more difficult. He has to ask and reask his informants all the possible contexts in which a
wordisandcanbeused.Thisisnotaneasytask.Thismaynotbepossibleinoneenquiry.Hewillhavetotryagainandagain.Thereisthepossibilityofgetting
some new contexts even when the particular lexical unit is not the point of enquiry. The possibilities of novel constructed examples are quite open for unwritten
languages.
5.11Illustrativepictures:illustrativepicturesaregivenalongwiththeverbaldefinition,examplesetc.tofurtherclarifythemeaningsofthelexicalunits.There are
somebasicquestionsregardinggivingofpicturesinthedictionaries.How many pictures can be given? Since many of the pictures may not be easily perceivable,
whatistheuseofgivingthem?Thereisaconstantchangegoingoninthedenotatathemselves.ForexampleHindipagar?ii'turban'andt?opii'cap'.Theirshapehas
beenchangingfromtimetotime.Sowhichpicturecouldbegiveninthedictionary?Whatarethelexicalunitswhichrequirepicturesfordefinitions?
Itiseasilyunderstandablethatnogeneraldictionarycangivepicturesforallitslexicalunits.Onlyafewobjectscanbeillustratedbypictures.Thepicturescan be
givenforthefollowingtypesoflexicalitems,besidesothers.
(a)Thedefiningoffloraandfaunaisabigproblem.Inspiteofalltheverbaldescriptionofthisclassofwords,theuserofthedictionarymaynotbeabletogetaclear
andconcretepictureoftheobjectdefined.Itisusefultogivethepictureoftheobjectalongwiththedefinitions.Thiswillreinforcetheimagecreatedbythe verbal
definitionandmakethereaderunderstandtheobjectmoreclearly.
(b)Theculturalobjectsrequirepictures.Forexampletherearedifferenttypesofnets(nearly200ofthem)usedforfishinginBengal.Anyverbaldescriptionmaynot
beadequatetodescribeallthese.Ifpicturesaregiventhereadermayclearlyunderstandtheobject.
(c)Picturescouldbegivenforunfamiliarobjectsinthecultureofthelanguagecommunity.e.g.camelinMalayalamandKhasi.Thenewlyintroducedobjectsinthe
culturelikescientificandtechnicalitemsmaybeaccompaniedbypicturestoenablethereaderhaveaconcretepictureofthis.
(d) Pictures can help in understanding all lexical units whose definitions may not be adequate to describe them. So different articles of daily use, words related to
sports,dresses,householdgoodsandmaterialsandarticlesmaybeaccompaniedbypictorialillustrations.
Picturesarenotonlyusefulfordefiningconcreteobjectslikeapendulum,asofa,rollingpinetc,butalsoforsuchwordsasrefraction,(Hornbyp.822)etc.InHornby
theadjectiveconcentricisillustratedwiththepictureofconcentriccircles,theverbclaspwiththepictureofclaspedhand.
Besidespictures,lines,drawings,anddiagramsetc.,canalsobegiveninadditiontotheverbaldefinitions.
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Thefollowingpointsshouldbeconsideredwhilegivingtheillustrativepictures:
(a)Arrowsandcolourscouldbeusedtodenotethemoreimportantpartofthepicturewhichisthefocusofthedefinition.Insetinabiggerdiagramshouldclearly be
indicated,e.g.eyeinheadmaybeshownwithspecification.
(b)Inacompositepicturelikeahumanbodyoramotorcar,thedifferentpartscanbenumbered.Thedefinitionsmaycarrythesenumbers.
(c)Ifapictureisgivenforexplainingoneofthemanysensesofapolysemousword,thepictureshouldhavethetitlewiththenumberofthemeaningordefinition.
e.g.Hornbyp.899seeds(def.1)p.1081trolley(def.3)p.817recorder(def.3)
(d) The picture should be as simple as possible. Unnecessary details should be avoided. There should be clarity and vagueness should be avoided as for as
possible.
