2023學(xué)年完整公開課版補(bǔ)充文檔：BritishandAmericanEnglish

Module1BritishandAmericanEnglish

補(bǔ)充文檔

Dictionary

Adictionaryisabookofalphabeticallylistedwordsinaspecificlanguage,withdefinitions,etymologies,pronunciations,andotherinformation;orabookofalphabeticallylistedwordsinonelanguagewiththeirequivalentsinanother,alsoknownasalexicon.AccordingtoNielsen2008adictionarymayberegardedasalexicographicalproductthatischaracterizedbythreesignificantfeatures:(1)ithasbeenpreparedforoneormorefunctions;(2)itcontainsdatathathavebeenselectedforthepurposeoffulfillingthosefunctions;and(3)itslexicographicstructureslinkandestablishrelationshipsbetweenthedatasothattheycanmeettheneedsofusersandfulfillthefunctionsofthedictionary.

Inmanylanguages,wordscanappearinmanydifferentforms,butonlytheunderlinedorunconjugatedformappearsastheheadwordinmostdictionaries.Dictionariesaremostcommonlyfoundintheformofabook,butsomenewerdictionaries,likeStarDictandtheNewOxfordAmericanDictionaryaredictionarysoftwarerunningonPDAsorcomputers.TherearealsomanyonlinedictionariesaccessibleviatheInternet.

History

TheoldestknowndictionarieswereAkkadianempirecuneiformtabletswithbilingualSumerian-Akkadianwordlists,discoveredinEbla(modernSyria)anddatedroughly2300BCE.Theearly2ndmillenniumBCEUrra=hubulluglossaryisthecanonicalBabylonianversionofsuchbilingualSumerianwordlists.AChinesedictionary,theca.3rdcenturyBCEErya,wastheearliestmonolingualdictionary;althoughsomesourcescitetheca.800BCEShizhoupianasa“dictionary”,modernscholarshipconsidersitacalligraphiccompendiumofChinesecharactersfromZhoudynastybronzes.ApolloniustheSophist(fl.1stcenturyCE)wrotetheoldestextantGreeklexicon,whichlistsHomericvocabularyandmeanings.ThefirstSanskritdictionary,theAmarako?a,waswrittenbyAmaraSinhaca.4thcenturyCE.Writteninverse,itlistedaround10,000words.AccordingtotheNihonShoki,thefirstJapanesedictionarywasthelong-lost682CENiinaglossaryofChinesecharacters.TheoldestexistingJapanesedictionary,theca.835CETenreiBanshōMeigi,wasalsoaglossaryofwrittenChinese.

Arabicdictionarieswerecompiledbetweenthe8thand14thcenturiesCE,organizingwordsinrhymeorder(bythelastsyllable),byalphabeticalorderoftheradicals,oraccordingtothealphabeticalorderofthefirstletter(thesystemusedinmodernEuropeanlanguagedictionaries).Themodernsystemwasmainlyusedinspecialistdictionaries,suchasthoseoftermsfromtheQur’anandhadith,whilemostgeneralusedictionaries,suchastheLisanal-`Arab(13thc.,stillthebest-knownlarge-scaledictionaryofArabic)andal-Qamusal-Muhit(14thc.)listedwordsinthealphabeticalorderoftheradicals.TheQamusal-MuhitisthefirsthandydictionaryinArabic,whichincludesonlywordsandtheirdefinitions,eliminatingthesupportingexamplesusedinsuchdictionariesastheLisanandtheOxfordEnglishDictionary.

TheearliestmodernEuropeandictionarieswerebilingualdictionaries.TheearliestintheEnglishlanguagewereglossariesofFrench,ItalianorLatinwordsalongwithdefinitionsoftheforeignwordsinEnglish.Anearlynon-alphabeticallistof8000EnglishwordswastheElementariecreatedbyRichardMulcasterin1592.

ThefirstpurelyEnglishalphabeticaldictionarywasATableAlphabeticall,writtenbyEnglishschoolteacherRobertCawdreyin1604.TheonlysurvivingcopyisfoundattheBodleianLibraryinOxford.Yetthisearlyeffort,aswellasthemanyimitatorswhichfollowedit,wasseenasunreliableandnowhereneardefinitive.PhilipStanhope,4thEarlofChesterfieldwasstilllamentingin1754,150yearsafterCawdrey’spublication,thatitis“asortofdisgracetoournation,thathithertowehavehadno…standardofourlanguage;ourdictionariesatpresentbeingmoreproperlywhatourneighborstheDutchandtheGermanscalltheirs,word-books,thandictionariesinthesuperiorsenseofthattitle.”ItwasnotuntilSamuelJohnson’sADictionaryoftheEnglishLanguage(1755)thatatrulynoteworthy,reliableEnglishDictionarywasdeemedtohavebeenproduced,andthefactthattodaymanypeoplestillmistakenlybelieveJohnsontohavewrittenthefirstEnglishDictionaryisatestamenttothislegacy.Bythisstage,dictionarieshadevolvedtocontaintextualreferencesformostwords,andwerearrangedalphabetically,ratherthanbytopic(apreviouslypopularformofarrangement,whichmeantallanimalswouldbegroupedtogether,etc.).Johnson’smasterworkcouldbejudgedasthefirsttobringalltheseelementstogether,creatingthefirst‘modern’dictionary.

Johnson’sDictionaryremainedtheEnglish-languagestandardforover150years,untiltheOxfordUniversityPressbeganwritingandreleasingtheOxfordEnglishDictionaryinshortfasciclesfrom1884onwards.Ittooknearly50yearstofinallycompletethehugework,andtheyfinallyreleasedthecompleteOEDintwelvevolumesin1928.ItremainsthemostcomprehensiveandtrustedEnglishlanguagedictionarytothisday,withrevisionsandupdatesaddedbyadedicatedteameverythreemonths.Oneofthemaincontributorstothismoderndaydictionarywasanex-armysurgeon,WilliamChesterMinor,aconvictedmurdererwhowasconfinedtoanasylumforthecriminallyinsane.

