Understanding English Dictionaries
Discover the fascinating world of English dictionaries
While many people use dictionaries, they may not know very much about them, especially if they’re online. We aren’t usually aware of which dictionary an entry has come from, why the word was included in the dictionary, how the dictionary compilers assembled this information, or how valid it is.
On this course you will explore the ins and outs of English dictionaries, learning from established dictionary editors and researchers. You will explore subjects such as trends in lexicographic research, possible dictionary entry components, and the content and wording of definitions.
What topics will you cover?
Over the six weeks of the course, learners explore the key areas of the curriculum below through readings, articles, videos and multimedia resources, quizzes, social engagement with fellow learners and active learning resources:
- The reasons why we use dictionaries.
- The differences between ‘landmark’ dictionaries such as the Oxford English Dictionary and less conventional products such as collaborative and crowdsourced dictionaries.
- What goes into a dictionary – who decides, and how?
- Dictionaries and dictionary information for different users.
- The stages in corpus-based lexicography.
- How meanings are created, why some words have more than one meaning, how lexicographers identify meanings and how meanings are explained in a dictionary.