Illustrative pictures can be given in all types of dictionaries. Malkiel (1967 23) feels that picture cannot be given in historical dictionaries and "maps, sketches,
drawings,photographsbefitthesynchronicdictionarygeographicallyoriented".Butinhistoricaldictionariesthepicturescanbeusefullygiventohelpthereaderget a
concrete picture of many objects which have been lost at present. For example, many weapons of war are now only things of history. A pictorial illustration would
providethereaderwithconcretepicturesoftheweaponstounderstandandknowtheshapeandsizeoftheweapon.
For learner's dictionaries the pictorial illustrations are necessary in order to make the learner, especially when he is a foreign learner, understand the object more
clearly.Children'sdictionariesmustcontainpictures.
Forunwrittenorlittleknownlanguage,includingmanytriballanguages,picturesfor different objects help in introducing the items otherwise unknown hithertofore to
the outside world. This is also true of the dictionaries of dialects whose chief focus is to give the localisms which are naturally locality specific and regionbound.
Verbaldefinitionsmaynotbeadequatetodefinethem.
5.12 Glosses: glosses are given in the definition to show the meaning in more concrete way. The glosses are short comments or some remarks showing
grammatical,syntacticorsemanticcharacteristicsofthelexicalunitsandareusedinplaceofexamples.Theyareusuallygiveninbracketswiththedefinition.Asa
matteroffact,theglossesaredevicesofsavingsomespaceinthedictionary.Iflongandcompleteillustrativeexamplesaregiventheglossesarenotneeded.
Theglossesareofthreetypes:
(1) Semantic glosses: they show some semantic features of the lexical units. Sometimes synonyms and antonyms are given with meanings. Certain restricting
glossesaregiventospecifyanddelimittheusages.e.g.
Oriya ut(hiaa gotfree,gotgratis(food)
Akasaa unseasoned(bambooorcane).
Eng. handsome adj.1.offineappearance(ofmen)goodlooking(of
women)havingafinefigure.

Russian mesto 2.seat(inatheatre,atatableetc.,)berth(onatrain,
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ship).
5.place,passage(inabook,magazineetc.)
6.standingplace(insociety,history,sportsetc.)
1.lie(inahorizontalposition)
lezhaat 2.be(insomeplace,saidofthings)
Eng.light adjandadv. 4.(ofbeerandwine)notverystrong,
(offood)easilydigested
(ofmeals)smallinquantity
(ofsleep)notdeep,easilydisturbed.
(oppositeofdarkness)
light
Gondi taraanaa vtodigorscratchup(ofpigs)
Santali radbad rustling,makearustlingsound(speciallyindry

leaves).
ManytriballanguagesinIndiahavedifferentverbsforthesameactiondifferingaccordingtothemannerorobjectoftheaction.Suchverbscanbetterbeexplained
bysemanticglosses.
AoNaga.apunv.carry(ababyinacustomarymanner)
apuv.carry(onshoulder)
penlokv.carry(onhead)
amv.carry(inhand)
HalbigoNdhv.cut(firewood)
tulaav.cut(vegetables)
mundarimaacut(byaxe)
hadcut(byknife)
ircut(bysickle)
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latabcut(byscissors)
hirecut(byteeth)
gidcut(meat)
topangcut(tothesizewanted)
gandhuicut(intwoparts)
cesecut(thebranchofthetree)
(2) Grammatical glosses: They indicate the different syntactical peculiarities of the lexical unit and are given in the dictionary in addition to the grammatical
informationgiveninthem.
Eng.letv.1.(followedbya(pro)nounandaninfinitivewithoutto,rarelyusedinthepassiveinthissense)
allowto
2.(usedwithfirstandthirdpersonpronountosupplyanindirectimperative)
Sanskrit daa to give, to accept, to offer, to present etc. (usually with accusative for things and with dative also genitive and locative with
persons).
