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AMERICAN Journal of Language, Literacy and
Learning in STEM Education
Volume 01, Issue 10, 2023 ISSN (E): 2993-2769
Theoretical and Practical Basics of Creating Modern Electronic
Dictionaries
Sadikova Sevinch Aliyevna
PhD, Senior teacher at the department foreign language and literature of the faculty of Foreign
philology of National university of Uzbekistan
Dictionary reviewing is an integral part of the lexicographic universe. However, lexicographers
have called for generally applicable principles embracing both printed and electronic
dictionaries. I propose that scholarly reviews contain information that is useful to their intended
audiences and a set of principles that are generally applicable to achieve this goal. I suggest that
reviewers may write useful reviews by treating the dictionary as an object of analysis and
examination. I further propose that the lexicographic, factual and linguistic approaches should be
combined with the three significant features of dictionaries: lexicographic functions, data and
structures. Finally, I argue that a review should give a true and fair view of the dictionary, and
this will strengthen the role of dictionary reviews in the scholarly discourse community.
In recent years, a large number of dictionaries of different structures and types have been created
and published. Dictionaries are both the object of lexicography and the subject of its study.
Various information can be found in the dictionary: from the scientific description of the
language, its history, current state, explanation of borrowed, little-used and outdated words to
systematization of knowledge, deep knowledge of reality, history and culture of the people
speaking a particular language. Dictionaries that concentrate the lexical richness of the language
in a relatively compact form accumulate the historical memory of the people - its bearer. [1]
Very often referring to dictionaries, the reader sets a specific goal for himself - whether the stress
is correctly placed, whether the translation of a word is accurate, choose a synonym or antonym
for a word, etc. Today, dictionaries and lexicography face great tasks that cover different areas of
human activity: from translation and teaching of native and foreign languages, up to computer,
information retrieval systems, without which it is difficult to imagine your life. We all know and
many lexicographers have dedicated their works to this, the first dictionaries appeared in the
Sumerian civilization in the XXV century BC, in China in the XX century BC, in Ancient Egypt
in the XVIII century BC, in the II-III centuries AD Yu. Pollux's "Onomasticon" and the Sanskrit
dictionary "Amarakosha" (which means "Amara's treasury") were created. The word
"lexicography" itself is not an ancient Greek word, although it consists of the ancient Greek roots
lехісо (adj. From lexis "word" and graph "to write"). In his work "Deux dialogues du nouveaux
language François, Italianizé", 1578, Henri Estienne uses the French word lexicographie, which
he meets for the first time in the Etymologicum Magnum - this is an unpublished work on
lexicography of the XI-XII centuries AD in the form of lexikographos "writing a dictionary". [2]
The English word lexicography appeared in 1680, the German Lexikographie in 1698, and the
French lexicographie in the world famous Encyclopédie in 1765. The word dictionary was first
introduced by J. Garland Dictionarius in the XIII century. The first dictionary was published in
1538 by Sir Thomas Eliot - this is a LatinEnglish dictionary [3]. According to many scholars,
English scientific lexicography began with Samuel Johnson's dictionary in 1755, French - with
D. Diderot's Encyclopedia of 1765 and P. Larousse (Grand Dictionnaire universel du XlX -e
siècle), German - from the German Dictionary of the Brothers Grimm 1852 (Grimm. Deutsches
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Wörterbuch). Arabic lexicography originated long before the rise of Islam and is closely related
to poetry. It can be conditionally divided into three periods:
1. the explanation of pre-Islamic poetry and interpretation of the suras of the Koran;
2. the emergence of small lexicographic essays, united by subject matter;
3. the creation of the dictionaries of general characteristics, starting with the dictionary of al-
Khalil "Kitob al-'ayn" (VIII century).
Among the Eastern Slavic people, the first dictionaries were called lexicons, alphabets or
interpretations - they were mainly collections of foreign and obsolete words. One of the first
glossaries was the "Kormchey Book" (1282) - a translation dictionary, in which interpretations of
174 Old Russian, Greek and Old Slavonic words were given. In 1596, Lavrenty Zizaniy
Tustanovsky compiled the first printed dictionary "Lexis, that is, the words are briefly collected
from the Slovenian language", as an appendix to the "Slavic-Russian primer." Thus, we briefly
defined the word dictionary and its origin. As indicated above is the object of study of
lexicography. Lexicography is a branch of linguistics, the science of creating, studying and using
dictionaries (scientia lexico-graphica). The science that studies the semantic structure of a word,
the features of words, their interpretation. Since when did lexicography become "lexicography".