Specializeddictionaries

AccordingtotheManualofSpecializedLexicographyaspecializeddictionary(alsoreferredtoasatechnicaldictionary)isalexiconthatfocusesuponaspecificsubjectfield.FollowingthedescriptioninTheBilingualLSPDictionarylexicographerscategorizespecializeddictionariesintothreetypes.Amulti-fielddictionarybroadlycoversseveralsubjectfields.,abusinessdictionary),asingle-fielddictionarynarrowlycoversoneparticularsubjectfield.,law),andasub-fielddictionarycoversasingularfield.,constitutionallaw).Forexample,the23-languageInter-ActiveTerminologyforEuropeisamulti-fielddictionary,theAmericanNationalBiographyisasingle-field,andtheAfricanAmericanNationalBiographyProjectisasub-fielddictionary.Intermsoftheabovecoveragedistinctionbetween“minimizingdictionaries”and“maximizingdictionaries”,multi-fielddictionariestendtominimizecoverageacrosssubjectfields(forinstance,OxfordDictionaryofWorldReligions)whereassingle-fieldandsub-fielddictionariestendtomaximizecoveragewithinalimitedsubjectfield(TheOxfordDictionaryofEnglishEtymology).

Glossaries

Anothervariantistheglossary,analphabeticallistofdefinedtermsinaspecialisedfield,suchasmedicineorscience.Thesimplestdictionary,adefiningdictionary,providesacoreglossaryofthesimplestmeaningsofthesimplestconcepts.Fromthese,otherconceptscanbeexplainedanddefined,inparticularforthosewhoarefirstlearningalanguage.InEnglish,thecommercialdefiningdictionariestypicallyincludeonlyoneortwomeaningsofunder2000words.Withthese,therestofEnglish,andeventhe4000mostcommonEnglishidiomsandmetaphors,canbedefined.

Pronunciation

Dictionariesforlanguagesforwhichthepronunciationofwordsisnotapparentfromtheirspelling,suchastheEnglishlanguage,usuallyprovidethepronunciation,oftenusingtheInternationalPhoneticAlphabet.Forexample,thedefinitionfortheworddictionarymightbefollowedbythe(AmericanEnglish)phonemicspelling:/?d?k???n?ri/.Americandictionaries,however,oftenusetheirownpronunciationspellingsystems,forexampledictionarywhiletheIPAismorecommonlyusedwithintheBritishCommonwealthcountries.Yetothersuseanadhocnotation;forexample,dictionarymaybecome.Someon-lineorelectronicdictionariesproviderecordingsofwordsbeingspoken.

Variationsbetweendictionaries

Prescriptionanddescription

Lexicographersapplytwobasicphilosophiestothedefiningofwords:prescriptiveordescriptive.NoahWebster,intentonforgingadistinctidentityfortheAmericanlanguage,alteredspellingsandaccentuateddifferencesinmeaningandpronunciationofsomewords.ThisiswhyAmericanEnglishnowusesthespellingcolorwhiletherestoftheEnglish-speakingworldpreferscolour.(Similarly,BritishEnglishsubsequentlyunderwentafewspellingchangesthatdidnotaffectAmericanEnglish;seefurtheratAmericanandBritishEnglishspellingdifferences.)Large20th-centurydictionariessuchastheOxfordEnglishDictionary(OED)andWebster’sThirdaredescriptive,andattempttodescribetheactualuseofwords.

Whiledescriptivistsarguethatprescriptivismisanunnaturalattempttodictateusageorcurtailchange,prescriptivistsarguethattoindiscriminatelydocument“improper”or“inferior”usagessanctionsthoseusagesbydefaultandcauseslanguageto“deteriorate”.Althoughthedebatecanbecomeveryheated,onlyasmallnumberofcontroversialwordsareusuallyaffected.Butthesofteningofusagenotations,fromthepreviousedition,fortwowords,ain’tandirregardless,outofover450,000inWebster’sThirdin1961,wasenoughtoprovokeoutrageamongmanywithprescriptivistleanings,whobrandedthedictionaryas“permissive.”

Theprescriptive/descriptiveissuehasbeengivensomuchconsiderationinmoderntimesthatmostdictionariesofEnglishapplythedescriptivemethodtodefinitions,whileadditionallyinformingreadersofattitudeswhichmayinfluencetheirchoicesonwordsoftenconsideredvulgar,offensive,erroneous,oreasilyconfused.Merriam-Websterissubtle,onlyaddingitalicizednotationssuchas,sometimesoffensiveornonstand(nonstandard.)AmericanHeritagegoesfurther,discussingissuesseparatelyinnumerous“usagenotes.”Encartaprovidessimilarnotes,butismoreprescriptive,offeringwarningsandadmonitionsagainsttheuseofcertainwordsconsideredbymanytobeoffensiveorilliterate,suchas,“anoffensivetermfor...“or”atabootermmeaning...”

Becauseofthebroaduseofdictionaries,andtheiracceptancebymanyaslanguageauthorities,theirtreatmentofthelanguagedoesaffectusagetosomedegree,eventhemostdescriptivedictionariesprovidingconservativecontinuity.Inthelongrun,however,usageprimarilydeterminesthemeaningsofwordsinEnglish,andthelanguageisbeingchangedandcreatedeveryday.AsJorgeLuisBorgessaysintheprologueto“Elotro,elmismo”:“Itisoftenforgottenthat(dictionaries)areartificialrepo