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LEXICOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH STUDIES IN LANGUAGE COMPANION SERIES (SLCS) The SLCS series has been established as a companion series to STUDIES IN LANGUAGE, International Journal, sponsored by the Foundation "Foundations of Language". Series Editors: John W. M. Verhaar Werner Abraham Divine Word Institute & University of Groningen Madang The Netherlands Papua New Guinea Volume 14 Morton Benson, Evelyn Benson & Robert Ilson Lexicographic Description of English LEXICOGRAPHIC DESCRIPTION OF ENGLISH MORTON BENSON, EVELYN BENSON and ROBERT ILSON JOHN BENJAMINS PUBLISHING COMPANY 1986 Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data Benson, Morton. Lexicographic description of English. (Studies in language companion series, ISSN 0165-7763; v. 14) "Companion volume to the BBI combinatory dictionary of English" - Pref. Bibliography: p. Includes index. 1. English language - Lexicography. I. Benson, Evelyn. II. Ilson, Robert. III. Title. IV. Series. PE1611.B46 1986 423'.028 86-17506 ISBN 90 272 3014 5 (Netherlands: alk. paper) © Copyright 1986 - John Benjamins B.V. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, or any other means, without written permission from the publisher. TABLE OF CONTENTS PREFACE ix ABBREVIATIONS xi CHAPTER ONE — HISTORICAL INTRODUCTION 1 General 2 A Brief History of Dictionaries in Great Britain 2 A Brief History of Dictionaries in the United States 6 Recent Developments 8 Notes 12 CHAPTER TWO — MODERN VARIETIES OF ENGLISH: BRITISH AND AMERICAN 13 General 14 Spelling Differences 15 Punctuation 18 Syntax and Grammar 20 Morphology 26 Lexicon 28 Ten Groups of Lexical Differences 28 Transitional Items 34 Rules of the Road 37 Summary — The Ten Groups of Lexical Differences 39 Notes 41 Lists 2A-2E 43 Number Table 174 CHAPTER THREE — THE PHONEMIC TRANSCRIPTION OF ENGLISH 175 General 176 The British Transcription of Vowels; IPA Transcription; RP 177 The American Transcription of Vowels 178 An Historical Perspective 178 The Phoneme 179 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS The American Standard Pronunciation; General American (GA) 179 The Transcription of Vowels in Dictionaries 182 The LDOCE Transcription; The ESD Transcription 182 The Simplified Transcription (ST) of Vowels 182 Differences between RP and GA Vowels 183 The British Transcription of Consonants 185 The Simplified Transcription of Consonants 186 Differences between the RP and GA Distribution of Consonants 187 Stress 188 Notes 189 Comparative Table of Simplified Transcription (ST) and IPA Transcription 191 Lists 3A-3D 193 CHAPTER FOUR — BASIC PRINCIPLES OF LEXICOGRAPHIC DEFINITION 202 General 203 Types of Lexicographic Definition 203 Synonym Definitions 203 Referential Definitions 204 Formulaic Definitions 204 Twelve Basic Principles of Lexicographic Definition 205 1. Referential Definition by the Same Part-of-Speech 205 2. The Function of Metalanguage 206 3. The Use of Synonyms 206 4. Illustrative Phrases: Their Role, Lexicographic Accept ability and Relevance 207 5. The Specificity of Definitions 211 6. Inclusion of Lexical Patterns 212 7. Labeling: Types of Labels (Field, Temporal, Regional, Stylistic), Prescriptivism Versus Descriptivism, The Usage Panel 214 8. The Order of Defined Meanings 217 9. The Treatment of Connotative Meanings 219 10. Clarity: The Wording of Definitions, The Defining Vocabulary 220 11. Consistency in Defining 221 12. The Need for Objectivity 222 TABLE OF CONTENTS vii Notes 224 CHAPTER FIVE — GRAMMAR IN THE DICTIONARY 227 Historical Background 228 The Contribution of the Learner's Dictionary 228 The Contribution of Modern Linguistics 231 Topics Requiring Special Attention in the Dictionary 235 Notes 237 Lists 5A-5E 239 CHAPTER SIX — LEXICAL COMBINABILITY 251 General 252 Free Combinations 252 Idioms 252 Collocations 253 Transitional Combinations 254 Compounds 254 The Lexicographic Treatment of Combinations 254 The ECD 256 Obligatory Collocations 258 CA Collocations 258 EN Collocations 260 Conclusion 261 Notes 261 BIBLIOGRAPHY 263 INDEX 276 PREFACE The second half of the twentieth century has witnessed a remarkable growth in the study, teaching, and use of English as a foreign or second lan guage throughout the world. This phenomenon reflects the emergence of English as the leading language of international communication. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is an acute need for the creation of new dic tionaries and the improvement of existing dictionaries of English — monolin gual and bilingual. Although the achievements of lexicographers in describing English have been noteworthy, serious problems remain. The information provided in this book indicates solutions to the more important of these problems, which are: the treatment of American English as compared with British English (Chap ter Two); the phonemic transcription of English, treating both American and British pronunciation (Chapter Three); lexicographic definition in monolin gual and bilingual dictionaries (Chapter Four); the presentation of grammar and of grammatical collocations (Chapter Five); the presentation of lexical collocations (Chapter Six). It is hoped that the suggested solutions will help lexicographers to improve future dictionaries of English. This book is a companion volume to the BBI Combinatory Dictionary of English: A Guide to Word Combinations. The BBI Dictionary provides a large number of grammatical and lexical collocations. (See Chapters Five and Six of this book). In addition, the BBI Dictionary shows many differences between collocations used in American English and in British English, thereby supplementing the information given in Chapter Two of this book. We are grateful to our families, friends, and colleagues on both sides of the Atlantic who offered help and support while this book was being written. We especially appreciate the contribution of Professor Arthur J. Bronstein, of the City University of New York, who read and commented on Chapter Three. Finally, we wish to express our gratitude to our friends at John Benja mins B.V. for their help in guiding a complicated manuscript to publication. The authors will welcome comments and suggestions. M.B.,E.B.,R.I.