In the "Encyclopedic Dictionary of Brockhaus and Efron" (1896), the article "lexicography" is
not found, but we met the term "lexicology", as well as an article with the term "dictionary" in
which the word lexicography occurs, as a synonym for the phrase "dictionary technique". In the
"Dictionary of German language" by the Brothers Grimm, the very word dictionary is found. In
the encyclopedic dictionary of the partnership "Brothers A. and I. Granat and Co" 1914
"Lexicography (Greek), scientific methods of processing the verbal material of the language for
the compilation of the lexicon." [4] In the "Great Soviet Encyclopedia" (1938) in the article on
the word "lexicography" is given: "Lexicography (Greek), work on compiling dictionaries." And
only in 1953, in the second edition, we come across the article "Lexicography - a section of
linguistics dealing with the practice and theory of compiling dictionaries"[5]. Lexicography is
divided into theoretical and practical lexicography. Thus, in the first paragraph of chapter 1, we
must clearly define such concepts as theoretical and practical lexicography, give them a precise
definition and find out what is their difference. Until the middle of the 20th century,
lexicography was treated only as practical. X. Cazares in his book "Introduction to Modern
Lexicography" (which has been translated into Russian) argues that lexicography is a technique
and art of compiling dictionaries. [6] Compiling dictionaries is the oldest activity. These are, first
of all, dictionaries, vocabulary, "Onomasticon" by Y. Pollux, Sanskrit dictionary "Amarakosha"
(which means "Amara's treasury"): one of the most ancient ideographic dictionaries of the II-III
centuries AD translated glossaries, the first translation dictionaries - they all served as assistants
in translating from one language into another and related to practical lexicography. For the first
time, Academician L.V. Shcherba put forward a hypothesis about theoretical lexicography. In
1936, in the preface to the Russian-French dictionary, he wrote: ―I consider it extremely wrong
that the disdainful attitude of our qualified linguists to dictionary work, thanks to which almost
none of them ever did it (in the old days, this was done for a paltry sum of money by casual
amateurs who did not have absolutely no special training) and thanks to which she received such
an absurd name "compilation" of dictionaries.
Indeed, our linguists, and even more so our "compilers" of dictionaries overlooked that this work
should be of a scientific nature and in no way consist in a mechanical comparison of some ready-
made elements‖ [7].
And only by the middle of the XX century. L.V. Shcherba's work "Experience of the General
Theory of Lexicography" was published, which was "the only attempt to rise above the level of
analytical commenting on already adopted or adopted specific lexicographic decisions and to
look at lexicography as a separate scientific discipline" [8]. V.V. Morkovkin in the article "On
the volume and content of the
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concept of" theoretical lexicography "as a starting point takes the well-known interpretation of
the concept ―theory of lexicography‖, ―in accordance with which it includes the typology of
dictionaries and the doctrine of the structure and elements of the dictionary "[9]. At the same
time, he emphasizes that the most important task of the theory is to establish the essence and
boundaries of the phenomenon, the consideration of which constitutes its content [10].
Theoretical lexicography studies dictionary entries in the context of the history of a country, its
culture, the influence of some dictionaries on others. For lexicography, patterns in the
development of literature, art, culture and science are of great importance, the principle of
historicism, the principle of development must be taken into account [11]. The types of the
dictionary, its classification, the object of description, the submission of linguistic units, the way
of submission of the dictionary entry is one of the most important components of the dictionary,
which form a typology of dictionaries based on interconnection and opposition to each other.
The types of dictionaries are divided into four types: linguistic, psychological, sociological and
semiotic.
The theory of lexicography includes:
➢
the consideration of the volume, content and structure of the concept of lexicography;
➢
the study about genres and types of dictionaries;
➢
the study about the elements and parameters;
➢
the study about the basics of lexicographic design and the possibility of computerization;
➢
the study about familiar vocabulary materials;
➢
the study about planning and organizing vocabulary work;
➢
the development and formation of the rules of lexicography [12, p.7].
