Using corpora to write dictionaries

Lexicographers are often characterised as pioneer corpus linguists. This argument is valid to a degree. In the past, lexicographers were supported in their work by ‘corpora’ comprising millions of slips of paper recording examples of words in use. However, taking a more pedantic stance, as lexicogra...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autor: Rees, Geraint Paul
Tipo de recurso: capítulo de libro
Estado:Versión aceptada para publicación
Fecha de publicación:2022
País:España
Institución:Varias* (Consorci de Biblioteques Universitáries de Catalunya, Centre de Serveis Científics i Acadèmics de Catalunya)
Repositorio:Recercat. Dipósit de la Recerca de Catalunya
OAI Identifier:oai:recercat.cat:10230/70401
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10230/70401
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Corpora
Diccionaris
Lexicografia
Corpus
Descripción
Sumario:Lexicographers are often characterised as pioneer corpus linguists. This argument is valid to a degree. In the past, lexicographers were supported in their work by ‘corpora’ comprising millions of slips of paper recording examples of words in use. However, taking a more pedantic stance, as lexicographers are apt to do, the extent to which these collections of citations constitute what is currently understood as a corpus in corpus linguistics is questionable. Citation slips are not complete texts but rather extracts of texts recorded by citation readers. The decision on which extracts to record is subject to readers’ intuitions and prejudices. Corpus evidence has shown us that intuitions are an unreliable basis on which to build up an accurate picture of language use, since we tend to notice utterances which are unusual in some way rather than those that are typical or mundane. Prejudice comes into play since we tend to have preconceived, frequently inaccurate, ideas about what constitutes normal language use.