Russ.prevraschaht:toreduce(into)
HindiaaNkhlagnaa1.tosleep
2.tofallinlove(withinstrumental)e.g.KissiseaaNkhlagnaa
3.tohaveevileye(withgenitive)kisiikiiaaNkhlagnaa
citrusn.(NL.GenusnameforLat.citrontree)anyofthegenus(citrus)ofoftenthornytreesandshrubs.
namaajn.prayerofGod(byMuslims)
5.13.CrossReference: Cross reference is used in the dictionary to show interrelationship between lexical items of a language in terms of their similarity,
contrastandcomplementariness.Incrossanentryisreferredtoanother.
Crossreferencegiveninadictionarycanbebroadlygroupedintotwotypes:
(1) Explicit or directional cross reference: This type of cross reference begins with words meaning see, campare, also called, same as etc. It gives clear
direction to the reader to look somewhere else for some information. It either gives additional and supplementary information to the meaning of the lexical unit or
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directs the reader to cross refer to some entry for lexicographical details of the lexical unit not given at the entry of crossreference. The latter course is generally
adoptedtosavespace.
(2)Implicitcrossreference:Thisisfoundinthedefinitionitself.Whenawordalreadydefinedisusedinthedefinitionofanotherword,thedefinedlexicalunitiscross
referenced.Theuseofdefinedwordsintruncateddefinitionisalreadynoted.Alldictionariesadoptthismethodbutsomeadoptsomeovertdevicetomarkit,others
donot.WemaynotethefollowingovertdeviceofWebster'sIII(introduction20b).
"A sequence of light face small capitals used anywhere in a definition is identical letter by letter by a bold face main entry at its own alphabetical place. This
sequenceiscrossreferenceanditsboldtypeequivalentelsewhereiswhatiscrossreferenced".
Thedifferentmethodsandpurposesofgivingcrossreferenceinadictionaryaregivenbelow:
(a)When a lexical unit has variations, the more common among the variants is given as the main entry. The variants are generally, but not exclusively, given with
them.Theformalvariant,whenitoccursasitsalphabeticalplace,hasacrossreferencetothemainentry.
Hindidiivaarn.wall
diivaalseediivaar
nisabatn.1.relation,2.thecustomoffixingmarriage.
nisbatseenisbaat.
Skt.akiirtin.infancy
akiirttiseeakiirti.
Sindhir(s(i,r(s(ii,risiisaint
r(s(iiseer(s(I
Dogriakhabaarn.newspaper
akhbaarseeakhabaar
Santaliradbadaothesameasradbad
radbad.rustling,makearustlingsound(speciallyindryleaves).
(b)Whenalexicalunithassomeirregularformsintheparadigm,crossreferenceisusedtoshowthisirregularity.Thecanonicalformisgivenasthe
headwordofthemainentryandirregularformsaregivenalongwithit.Attheiralphabeticalplacetheirregularformshaveacrossreferencetothemainentry.
Eng.writevi&vt(pastwrote)
wrotev.seewrite
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Ipers.pron.usedbyaspeakerorwritertorefertohimself(eg.me..weus)
mepron.objectformforthepronounI
AbujMadiaarjn.bearpl.arsk
arskseearj
Kuvikoyyun.fowlpl.koska
Koskaseekoyyu
(c)Forpolysemouswordscrossreferencecanbeusedforsomemeaningcommontotwopolysemanticwords.e.g.
Eng.stringn.llc.agrouporsetofhorsesordraftanimalscompare.3.MOUNT3b.
3.mount3b.asupplyofsaddlehorses.
1runvb8b.2fFAN7b.
2fan7btospread(astheleavesofanunboundbook).(WebstersIII)
(d)Crossreferencecanbeextensivelyusedfordefiningsemanticallyrelatedwords.Here,thepurposeistoaddtothemeaningoftheworddefinedinsome
significantway.
Eng.housen.astructureintendedorusedforhumanhabitationseeBUNGALOW,COTTAGE,MANSION.(Websters
III)
(e)Theuseofsynonymsinadefinitionisalsoatypeofcrossreference.e.g.
eng.fieldn.Ic.TheplacewhereabattleisfoughtBATTLEFIELD
Hindikhaaliiadj.jiskebhiitarkaasthaanuunyahotheplaceinsidewhichisvaccumriitaavacant.
cehraan.gardanseuuparkeangakaaaglaabhaag.thefrontpartofthelimbabovetheneck,much,badan.