The main functions of dictionaries: educational, systematizing, reference, normative.
Any lexicographic work should include 7 principles:
➢
the relativity and focus on the addressee;
➢
the standardization;
➢
the economy;
➢
the simplicity;
➢
the completeness of the material;
➢
the principle of efficiency;
➢
the principle of semantic step-by-step description.
The need for dictionaries contributed to the emergence of a new educational lexicography, the
foundations of this type of lexicography were reflected in the textbooks "Essays on Russian
Lexicology and Educational Lexicography" [9] and "Foundations of the Theory of Educational
Lexicography" [15]. Another section of theoretical lexicography that has been of a practical
nature for a long time is bilingual translated lexicography or contrasting lexicography. The issues
of the theory of compiling multilingual dictionaries were considered mainly within the
framework of articles in collections on the problems of translation, as well as in prefaces to large
translation dictionaries. Thus, the foreword by L.V. Shcherba to the Comprehensive Russian-
French Dictionary has always been considered a generalization of the basic principles of
compiling bilingual dictionaries. The first monographic edition of this direction was the textbook
by V.P. Berkov "Bilingual Lexicography" [2]. Unlike theoretical lexicography, practical
lexicography performs a number of functions: - the description of the language vocabulary; - the
determination of the norms of the literary language; - the ensuring interethnic communication; -
the scientific assessment of language vocabulary; - the promotion of special language education
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[16]. If etymological, explanatory, idiomatic, translation dictionaries serve to explain the origin,
interpretation of words and fixed expressions, then spelling dictionaries, spelling dictionaries,
orthoepic indicate the correct spelling, pronunciation of words and their forms. The first
dictionaries were created to explain the content of sources. Explaining the content happens in
two ways: - to explain outdated language units to the addressee, that is, to the native speaker; - to
explain the expression of one language to another, that is, to a representative of a native speaker
of another language. The first approach is lexicographic transformation, the second is
lexicographic translation. The practice of explaining obsolete language units to the addressee
occurs in two cases: When a word is phonetically out of date; With the development of language
and writing.
The first dictionaries were universal in terms of their use and were purely contextual in their
content, in other words, they did not have any specific social or professional specifics, but served
only for translation and understanding of texts. Based on the above, we came to the conclusion
that Uzbek dictionary studying in the sense of "lexicography" is a relatively young science and
has a very recent history. And the denotation of dictionary compilation is much older than the
seme "compiling dictionaries." In particular, "Divan lugoti-t-turk" by Mahmud Kashgari is the
beginning of Uzbek dictionary compilation, practical lexicography, not theoretical. In addition, it
has become a universal tradition of the oldest dictionaries such as: the dictionary of Mahmud
Zamakhshari "Asosu-l-baloga", "Mukaddimatu-ladab, the explanatory dictionary "Abushka" by
an unknown author, "Badoye ullugat" by Tole Iman Hirawiya, "Muntahab-ul-lugat" by
Muhammad Riz Khoksor, "Sangloh" by Mirzo Mehdihan, "Kelurnoma" by Muhammad Yakub
Chingiyinta, "Lugati chigatoy va turki usmoniy" (Chigotoi-turkish dictionary) by Suleiman
Bukhari, "Lugati isittaa-s-sina" (Six language dictionary) by Iskhak Ibrat is considered to be the
originators of the Uzbek theoretical lexicography, which is considered a mistake. For example,
the National Encyclopedia of Uzbekistan in the article ―Lexicography‖ gives the following
interpretation ―… today there are many translation dictionaries comparing Uzbek with about 10
foreign languages, more than 100 terminological dictionaries in one, two and three languages
have been created. For the first time in the history of the Uzbek people, in 1981, the dictionary
―Explanatory dictionary of the Uzbek language‖ was created and published‖. The development
of Uzbek lexicography of the 20th century was made by such scientists as: A. Zakhiry, A.
Kadiry, E.D. Polivanov, A.K. Borovkov, V.V. Reshetov, S. Ibrohimov, Olim Usmon, Z.
