1. ASSIGNMENT III
INTRODUCTIONTO LEXICOGRAPHY
Instructor: KikiNikiforidou
Checkthe following wordsin at least two monolingual
dictionaries,comparing and contrasting theirusage
labels (if any).Commenton successfuland less
successfulusagelabeling,supporting yourcomments
with corpusGoogleexamples:bastard,nevermore,
junkie.
CATERINA STAMATOPOULOU
Student No: 1563199999400
e-mail: catstamat@hol.gr
Friday 29 May 2009

2. 2
USAGE LABELS TABLE
bastard nevermore Junkie
Collins Cobuild
Advanced
Learner’s English
Dictionary
(COBUILD)
1 INFORMAL, TABOO,
VERY RUDE,
DISAPPROVAL
2 OLD-FASHIONED
(the word is not
present in this
dictionary)
1 INFORMAL
2 INFORMAL
Webster’s New
Universal
Unabridged
Dictionary
(Webster’s)
2 SLANG
4 MILITARY (see
separate entry for the
compound)
9 PRINTING
No usage labels INFORMAL
The Oxford English
Reference
Dictionary, 2nd
Edition (OERD2)
OFTEN OFFENSIVE
(possibly applying to
the general use of the
word not a particular
meaning)
2 SLANG
3 SLANG
No usage labels SLANG (only
one meaning)
Oxford Advanced
Learner’s
Dictionary of
Current English, 3rd
Edition (OALD3)
(n) 2 TABOO
3 TABOO
(Vt) (n) –y order
LEGAL
No usage labels SLANG (only
one meaning)
Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s Dictionary states the informal, slang use of
the word ‘bastard’ first and then the attributive meaning of it, which is the
illegitimate child. All three other dictionaries state the non-offensive meaning first
and then follows the slang use.
The Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary of Current English (OALD3) also
lists the usage label [legal] for the legal meaning of a compound word deriving from
the word bastard and the suffix –y, ‘a bastardy order’, while explaining that another
phrase is used in its place, nowadays - a maintenance order - which means this must
be a dated use of the particular word. Some would argue that a usage label [old-
fashioned] or [dated] should be present in this particular meaning, but since it is
explained and the substitute is given, it is not necessary.
COBUILD also labels the meaning of the word ‘bastard’ as an illegitimate
child as being old-fashioned whereas all the other dictionaries treat this meaning as
being the more common one. Of course the dictionaries used in comparison belong
to a different time space, so it is possible that the word’s usage has changed
throughout the years and it is nowadays used more often with its slang meaning.

3. 3
The Webster’s Dictionary is giving a whole lot more meanings to the word
‘bastard’. It has about 9 and also some compound words which are given as
separate entries, like for example the usage label [military] which marks the meaning
number 4 of the entry, which redirects us to the compound word ‘bastard culverin’
further down, in the dictionary, which stands for ‘a 16th century canon smaller than a
culverin, firing a shot of between 5 and 8 lb. (11 and 17.6 kg) Also called bastard’.
This is probably a really old use of the word but again, there is no urgent need for
another usage label, like [old-fashioned] since it is explained in the definition that it
belongs to another century (16th c). The same dictionary also incorporates a
technical meaning of the word that the other three dictionaries do not have and it is
also marked by the specialized terminology usage label [printing]. It is the 9th
meaning of the entry which is referring to the character in printing: ‘a bastard
character: not of the font it is used or found’.
A simple Google search - as shown in the Google hits table below – shows
that the most frequent meaning of the word bastard that it is used is the colloquial
one, giving a person some certain attribute, be it negative (arrogant bastard, cocky
bastard, opinionated bastard) or positive (magnificent bastard, creative bastard).
Less are the hits that refer to the more official meaning of the word, that of the
illegitimate child. In this aspect the Cobuild Dictionary, based in corpora has made a
wise decision to list the more colloquial meaning first, since it is more widely used
and more frequently met in written or spoken language.
As regards the literary word ‘nevermore’ which we are all familiar with from
Edgar Allan Poe’s widely appreciated poem ‘The Raven’, we can see from the table
above that it is not given any usage label in Webster’s, OERD2 and OALD3. It is
remarkable that in COBUILD this word is not even listed. This means that since the
COBUILD dictionary is more recent compared to the other three, this word must
have been dated and obsolete, so it is not mentioned in a Learner’s Dictionary
anymore. However, it is incorporated in OALD3 which also is a Learner’s Dictionary.
The astonishing thing with the word ‘nevermore’ and its hits on Google
search engine is that it has been used as a name of a metal band for years now.
Consequently most hits are referring to the metal band and a few to ‘The Raven’,
Edgar Allan Poe’s famous literary masterpiece. None of the dictionaries in question
have bothered to take any of this into account. In my opinion they should have at
least incorporated in the examples a quote from ‘The Raven’. As for the name of the
metal band, this is encyclopedic information and it would probably be taken into
account, if the dictionary wanted to encompass encyclopedic information as well.
The word ‘junkie’ is treated as an informal or slang word in all four
dictionaries in question but it can have both negative (drug addict) and positive or
not so negative connotations (a chocolate junkie, a baseball junkie) as Webster’s

4. 4
states in meanings 2 and 3 for the entry and also COBUILD in the second meaning for
the entry (a computer junkie). OERD2 and OALD3 only give the negative meaning of
the word.
The thing with the word ‘junkie’ is that we most commonly see it having
positive connotations on Google (political junkie, e-junkie, BBQ junkie, beauty junkie,
tip junkie, gear junkie, bath junkie). The OERD2 and OALD3 do not have this meaning
at all. COBUILD and Webster’s do which is good. Perhaps this meaning of the word
should be stressed more in future dictionaries.
Google hits table:
Bastard Nevermore Junkie
1 Illegitimate child (Wiki
definition)
Nevermore: Metal Band Negative
connotations
colloquial word
(wiki definition)
2 Unshaved bastard:
Unpleasant, despicable
person
Nevermore: Metal Band Bitjunkie torrents
downloads
3 Cocky bastard: Unpleasant,
despicable person
Nevermore: Metal Band Food junkie
4 Illegitimate child Nevermore 3 Armor games Beauty junkie
5 Arrogant bastard:
Unpleasant, despicable
person
Quote from the raven of
Edgar Allan Poe
Political junkie
column
6 Stupid evil bastard:
unpleasant, despicable
person
Nevermore: Metal Band e-junkie shopping
cart
7 Magnificent bastard: A
person of a specified kind
The Nevermore Hotel BBQ junkie
8 Illegitimate child Metal Band Tip junkie – collects
or gives tips!
9 Opinionated bastard:
despicable person
Metal Band Gear junkie – gear
reviews
10 Creative bastard: a person of
a specified kind
Edgar Allan Poe – The
Raven
Bath junkie – best
beauty store
Dictionaries usedfor this assignment
Sinclair,J.(2006). CollinsCobuildAdvancedLearner’sEnglishDictionary,5th
Edition:Harper
CollinsPublishers.

5. 5
Yerkes,D. (1996). Webster’sNewUniversalUnabridgedDictionary:Barnes&Noble Books
Pearsall,J.& Trumble,W.(1996). The OxfordEnglishReference Dictionary,SecondEdition:
OxfordUniversityPress
Hornby,A. S.(1987). OxfordAdvancedLearner’sDictionaryof CurrentEnglish,3rd
Edition,
25th
Impression:OxfordUniversityPress