(f)Whentheantonymsareusedinadefinitionitisalsoacrossreference.
Eng.light(oppositeofdark)
Hindimulaayamadj.oppositeofsakhta(hard).
Crossreferencewithwordsmeaningcomparegivesadditionalinformationabouttheword.
Eng.beern.la.amaltedandhoppedsomewhatbitteralcoholicbeveragecompareALEBOCK,BEER
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Grammaticalmeaning:n.1.themeaningexpressedbyagrammaticalending,compareLEXICALMEANING.(WebstersIII)
Gonditarraanaav.torootup.cftaraanaa,
Taraanaav.todigorscratchup(ofpigs).
Crossreferenceisusedinwhatiscalledrepetitionofdefinitions(See5.8)e.g.
sealvt.toputseal(def.I).Herethetruncatedorshortenedformisreferredtothefulldefinition.Thissavessomespaceandprovidestheinterrelationof
words.
(g)Dialectalvariationsofthelexicalunitsarecrossreferencedtothestandardwords.e.g.
HindicakahaaNm.seepahiyaa
pahiyaam.wheel
pahiranaaseepahananaa
pahananaav.wear
bataasn.orthopaedisgaNt(hiyaa
(h)Archaicandobsoletewordsarecrossreferencedtothecurrentwordsformeaningsandotherdetails.e.g.
Hindinandinn.girldaughterlar(kii
janeuun.scaredthreadyajopaviita.
saccun.truthsac.
Howtogivecrossreferenceinadictionary?Inordertoavoidcircularityinreference,acrossreferenceisusuallymadetoalexicalitemthathaspreceded
theitemunderconsideration.Butwhensemanticconsiderationisimportanteventhesucceedinglexicalunitsmaybecrossreferencedtoe.g.
Hindigayaaseejaanaatogo
Eng.areseebe.
Whatshouldbedonewithlexicalitemsoccurringatthesamepage?Shouldacrossreferencebemadeornotandfitismadehowtodoit?Websters III
doesnotgivecrossreferencetoitemsoccurringwithinfiveinchesofthemainentry.Butgenerallythedictionariesgivecrossreferenceforalllexicalitems.
Forgivingcrossreference,thelexicographerhastobecarefulaboutsomepoints.Ifacrossreferenceismadetocertainvariantsofaworditisusefulto
cross refer to the more common and frequent word and not to the uncommon and rare word. e.g. tasallii n. solace 1. d(haaras, saantvanaa,
aavaasana
d(haarasn.seed(haad(has
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d(haad(hasn.1.dhairya,aavaasan,tasallii
Herewefindthatthewordd(haarashasacrossreferencetod(haad(has.Sointhefirstdefinitionthewordd(haad(hasshouldhavebeengivenandnot
d(haar(as.Herethereaderwillhavetogothroughmorethanonererouting.
5.14Etymology:Etymologycanhelpinclarifyingthemeaningofatanaverage5%ofthelexicalunits,whose,meaningsotherwiseappeartobeobscure.
E.g. Kannada, phat(iikii (gii) iks(aa punishment given by beating the person (severely). The word phat(iikii is derived form the English word fatigue. The
etymologicalinformationelucidatesthemeaningoftheword.
There is another word p(h)arengii in Kannada and Tamil. The word means foreigner. The meaning of the following words becomes clearer when this
particularetymologicalmeaningiskeptinview.Kannadapharengiirogsyphilisoranyothervenerealdisease.Theetymologyofthewordindicatesthatthedisease
wasinitroducedinthelanguagecommunitybyforeignersandthrowsadditionallightonthemeaning.
Hindihasasimilarwordphirangusedinthesamemeaning.
