The document discusses different types of dictionaries including: unabridged dictionaries which contain over 265,000 words and cover word histories and usages; abridged dictionaries which contain 150,000-250,000 words and focus on common words; reduced word dictionaries containing under 60,000 words; specialized dictionaries focused on a specific topic like American regional English or crossword puzzles; etymological dictionaries tracing word development over time; slang dictionaries defining informal terms; synonym and antonym dictionaries; dictionaries of abbreviations and acronyms; subject dictionaries explaining terms in specific fields; foreign language dictionaries; biographical dictionaries providing information on people's lives; and retrospective biographical dictionaries providing historical biographical information. Examples are given for each type
2. What is a dictionary?
• A book containing a selection of words of a
language or of some special subjects arranged
alphabetically with explanation about them.
3. • Unabridged Dictionaries: contains 265 000 of
words and more.
• Unabridged dictionaries are the most
scholarly and comprehensive of all
dictionaries, sometimes consisting of many
volumes.
• They emphasize the history of words and the
variety of their uses.
4. Example of Unabridged Dictionaries
• Webster’s 3rd new international dictionary. 1961
• The random house dictionary.
• The Oxford English Dictionary, (20 volumes)
• The Random House Dictionary of the English
Language
• Webster's Third New International Dictionary of the
English Language
6. • Abridged dictionaries, often called desk
dictionaries, list 150,000 to 250,000 words
and concentrate largely on fairly common
words and meanings. A good desk dictionary
will serve most reference needs for writing or
reading.
7. Example of Abridged dictionaries
• The American heritage dictionary
• Webster’s new collegiate dictionary
• Webster’s new world dictionary of American
language
• The random house college dictionary
13. Etymological/ diachronic dictionary
• The diachronic or historical dictionary has a
special class in it which can be called
etymological.
• Shows and gives history of words
• An etymological dictionary traces a word's
development over time, giving historical examples to
show changes.
14. Example of Etymological/ diachronic
dictionary
• Oxford English dictionary
• Ancient Greek Etymological Dictionary
• Afroasiatic Etymological Dictionary
16. Slang dictionaries
• Reasons for importance
• Indicates the variations of meanings of a
given slang terms of words and to trace thier
history
• Defines all expression well
• Aids authors in finding words which will covey
the background , class, or occupation of a
given character
17. • Just for pain curiosity and interest
Example of slang dictionaries:
• dictionary of American slang
• Thesaurus of slang
• New dictionary of American slang
19. Synonyms and Antonyms
• Synonym- a word with the same/similar
meaning
• Antonym- words that mean the opposite
20. Example
• Roget’s international thesaurus
• Roget’s thesaurus of English of words and
phrases
• Webster collegiate thesaurus
• Webter’s new dictionary for synonym
29. IMPORANT GENERAL SOURCES
• CURRENT BIOGRAPHICAL DICTIONARIES
• Current biography
• The New York time biographical service
• Newsmaker ( GALE RESEARCH CO.)
30. RETROSPECTIVE BIOGRAPHICAL
DICTIONARIES
• a work containing information about the lives and
work of various persons, usually listed alphabetically;
some dictionaries classify persons by time period or
descriptive category.
31. EXAMPLE
• MC gram hill encyclopedia of word biography
• Webter’s new biographical dictionary
• New century cyclopedia of names
33. Retrospective biographical
dictionaries- NATIONAL
• Dictionary of American Biography
• Dictionary of American Negro Biography
• Who Was Who – Britain
• Who Was Who in America: Historical Volume
1607-1896