The problem of definition has a long history and has engaged the minds of some of the most eminent thinkers in the Western tradition, from Plato and Aristotle onwards. But it is also an everyday problem constantly confronting all who have to draft or interpret the countless texts on which modern society depends. Definition in Theory and Practice focuses on two areas where difficulties arise in a particularly acute form: lexicography and the law. Examining a wide range of approaches and definitional techniques, backed up by detailed analyses of dictionary entries and court cases, the authors provide a comprehensive survey of their subject. They argue that what underlies the problem of definition are conflicting assumptions about the way language functions. This in-depth study of definition will be of interest to academics researching lexicography, semantics and the intersection of linguistics and jurisprudence.

This book serves as a welcome addition to the better known "English Dictionary from Cawdrey to Johnson, 1604-1755," by Starnes & Noyes (new edition published by Benjamins 1991). Whereas Starnes & Noyes describe the history of English lexicography as an evolutionary progress-by-accumulation process, Professor Hayashi focuses on issues of method and theory, starting with John Palsgrave's "Lesclarissement de la langue francoyse" (1530), to John Walker's "A Critical Pronouncing Dictionary and Expositor of the English Language" (1791). This book also includes a detailed discussion of Dr. Johnson's influential "Dictionary of the English Language" (1755).

This book provides a systematic survey of the theory and methods of dictionary-making (including the linguistic background): what types of dictionary there are, how different kinds of information are dealt with when compiling dictionaries, how this information is presented to users, and how dictionaries are actually used. It refers throughout to both monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, giving a full account of the writing of definitions as well as of the selection and presentation of equivalents. The treatment of other types of information provided in dictionaries - such as pronunciation, inflection, constructions, collocations and idioms - is described systematically in individual chapters. The book also discusses dictionary structure, illustrations, the collection and selection of material, the management of dictionary projects, law and ethics in lexicographic work, and dictionary criticism. As well as looking at print lexicography, the author discusses the role of the Web, electronic corpora, electronic dictionaries, and compilation software used in dictionary-making. This is an important and practical guide to contemporary lexicography, designed for lexicographers, language students and teachers, translators and academics.

This volume provides concise, authoritative accounts of the approaches and methodologies of modern lexicography and of the aims and qualities of its end products. Leading scholars and professional lexicographers, from all over the world and representing all the main traditions andperspectives, assess the state of the art in every aspect of research and practice. The book is divided into four parts, reflecting the main types of lexicography. Part I looks at synchronic dictionaries - those for the general public, monolingual dictionaries for second-language learners, andbilingual dictionaries. Part II and III are devoted to the distinctive methodologies and concerns of the historical dictionaries and specialist dictionaries respectively, while chapters in Part IV examine specific topics such as description and prescription; the representation of pronunciation; andthe practicalities of dictionary production. The book ends with a chronology of the major events in the history of lexicography. It will be a valuable resource for students, scholars, and practitioners in the field.

This stimulating new book, which combines dictionary research and linguistic knowledge, analyses the representation of meaning in business dictionaries from a pedagogical perspective. By examining in detail the macrostructure, mediostructure, access structure and microstructure of eight business dictionaries, this book presents interesting findings on how the dictionaries studied represent the 'noun-term', and on how they cope with the principles of new lexicography that aims at solving the needs of a specific type of user with specific types of problems related to a specific type of user situation. This exhaustive study, which makes simultaneous contributions to the theory of terminology, lexicography, and LSP teaching, defends a methodological confluence between LSP lexicography and terminology, and proposes some guiding principles towards the construction of pedagogically-oriented specialised dictionaries that must target students enrolled in LSP courses: Business English, Business Spanish, Business Translation, etc.

This book is the first comprehensive monograph on the Function Theory of Lexicography, which originated at the Aarhus School of Business (Aarhus University). Function Theory considers dictionaries to be tools that are constructed for assisting specific users with punctual needs in specific usage situations, e.g. communicative-oriented situations and cognitive-oriented situations. The book's main focus is on defending the independent academic status of lexicography and its corollary: The process of designing, compiling and updating (specialised) online dictionaries needs a theoretical framework that addresses general and specific aspects. The former are common to all types of information tools, the latter are mainly dependent on the media for which the information tool is constructed and their specific target users. This books offers both aspects and moves from the highest level of abstraction to very detailed aspects of lexicographic work, e.g. how to convert an originally-conceived polyfunctional online dictionary into several monofunctional usage-based ones. The book illustrates that the theory and the methodology currently used by advocates of the Function Theory of Lexicography offers better results than other approaches and therefore makes its case for proposing the Function Theory for terminological/terminographical work.

Theories of Lexical Semantics offers a comprehensive overview of the major traditions of word meaning research in linguistics. In spite of the growing importance of the lexicon in linguistic theory, no overview of the main theoretical trends in lexical semantics is currently available. This book fills that gap by charting the evolution of the discipline from the mid nineteenth century to the present day. It presents the main ideas, the landmark publications, and thedominant figures of five traditions: historical-philological semantics, structuralist semantics, generativist semantics, neostructuralist semantics, and cognitive semantics. The theoretical and methodological relationship between the approaches is a major point of attention throughout the text: going well beyond amere chronological enumeration, the book does not only describe the theoretical currents of lexical semantics, but also the undercurrents that have shaped its evolution.