Word-Stock Organization
Word-stock organization is represented in dictionaries, or books which list the words of one or more languages. The art and science of dictionary making is called lexicography.
Encyclopedic dictionaries provide a more or less complete description of the notions designated by words. Such dictionaries focus on word meanings, and they do not supply the linguistic information about words. Linguistic dictionaries center on the linguistic information related to words, and briefly outline the respective notions, or word meanings.
Types of linguistic dictionaries. Linguistic dictionaries can be general and specialized. General dictionaries comprise the units of the basic word-stock typically organized in the alphabetical order. The words are characterized with regard to their formal, semantic, and functional aspects. General dictionaries are monoligual, bilingual, and multi-lingual. Bilingual and monolingual dictionaries are compiled for translation purposes. Specialized dictionaries include words which do not belong to the general word-stock. Respectively, there are historical dictionaries representing the vocabulary of a particular historical period, dictionaries of new words, terminological dictionaries, dictionaries of dialectal words, and dictionaries of slang. Besides, there are linguistic dictionaries listing the items of particular lexical groups, such as dictionaries of anthroponyms, dictionaries of toponyms, and dictionaries of idioms (phraseological dictionaries). Dictionaries that center on specific linguistic aspects of words are orthographic and orthoepic dictionaries, combinatory dictionaries, dictionaries of frequent words, dictionaries of rhyming words, and “backward” dictionaries where words are listed with regard to their end. The semantic aspect of words is considered in dictionaries of synonyms, dictionaries of antonyms, dictionaries of paronyms, and dictionaries of homonyms. The origin of words is focused on in etymological dictionaries.
The entry of a linguistic dictionary is information about a particular word. The components of a dictionary entry are: (1) the word, its spelling and pronunciation (transcription); (2) grammatical characteristics of the word, i.e. the part of speech it belongs to, and particular word forms, e.g. specific case forms for nouns, and tense forms for verbs; (3) meanings of the word, its LSV; (4) stylistic notations if the LSV does not belong to the basic word-stock or to the neutral vocabulary; (5) examples where the LSV is used; (6) set phrases and idioms with this LSV.
Ideographic dictionary, or thesaurus /0i so:r s/ is a book of words and phrases grouped on the basis of their meaning. (The word thesaurus originates from Greek ‘treasury’). While conventional dictionaries list the items alphabetically, ideographic dictionaries organize them thematically. The most influential and popular work is the Thesaurus of Peter Mark Roget (1779-1869), first published in 1852. Roget divided the vocabulary into six main areas: abstract relations, space, matter, intellect, volition, and affections. Each area was then given a detailed and exhaustive sub-classification resulting in about 100 semantic categories. The semantic information in a thesaurus complements that found in a conventional dictionary: in a conventional dictionary, one knows a word and wishes to discover its meaning; in a thesaurus, one is aware of a meaning and wishes to discover the relevant word or words. Thus, we observe semasiological and onomasiological approaches to the analysis of lexical items (see below).