Uses of Dictionary in English Literature

It will not be irrational if a dictionary is compared with an engine of any vehicle. No matter how robust are the body and other supportive parts of a vehicle, it will not reach the zenith of its accomplishment until the engine of it gets prepared. Similarly dictionary works like an engine or core part of a language which used by people to exchange messages about the world and use of dictionary in English Literature. 

Language is the communication system of human thought and a dictionary provides information about certain items to mold the shape of that thought. A dictionary is used as a reference for certain words which are unknown. Sometimes it describes the functioning of individual words as well. In a way, it is the word stock or word book that synchronizes all words in alphabetical order. 

Definition of dictionary:

 

Over the years dictionaries have evolved as resources that lead us to find word meaning, parts of speech and word origins, and to some extant synonyms and antonyms. The English language contains multiple languages like Hebrew, French, Greek, Latin, and Germanic roots and for some learners, it became the most difficult part that the combination of roots and rules of English language and literature. Hence, the English language reached the standard of both spoken and written form in London at the end medieval period. Following this path, the distinct features of the English language are reflected nowadays. Apart from the brief history of the English language, the necessity of references of words arrived as a form of dictionary and it shifted to contain the distinctive features it has today. Some of the dictionaries the beginners are discussed below: The Dictionary of Syr Thomas Eliot Knyght (1538) was considered one of the first dictionaries, as that person was bilingual. Because of being the most former one, it has been followed by other writers as well. Claudius Hollyband wrote Dictionarie French and English(1593) by following the earlier one by Knyght. Most importantly, the first “authentic” English dictionary was compiled by Robert Cawdrey in 1604 containing 2,543 words and definitions only. That dictionary was entitled Table Alphabetically. The flow of reading from A to Z which is called alphabetical order, is the invention of Cawdrey the credit goes to him. Likewise, John Bullokar and Elisha Coles invented the English Expositor (1616) and the English Dictionary surfaced by way of Cawdrey.

After that, Glossographia was published by Thomas Blount in 1656. It contained more than 10,000 words along with their histories or etymologies. However, Edward Phillips plagiarized Blount’s work and wrote a General dictionary named The New World of English Words. Both the dictionaries relinquished each other and this rivalry created the interest in dictionaries thereby. 

Different Types of Dictionaries:

Basically, dictionaries are divided into two distinct areas based on dealing with a single language and dealing with several languages. First of all, a monolingual dictionary deals with only one language, such as a dictionary like the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE) or the Collins Cobuild Advanced Learner’s Dictionary (CCALD).

Second all, a bilingual dictionary always deals with more than one language like English. Thirdly, a multilingual dictionary deals with more than two languages.

Therefore general or specialized dictionaries are derived from all those types of dictionaries discussed above. When the general sides of one or several languages are discussed in a dictionary, it is called a general dictionary. As such, Norstedts (2000) is targeted to cover around 135,000 of the most frequently arising words in English.

On the other hand, when a narrow and specialized part of a language, like engineering, medicine, aviation, psychology, etc, is focused in a dictionary it is called a specialized dictionary. In such a way, specialized dictionaries are dedicated only to literary words in English literature as well. Undoubtedly there are purposes for using dictionaries in different fields in English literature.

The objective of using dictionaries:

Depending on the two phases of comprehension and production of both fiction and non-fiction, dictionaries are used as a strong source of references.

In the case of reading comprehension, imitating guesses from the context, confirming the meanings of partially known words, and finding unknown words that are encountered when reading or listening to any text are very common barriers to face. So, that is one segment of using dictionaries in comprehension. On the other side of dictionary uses, there are typical production applications. Such applications are focused on searching for unknown words needed to speak or write, confirming the meaning, spelling, and pronunciation of already known words. Finally, penetrates the spelling, pronunciation, meaning, grammar, constraints on application, collocations, inflections, and derived forms of relatively recognized words. For both the comprehension and production base uses, dictionary use is obligatory here. 

In a nutshell, if there is a common question like, “What information can be found in a dictionary?” it can be answered by concentrating on a few important factors given below:

Collocations, phrasal use, and the syntactic operation of the word, Sense(s): when a word has more than one meaning, then the different senses are numbered, parts of speech, the meaning of a word, all these are concentrated matter of using a dictionary.

Necessity of English dictionary in other languages:

English language and literature always involve the proper use and reading of a dictionary from the Middle Ages to today. Thus, the necessity of an English dictionary is equivalent in many different languages like English-Chinese, English-Portuguese, English-French, English-Russian, etc.

Some of them are briefly defined below:

1.

One of the rich and universal Chinese-English dictionaries is SYSTRAN. Its language translation products and solutions enhance multilingual communication. Furthermore, if you use it to choose the appropriate word or expression and want to achieve better translation quality, this Chinese English dictionary provides you both general and specialized vocabulary.

Wherever you search this Chinese English dictionary do not get it?

Whether on a business flight, at the office, or at home, if you search the dictionary, simply by connecting to the internet you can get it in the form of a SYSTRANET Chinese English online dictionary on your PC or any device.

2.

Holding a tremendous amount of feeling and symbolism is none other than a phenomenon of the Portuguese language. Portuguese language is expressive and poetic filled with words and phrases. Such a language has beautiful expressions if we translate a few words into English by using Portuguese English dictionaries.

For example, there is a Portuguese word ‘saudade’ which symbolizes a combination of melancholy, incompleteness, longing, and love, if we translate it into English meaning.

Also, Mágoa reflects the feeling of getting hurt physically or emotionally or any kind of grief or sadness according to English translation by the dictionary.

3. 

For people with an interest in English and Russian languages, the new comprehensive Russian English dictionary is the newly arrived dictionary by D.I. Yermolovich and T.M Krasavina (referred to as Yermolovich's dictionary), after bridging the gap of development of Russian language in 2004. This new Russian English dictionary is based on the Comprehensive Russian English Dictionary by A.I. Smirnitsky and O.S. Akhmanova. 

For many years, it was the most popular and largest Russian English Dictionary. The first edition of this dictionary was published in 1948. It has been republished many times since then.

4. 

Just like the Chinese English dictionary, SYSTRAN again breaks the language barrier between English and French languages. Communicating in foreign languages like French to English in today’s fast-paced global marketplace, using SYSTRAN’s translation software on a PC or any device makes life easier. Without outsourcing any agency or asking help for with translation, SYSTRAN French English translation would help you with any sorting out problems. Whether it is a reader or a writer, what a dictionary is for to get basic help finding individual words. Moreover, it leads to a variation of synonymous words along with correct use like grammatical errors based on the context.