Anotherwordderivedfromp(h)arengiiisp(h)arengiikaai/hannu.papayainKannada.Itisafruit,introducedbyforeigners.
InMalayalam,inthenamesofmanyobjectswegetthewordkappalshipthatmeansthattheobjectisimported(byship)orisofforeignorigin.e.g.
kappalantigroundnut
kappa(l)mulakuredchillies
kappa(l)kka(y)payaya
Hindi
anjhaaleaveisderivedformSkt.anadhyaayanostudyday.Thisetymologygivesthereaderthecluetounderstandthelexicalunitmoreclearly.
Bhojpuri
niimanadjintactunbrokengood
Thisisusedwithwordforpot.NiimanhaaNr(iibrokenearthenpotandniimantabiiyatgoodhealth.Thiswordisderivedformnirmalaan which means not

weathered.Soapotwhichisnotbrokenisniiman.Theetymologymakesthemeaningclearer.
Asamatteroffactetymologyexplainsallthemeaningbutinsomecasesitgivescluetounderstandobscuremeanings.
5.15Labels:Variationsinthelanguagewhethertemporalorregionalorofusageandstylearegenerallyfirstmanifestinthelexicalstockofthelanguage.Ifa
lexicographerdecidestoincludethesevariationsinhisdictionaryheshouldusesomedevicetoindicatethem.
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Oftenwordsdevelopsomespecialmeaningsforsomespecialsubjectfieldse.g.medicine,physics,music,etc.Moreover,somewordsandsomemeaningsofsome
words are restricted socially. So the specificness of the lexical units and their meanings should be indicated in a dictionary in a proper way. By doing so the
lexicographernotonlyhelpsthereaderfindthecorrectusage,butalsosavetimebecausethereaderwillsearchforthemeaningintheparticularsubjectfieldheis
interestedin.
The general lexicographer practice to show this peculiarity of lexical items is to put some labels either with entry word or with a particular meaning which requires
separatemarking.Labels,likeglosses,arespacesavingdevices.iffullexamplesaregivenforallthewordsandalltheirmeaningsthereisnoneedofgivinglabels.
Webster'sThirddefineslabelas"awordoraphraseusedwithbutnotasapartofthedictionarydefinitionusuallyinabbreviatedformanddistinctivetypetoprovide
information(asgrammaticalfunctionorareaorlevelofusage)abouttheworddefined".
The labels are distinct from glosses. They are used for a group or class of lexical untis, whereas the glosses are used for individual lexical units. The labels are
decidedinthebeginningofthelexicographicwork.Acursoryviewofthevocabularyofthelanguagegivesafairlygeneralideaofthenatureofthelexicalunitsand
theirmeaningsinrespectoftherangeoftheirusage,onbasisofwhichageneral list of labels can be prepared before the work begins. This list is tentative in the
beginningandcanbeexpandedfurtherlateron.Glosses,ontheotherhand,aredecidedwithsinglelexicalunitsandareputwitheachindividuallexicalunits.
Thelabelscanbebroadlyclassifiedinthreegroups:
(1)Functionallabels
(2)Subjectlabels
(3)Statuslabels
(1)Functionallabels:theyareusedtoindicatethepartofspeechorotherfunctionalclassificationofthelexicalunit.Alldictionariesusethem.
(2)Subjectlabels:Theselabelsindicatethespecialsubjectfieldinwhichaparticularlexicalunitoranymeaningofaparticularlexicalunitisused.
(3)Statuslabels:Thesearethemostimportantlabelsinadictionaryindicatingthestatusofalexicalunitinrespectofitsusage.Actually,thesearethelabelswhich
deservegreaterattentionandmorecarefultreatmentinadictionary.
The labels are used to describe the level or are of the usage of a word, and so they are basically descriptive. But as a dictionary has some normative effect, the
labels, in course of time, tend to become prescriptive or prohibitive. The labels sabhya (civilized), asliila (vulgar) gaalii (abuse) in some dictionaries of the Indian
languagesandlabelingofexceptingasanimproperwordbyJohnsonpointtotheprescriptivenatureofthelabels.