Marufov, Sh. Rakhmatullaev, N. Mamatov, A. Khozhiev, T. Alikulov and many others. After the
republic gained independence, the Uzbek lexicography was given the task of creating
encyclopedic and linguistic dictionaries that would meet the requirements of the new era, and
this task is being fulfilled. [17] These tasks were most likely aimed at the development of
practical lexicography-dictionary compilation, but not lexicography. In particular, the Uzbek
lexicographers have the following tasks that can be performed directly in the process of creating
dictionaries: - the general typology of dictionaries and the development of new dictionaries; - the
creation of a general structure of dictionaries (selection of words, arrangement of words and
dictionary entries, definition of homonymous, synonymous, polyfunctional and polysemantic
units, inclusion of reference materials in the dictionary); - creation of a special structure of
dictionaries (i.e. development of each dictionary entry, grammatical and phonetic interpretation
of a word, separation and classification of word meanings, types of illustrations as evidence,
types of descriptions, sign systems, information on the etymology of a word). The results of
lexicographic research are used in practical lexicography. Accordingly, if lexicography is a
research and descriptive theoretical stage, then dictionary compilation is a practical stage of
applied content [18]. Lexicography and dictionary compilation are closely related to all branches
of linguistics, especially lexicology. In this sense, these three sections represent three stages in
the structure of the sciences: - the fundamental area; - the innovation sphere; - the applied field.
Lexicology is a fundamental field that studies the nature and richness of the vocabulary of a
language and serves as the basis for lexicographic research in this area [18]. Lexicographic
research combines both theoretical and practical aspects.
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The creation of innovative models of theoretical linguistic conclusions for new practical
lexicographic products is the main task of lexicographic research. So, based on the above, it is
necessary to distinguish between lexicography (theoretical lexicography) and dictionary
compilation, (practical lexicography), and the lexicographer-scientist and compiler of the
dictionary. In most cases, the lexicographer and dictionary compiler are rarely in the same
person. For example, the linguist A.K. Borovkov notes that he did not create a single dictionary,
but is engaged in lexicography [20]. Moreover, if today we call the innumerable dictionaries on
the bookshelves "dictionaries", then we can only call their "creators" the compilers of
dictionaries. Currently, the main task of lexicographic research is the creation of innovative
models of dictionaries for both lexicography and dictionary compilation. In dictionary
compilation and dictionaries, linguistic conclusions materialize and become reality. Abstract
linguistic abstractions find a clear application for themselves. Just as the dictionary compilation
combines the consolidation of disciplines, so the true lexicographer will be professionally
integrated. Indeed, in order to compile a simple terminological dictionary, he will have to
combine and synthesize both linguistic and specialized knowledge in a particular field. In
philology, many sections are interconnected, theory cannot coexist without practice, and
lexicography absolutely cannot be separated from practice, even if there is a complete confusion
of theory and practice, theory, passing through practice, crystallizes, finding new possibilities.
The lexicographer, being in close proximity to his studied object than other linguists, cannot be
far from theory [21]. If a new approach or a new method consists only of theory that is not
applicable in practice, then the timely rejection of the innovation may serve more progress than
the introduction of an inert new approach. The novelty of innovations and their application in
science only because they are new indicates a lack of understanding of the essence of the true
spiritual development of the nation. In a literal sense, true ―innovation‖ is characterized by
efficiency, convenience and validity. Proven scientific or practical novelty is compelling and
reflects genuine attention and respect for the realities of the past [22]. These methodological
foundations are directly related to the development and current state of Uzbek theoretical and
practical lexicography, as well as the terms lexicography (dictionary compilation) and
lexicography (lexicography) and lexicographer [23].
Since development, change in language is an irrefutable fact, the dictionary is also a "temporary"
phenomenon. It always fixes a language at a certain period of its development, be it a modern or
a historical (etymological) dictionary. The dictionary is usually created taking into account new
needs, a new addressee, and current linguistic views. Thus, the lexicographical work is always
relatively new. At the same time, the modernity of a dictionary work is in its own way
anachronistic. Lexicographic fixation of linguistic innovations, as a rule, is late for the
development of the language as a whole, for the movement of life, which is objective and logical
from a philosophical point of view. ―A dictionary is a snapshot of an eternally renewing and
moving language‖ [24], ―a dictionary is obliged to guess behind a snapshot the constant
movement of a living language‖ [25], ―a dictionary is a continuous cycle of acquired and lost
words [26].
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