9. Electronic dictionaries

Computational lexicology is the computational study and use of electronic lexicons, encompassing the form, meaning, and behavior of words.

Electronic dictionary is a dictionary whose data exists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media. Electronic dictionaries can be found in several forms, including:

• specialized handheld devices;

• apps on smartphones and tablet computers or computer software;

• a function or application built into an E-reader;

• CD-ROMs and DVD-ROMs, typically packaged with a printed dictionary, to be installed on the user’s own computer;

• free or paid-for online products.

Advantages:

1. user-friendly menu;

2. convenient structure and content arrangement;

3. various searching tools, accelerating information retrieval;

4. a large storage of information.

Opportunities

1. limitations of space (and the need to optimize its use)

2. additional content (multimedia content) can be included, such as audio (for pronunciations) and video clips.

Langenscheidt, Collins, Oxford English Dictionary, Duden, American Heritage, and Hachette have resources for use on desktop and laptop computers (downloaded or purchased on CD-ROM and installed).

Other dictionary software is available from specialised electronic dictionary publishers such as iFinger, Abbyy Lingvo, Collins-Ultralingua, Mobile Systems and Paragon Software.

Some electronic dictionaries provide an online discussion forum moderated by the software developers and lexicographers.

There are several types of online dictionary, including:

• Aggregator sites, which give access to data licensed from various reference publishers. They typically offer monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, thesauruses, and technical or specialized dictionaries. (TheFreeDictionary.com and Dictionary.com)

• 'Premium' dictionaries available on subscription (Oxford English Dictionary)

• Dictionaries from a single publisher, free to the user and supported by advertising. (Collins Online Dictionary, Duden Online, Larousse bilingual dictionaries, the Macmillan English Dictionary, and the Merriam-Webster Learner's Dictionary)

• free from non-commercial publishers (often institutions with government funding). (Algemeen Nederlands Woordenboek (ANW), and Den Danske Ordbog).

To sum up, online dictionaries are as a rule regularly updated, keeping abreast of language change. Many have additional content, such as blogs and features on new words. Some are collaborative projects, most notably Wiktionary and the Collins Online Dictionary. And some, like the Urban Dictionary, consist of entries (sometimes self-contradictory) supplied by users.

Many dictionaries for special purposes, especially for professional and trade terminology, and regional dialects and language variations, are published on the websites of organizations and individual authors. Although they may often be presented in list form without a search function, because of the way in which the information is stored and transmitted, they are nevertheless electronic dictionaries.