Labelsarenotpermanent.Asthereisalwaysachangeinthestatusofthewordsinrespectoftheirusageandmeaningthelabelsalsochangeaccordingly.Whatisa
slangtodaymightbecomeageneralwordinthecourseoftime.Afrequentwordmightchangeintorareandwhatiscurrentnowmightbecomearchaicinfuture.
The device of using labels, specially the status labels, in Indian language dictionaries is very sketchy. The two prestigious dictionaries of Hindi viz. Hindi Sabda
SagarandManakHindikosdonotusemorethanfourorfivelabels.Thelabelregionalistoovague,becauseitdoesnotspecifytheparticularregions.Theuseof
labelsinTamilLexiconandMalayalamLexiconismoreexhaustive.OnlyafewlabelsareusedintheOd?iyabhashaKoshaofG.C.PraharajandBangiyaSabdakosh
ofHaricharanBanerji.Molesworth'sMarathiEnglishDictionaryhasafairlygoodlistoflabels.TheSanskritDictionary(Poona)hasalargenumberofsubjectlabels.
Therearetwowaysoflabelinginadictionary.
(a)Thelexicalunititselfismarkede.g.Hindikharocnaa(local)seekhuracanaa'toscrap'.Eng.aboulia(psycho)
(b)Themeaningsspecialtospecificsubjectfieldorhavingspecificstatusaremarkedbylabels.
Englishreduction:2a(Arith)'theprocessofchanginganamountfromonedenominationtoanother'.
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2.(Logic).'Theprocessofreducingasyllogism(orproportion)toanotheresp,toasimplerorclearerform'.
Bengalinaayaka(alakaara)ratiraalambana'ahero(ofadrama,fictionetc.)'
Marathidadapanan.2.(fig.)curb,checkcontrol
Hindicarit(vyangya)karanii,karatuutwork,deed
Russ.kruto3.(coll)sternly,severely,
Malayalamkut(am5.(jyo)kumbhamraai,acquariussignofthezodiac.
6.(ilpa)thesphericalcapitalofapillar
7.(aayur)aswelledscrotum
Thelabelscanbegroupedintodifferenttypesonthebasisoftheircharacteristicfeatures,whicharegivenbelow:
1. Temporal: They denote the currentness or otherwise of the word or its usage. They are generally used in descriptive dictionaries. The labels coming under this
classarethefollowing:
Obsolete:formerlyinuse,nownolongerinuseexcepthistorically.Webster'sIIIputsthislabelforwordsandmeaningsnolongerinuseafter1755.
Archaic:Nolongeringeneralusebutnotabsolutelyobsolete.
Neologism:Theyarenewlycoinedwordsandareconsideredassuchbythespeakers.
Kelkar(1968)usesthelabelobsolescentforwordswhicharenearlyobsoletebecauseaccordingtohimtotallyobsoletewordsdonotfindplaceinthedictionaryofa
contemporarylanguage.
Otherlabelsusedfordenotingtemporalstatusareonetime,formerly,olefashionedetc.
2.Spatial:Thecriterionforfixingupoftheselabelsisthegeographicaldistributionofthelexicalunitoritsmeaning.Thesemaybe:
(1)Regional:pertainingtoregionalvariations,e.g.AwadhiandBrajetc.,incaseofHindi,TanjoreTamilincaseofTamilandKudali,VaidarbhiandAhiraniincase of
Marathi.
(2)Local:ThisreferstousagespeculiartosomelocalityorrestrictedregionlikeHindiofVaranasiortheCoimbatoreusageinTamilortheBurdwanusageinBengali.
Besidesthesesomeotherspatialvariablesmayalsobeusedtodescribeandlabelwordsinadictionary,e.g.
(i)International:SomewordsespeciallyscientificandtechnicaltermslikeSputnik,Cosmonaut,Radioetc.areusedinthemajorityoflanguagesoftheworld.
