Lesson 11 But Whats a Dictionary For?I. Aims and Contents of Teachingl1. the comprehension of the text and the mastery of the important language pointsl2. the paraphrases of certain complicated or difficult sentences I. Aims and Contents of Teachingl3. the enlargement of the students vocabularyl4. the familiarisation with the styles of composition and devices of figuration II. Procedure of teachingl1. Questions and answersl2. Analysis of the structure and languagel3. Detailed study of the textl4. Supplementary and text-book exercisesIII. Background informationlWebster, Noah (Oct. 16, 1748 - May 28, 1843) American lexicographer and philologist, born in West Hartford, Conn. A Yale graduate.III. Background informationlHis Elementary Spelling Book (the first part of the Grammatical Institute of the English Language) and The American Dictionary of the English Language established the nobility and vitality of the American Language.III. Background informationl He holds that the spelling and grammar of a language must be based on actual usage rather than artificial principles. And thus laid a foundation for the 20th century lexicography. III. Background informationlThe Elementary Spelling Book, first published in the late years of the 18th cent., standardized American spelling and by 1850, when the whole population was under 23 million, was sold at 1 million copies annually. III. Background informationlThe American Dictionary of the English Language, his greatest work, was published in 1828. Of the 70,000 words, 12,000 had not appeared in any other dictionaries before. Within one year, all the 2,500 copies issued in American and the 3,000 copies in Britain were sold out. III. Background informationlIn 1840, the second edition was a failure and he had to sell the copy right to Merriam Publishing Company which thereafter became the Merriam- Webster Incorporation. Websters other contributions include efforts in the passage of a national copyright law, in the founding of the Amherst College etc.III. Background informationlDictionary: a published list, in alphabetical order, of the words of a language, explaining and defining them, or in the case of a bilingual dictionary, translating them into another language. III. Background informationlIn the 20th cent., American dictionary makers began to adopt criteria of use rather than of etymological purity. Dictionaries were produced in China, Greece, Islam, and other complex early cultures.III. Background informationlThe first modern examples of lexicography are thought to be Nathan Baileys Universal Etymological English Dictionary (1721) and his larger Dictionarium Britannicum (1730), which served Samuel Johnson,III. Background informationl who was considered as Englands first complete man of letters, in preparing his Dictionary of the English Language (1755), the first comprehensive English lexicography. III. Background informationlThe next great lexicographer was Noah Webster. His American Dictionary of the English Language has been skilfully revised and abridged over the years, thereby retaining its popularity. A six- volume American encyclopaedic dictionary, The Century Dictionary, was completed in 1891. III. Background informationlAmerican Dictionary of the English Language -1828l1840, second edition, failure, copyright sold to Merriaml1961, third edition, 2752 pages, 460,000 entries, 200,000 usage examples, 3,000 pictorial illustrations and more than 1,000 synonymsIII. Background informationlBritish lexicographers from the 19th cent. on, began to collect and organize examples of usage.III. Background information lIn 1857, the Philological Society began collecting dated examples of usage, culminating in the publication (1928) of the monumental, unrivalled lexicon known as the New English Dictionary, the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) or Murrays Dictionary. III. Background informationlTwo major shorter editions exist: The Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English and the Shorter Oxford English Dictionary. Other advances in lexicography are reflected in the frequently revised collegiate or desk dictionaries, such as the Websters New Collegiate Dictionary. III. Background informationlEncyclopedia: book or set of books giving information about every branch of knowledge, or about one particular subject, with articles in alphabetical orderIII. Background informationllexicon: dictionary, esp. of an ancient language or of words from a single subjectlthesaurus: book containing lists of words and phrases grouped according to their meanings or types (a thesaurus of slang)IV. Detailed Study of the Textl1. abuse: n. serious misfortuneIV. Detailed Study of the Textldisaster, calamity, catastrophe, etc.lDisaster is an unforeseen, ruinous, and often sudden misfortune that happens either through lack of foresight or through some hostile external agency; general word. IV. Detailed Study of