TYPES OF

DICTIONARIES
 ACCORDING TO THE NUMBER OF LANGUAGE
DICTIONARIES ARE DIVIDED INTO :

• monolingual (unilingual or explanatory)

• translating (explain words by giving their equivalents in another language):
- Bilingual - usually consist of two sections, each listing words and phrases of one
language alphabetically along with their translation. In addition to the translation, a
bilingual dictionary usually indicates the part of speech, gender, verb type, declension
model and other grammatical clues to help a non-native speaker use the word.
- multilingual (polyglot) - in a multilingual dictionary, a person looks up a word or
phrase in one language and is presented with the translation in several languages.
Multilingual dictionaries can be arranged alphabetically or words can be grouped by
topic.
 MONOLINGUAL DICTIONARIES

A monolingual dictionary explains the meaning of a word in the language that you are
learning. 
Dictionaries for learners include a great deal of information on grammar, usage,
common errors, collocation, and pragmatics, which is largely missing from standard
dictionaries because native speakers tend to know these aspects of language intuitively.
And while the definitions in standard dictionaries are often written in difficult language,
those in a monolingual learner’s dictionary aim to be simple and accessible

The first English MLD, published in 1935, was the New Method English
Dictionary by Michael West and James Endicott, a small dictionary using a
restricted defining vocabulary of just 1490 words. 
 COMPARISON OF MONOLINGUAL AND BILINGUAL
DICTIONARIES

MONOLINGUAL BILINGUAL
+ provide more comprehensive information about + Simple in usage
the target language. This information can include + you can look up a word from the target
additional meanings of a target word, more language (the language you are learning),
examples of how the word is used in context, and you will see a direct translation for
and, embedded in these examples, useful this word in your native language, this
information about the grammatical behavior of makes a bilingual dictionary quick and
the word.  easy for a learner at any level to access. 
+ the process of using a monolingual dictionary + the information it contains may not be as
aids a student’s process of second language comprehensive.
acquisition.  ⁻ the student may rely too much on their
⁻ it will take more time to find the meaning, even own language, rather than thinking and
if you use an online or electronic monolingual working in English
dictionary
⁻ the definitions might be as difficult or even more
difficult than the words themselves.
 ACCORDING TO THE OBJECT OF DESCRIPTION
DICTIONARIES CAN BE:

• Linguistic - describe the word as a language unit, its meaning,

grammar, orthographic, orthoepical and stylistic peculiarities are
reflected.
• Encyclopaedic - contain information of extralinguistic character and
give information on all branches of knowledge. They deal not with
words, but with facts and concepts Encyclopedic dictionaries can be
general, containing articles on topics in many different fields; or they
can specialize in a particular field, such
as art, biography, law, medicine, or philosophy. They may also be
organized around a particular academic, cultural, ethnic, or national
perspective.
Linguistic dictionaries are divided into general and specialized.
• General - contain those words of the language which are of general use representing
various spheres of life and presenting a complete picture of the general language.
They are meant for the general user of the language.
• Specialized - cover only a certain specific part of the vocabulary, for example,
terminological dictionaries, phraseological dictionaries, dictionaries of slang,
dictionaries of synonyms, antonyms, homonyms, etc.
A thesaurus or synonym dictionary is a reference work for finding synonyms and sometimes
antonyms of words. The largest thesaurus in the world is the Historical Thesaurus of the Oxford English
Dictionary, which contains more than 920,000 entries.

An idiom dictionary is a dictionary or phrase book that lists and explains idioms – distinctive words or
phrases having a figurative meaning that goes beyond the original semantics of the word(s).

Visual Dictionary is a dictionary that primarily uses pictures to illustrate the meaning of words. Visual
dictionaries are often organized by themes, instead of being an alphabetical list of words.

A slang dictionary is a reference book containing an alphabetical list of slang, which is vernacular
vocabulary not generally acceptable in formal usage, usually including information given for each word,
including meaning, pronunciation, and etymology. Such works also can include words and phrases
arising from different dialects and argots, which may or may not have passed into more common usage.
They can also track the changing meaning of the terms over time and space, as they migrate and mutate
A diachronic dictionary is concerned primarily with describing
the language as it has developed and evolved through time.
• OED “The Oxford English Dictionary”
• NED “The New English Dictionary on Historical Principles”
• SOD “The Shorter Oxford Dictionary on Historical
Principles”

The synchronic or descriptive dictionaries are concerned

primarily with the language as it exists at a particular time
(typically the present) without explicit reference to the past.
• COD (the Concise Oxford Dictionary of Current English)
Webster dictionaries Collins
• COBUILD English Language Dictionary (COBUILD –
Collins Birmingham University International Language
Database)
 According to the number of words
in a dictionary

• large dictionaries (more then 80 000 words) -

“The Oxford English Dictionary” has more than
450,000 words,the maximum complete choice
• concise or middlesize dictionaries (70 000 -
80 000 words) - “Small Abridged Oxford
Dictionary” includes 74.000 words, more than
40.000 entries
• pocket or small size dictionaries (up to 30 000
words) – “Oxford Illustrated Dictionary”
consists of nearly 30.000 words
 PRINTED DICTIONARIES ONLINE DICTIONARIES

Advantages: Advantages:
• useful for people who don’t know how to use • auto-update;
technical innovations; • multifunctional;
• reliability of the source; • convenience and rapidity;
Disadvantages: • legibility;
• texts and contexts can be translated in many ways • free usage;
in various cultures which a dictionary cannot • huge data for words (unlimited
consider to such an extent; space);
• big volume; • audio response.
• high prices (in particular specialized dictionaries Disadvantages:
in terms of biology, medicine, etc.); • lack of reliability
• not up-to-date;
• slow process regarding word search;
• no audio response (only phonetic transcription).
THANK YOU
FOR YOUR ATTENTION