(ii)National:IncaseofaninternationallanguagelikeEnglishthedifferenttypesofEnglishusedindifferentcountriesmaybelabelednational.Inalanguagesituation
likethatofHinditheterms(words)usedthroughouttheentireareamaybenational.
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(iii) Individual: Many words are used by individuals like creative writers, scientists, etc. for the first time and many words are used in a completely new sense buy
someindividuals.Beforebeingsocialized,ifthewordsareincludedindictionary,theyaretobemarkedsuitably.Hapaxlagomenaareincludedunderthiscategory.
Thelabelsusedtodenotethesevariationsaredialectal,provincial(generalterm)andthenamesoftheregions,etc.ordirections,e.g.East,Westetc.,
Closelyrelatedtotheregionalvariationsarethesocialvariations.Wordsandmeaningspeculiartocertaincastes,socialgroupsandprofessionscanbemarkedby
theirnames,e.g.Christian,Brahmin,Carpentry,Law,Medicineetc.
3.Stylistic:Thispertainstothestylisticvariationsinthelanguage.Theuseofwordsandtheirmeaningsindifferentregistersanddomainscomesunderthisclass.
Traditionallabelsfoundinthedictionarylikecolloquial,literary,poeticetc.,arealsocoveredbythisgroup.
Thedifferentstyleswhichcanprovidebasisforlabelsare:
(1)Frozenorformal:Thispertainstothewordsusedonlyformally
(2)Informal:Vocablesusedoninformaloccasions
(3)Intimate:Wordsusedinintimategroupsandintimateconversations
B.Closelyrelatedtothestylisticlabels,especiallytheintimate,arethelabelsbasedontherestrictednessoftheusageofthelexicalitems.Theserestrictionsare
determined by different constraints e.g. group solidarity, obscenity, social taboos etc. and are either accidental or intentional, he latter leading to secrecy. In some
casesthesecrecyisneededforthesurvivalofthespeakerandkeepshimawayformthehandsoflaw.Anydisclosureofthesecrecyresultsinthelossof group
membership.
Another type of restriction is applied to words or meanings which are special to special subject fields, occupations, or technical jargons etc. The subject labels
mentionedearlierareincludedunderthis.Thelabelsusedtodenoterestrictednessinuseofvocablesmaybeclassifiedas:
(a)Partiallyrestricted:tothisgroupbelongjargons,slangs,taboos,obscene,vulgarwordsetc.Thesubjectlabels,e.g.Maths,Jyotias?,technicaletc.comeunder
thisclass.
(b)Completelyrestricted:tothisgroupbelongwordsofargot,cantetc.Asamatteroffact,thesetypesofwordsarenotfoundinageneraldictionary.
Notfarremovedfromthelabelsbasedonstylearethosewhichindicatethefigurativenessofuse.Theyareconcernedmorewiththemeaningpartofthelexicalitem
thantheitemitselfandrefertothedifferentconnotativemeanings.thelabelsusedare:
Figurative,ironical,jocular,loose,euphemistic,contemptuous,literary,etc.
Labelsdenotingthestatusofthelexicalunitsarebasedontheleveloftheuseofthelexicalunitbytheeducatedoruneducatedspeakers.Theycouldbegrouped
into:
(1)Standardorelegantorcultivated:Usedonformaloccasions.
(2)Illiterateoruncultivated:Wordsusedbyuneducatedpeople.Labelslikegraamya(rustic),nonstandardetc.comeunderthisgroup.
Labelscanalsobeusedtodenotethefrequencyofthelexicalunits.Accordingtotheirfrequencythelexicalunitsmaybemarkedas:
(a)Frequent:whicharenotcommonbutwhoseoccurrenceisquitefrequent.
(b)Occasional:thosewhicharenotfrequentlyusedbutoccurregularlyinthelanguage.
(c)Rare:thosewhicharefoundveryrarelyinthelanguage.Nonceformsandhapaxlagomenacanbeincludedunderthis:
Thelabelsusually,often,casuallyetc.comeunderthis.
