Lexicography

Lexicography is the practice and study of compiling, editing, and analyzing dictionaries. It combines decisions about evidence, word meaning, usage, and presentation.

Dictionary entry: A structured unit in a dictionary that describes a word or other lexical item. Its components show how lexicographic research becomes a usable description.
Lexeme: An abstract vocabulary unit encompassing its grammatical forms and associated meanings. Lexemes help distinguish the object being described from its inflected forms.
Descriptive linguistics: The study of language as it is used, rather than as it is prescribed to be used. Its descriptive stance contrasts with dictionaries that enforce preferred usage.
Historical lexicography: The study and compilation of dictionaries that document words and meanings across time. It uses dated evidence to trace lexical change and earlier usage.
Samuel Johnson: An English writer whose 1755 dictionary became a landmark in English lexicography. His dictionary exemplifies the influence of a single editor on a national reference work.
Corpus linguistics: The study of language through systematically collected and analyzed bodies of spoken or written text. Corpora provide searchable evidence of how words are actually used.
Lexical semantics: The study of word meaning and the relationships among meanings. It supplies analytic tools for separating and relating dictionary senses.
Prescriptivism: The promotion of rules about how language should be used. Prescriptive policies make value judgments that descriptive lexicography may record without endorsing.
Bilingual dictionary: A dictionary that gives equivalents between two languages, often with usage information. Its entries must align meanings and usage across different linguistic systems.
Noah Webster: An American lexicographer whose dictionaries helped standardize American English spelling and vocabulary. His work shows how lexicography participated in defining a national variety of English.

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