Notes on Compiling a Corpus- Based Dictionary

Abstract

On the basis of sample analysis of a Czech adjective, a definition based on the data drawn from the Czech National Corpus (cf. Čermák and Schmiedtová 2003) is gradually compiled and finally offered, pointing at the drawbacks of definitions found in traditional dictionaries. Steps undertaken here are then generalized and used, in an ordered sequence (similar to a work-flow ordering), as topics, briefly discussed in the second part to which lexicographers of monolingual dictionaries should pay attention. These are supplemented by additional remarks and caveats useful in the compilation of a dictionary. Thus, a brief survey of some of the major steps of dictionary compilation is presented here, supplemented by the original Czech data, analyzed in their raw, though semiotically classified form.

Keywords: Monolingual Dictionaries, Corpus Lexicography, Syntagmatics And Paradigmatics In Dictionaries, Dictionary Entry, Types Of Lemma, Pragmatics, Treatment Of Meaning, Polysemy, Czech