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Onthebasisoftheabovecriteriawemayprepareatentativelistoflabelsasgivenbelow,whichcanbeusedasareferencepointforputtinglabelsinadictionary.
obsolete
archaic
neologism
dialectalnamesofthedialects.
localnameofthelocality
provincial
East
West
colloquial/informal
slang.
jargon
technical
vulgar
figurative
literary
ironical
jocular
loose
euphemistic
contemptuous
elegant
nonstandard
frequent
occasional
rare
often
poetic
causal
usuallyetc.
Thelistoflabelsisbynomeansexhaustive.Anotherpointtobenotedaboutthelabelsisthisthatonlyspecificnessismarked.Generalfeaturesareleftunmarked.
So in the groups described earlier only one feature may be applicable to a lexical unit. Some times, more than one features may be required to mark a word. The
labelslistedabovehavebeensuggestedwiththispointinview.
Comingbacktothestructureoftheentrythecomponentsotherthanthosedescribedearlierarethefollowing:
(i)Derivatives:Thederivativeswhoseformsandmeaningsaregenerallypredictablearegiveneitherinnestedform(seenesting)intheentryoraregivenseparately
aftertheentry.Thelattermethodismoreusefulforfindingoutthederivedlexicalunitsespeciallyforthegeneralreader.
(ii)Phrasesandidioms:theyarealsonestedintheentrywiththeheadword.(seenesting).
(iii) Etymology: That etymology can explicate the meanings of some obscure words has already been noted. As for its presentation, it is given at the end of the
lemma(afterheadword,pronunciationandgrammaticalinformation).OED,HSS.Webster'sIIIetc.followthismethod.Insomedictionariesitisgivenattheendof
theentry.e.g.Chamber's,SamsadaBaanglaaAbhidhaanetc.
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(iv)SynonymsandAntonyms:wehavealreadyseenhowsynonymsandantonymsareusedfordefininglexicalunits.Somedictionaries,especiallyAmericanones,
givealistofsynonymsandantonymsattheendoftheentry.TOP
NOTES
1.Dictionary(dictionword)Lexicon(lexisword),GermanWorterbuch(wortword),RussianSlovar(slovword),HindiSabdaKosa(Sabdaword).
2.Berg,C.C.'ReportontheneedforpublishingdictionarieswhichdonottodateexistpreparesbytheInternationalAcademicUnion(quotedbyZgusta1971,197).
3.PersonalcommunicationfromDr.B.C.Balakrishnan,EditorMalayalamLexicon.
4.ExamplebasedonZgusta(1971.264)
5.Constructedexample.
6.Constructedexampletoshowcircularity.
7.FordetailsseeBerlin,BDennisE.BreedloveandRobertM.Laughlin1969LexicalretentionandculturalsignificanceinTzeltalTzotzilcomparativeethnobotany.
PaperpresentedatthesymposiumonMayanEthnolinguistics68thAnnualMeetingoftheAmericanAnthropologicalAssociation,NewOrleansLa.2023 November
(IssuedasLanguageBehaviorResearchLaboratoryworkingpaper29,BerkaleyUniversityofCalifornia,1970).
8.ExamplesformAlKasimi(197780).
9.Itmaybecontendedifallthemeaningsarerelated(especiallythe3with1and2).Soitmayalsobetreatedascaseofhomonymy.
10.Actuallythedefinitionshouldbe'apostposition,usedwithsubjectsintheconstructionsofpasttenseoftransitiveverbs'.
11.FromSanskritDictionary(Poona).

5 Lexicology and Lexicography

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5 Lexicology and Lexicography

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4/3/2017 chapter5

DictionaryEntry Lexicographicword Contentoftheentry

Oriya ut(hiaa gotfree,gotgratis(food)

Santali radbad rustling,makearustlingsound(speciallyindry

Thisisusedwithwordforpot.NiimanhaaNr(iibrokenearthenpotandniimantabiiyatgoodhealth.Thiswordisderivedformnirmalaan which means not

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