Lexicographical structuring: the number and types of fields, data distribution, searching and data presentation / Lexikographische Strukturierung: Die Anzahl und Typen der Felder, Datendistribution, Suchen und Datenpräsentation / Structuration lexicographique: le nombre et les types de champs, distribution des données, recherche et présentation des données

Abstract

Abstract This contribution will not describe the structure in existing dictionaries. Instead, it will focus on the decisions that lexicographers make when they draw up the concept for and carry out the production of one or more new dictionaries, or when they consider making changes in the data presentation in an existing dictionary. This part of the lexicographical work is what we call structuring, which encompasses a number of various lexicographical decisions. One of these is choosing the fields that a database should contain. Typically, for some of these field types, it will be easy to distribute data, but for other fields it will require much consideration as there are several distribution options with different outcomes of varying usefulness. A second type of lexicographical decision to be made by the lexicographer is the predefined searching, which involves in what order searches are to be made in the different database fields and how these searches should result in a certain presentation of fields in the dictionary. An essential part of the argumentation in this contribution is based on the distinction between polyfunctional and monofunctional dictionaries. Most printed dictionaries are polyfunctional dictionaries, which are close to useless on electronic devices such as tablets and smartphones as they contain a vast amount of data. Only by producing monofunctional dictionaries is it possible to avoid information overload. In the case of monofunctional dictionaries, lexicographical structuring becomes particularly important as these dictionaries are derived from the same database but contain completely different structures.