A defining vocabulary is a list of words used by lexicographers to write dictionary definitions. The underlying principle goes back to
Samuel Johnson
Samuel Johnson (18 September 1709 – 13 December 1784), often called Dr Johnson, was an English writer who made lasting contributions as a poet, playwright, essayist, moralist, critic, biographer, editor and lexicographer. The ''Oxford ...
's notion that words should be defined using 'terms less abstruse than that which is to be explained', and a defining vocabulary provides the lexicographer with a restricted list of high-frequency words which can be used for producing simple definitions of any word in the dictionary.
Defining vocabularies are especially common in English
monolingual learner's dictionaries. The first such dictionary to use a defining vocabulary was the ''New Method English Dictionary'' by
Michael West and James Endicott (published in 1935), a small dictionary written using a defining vocabulary of just 1,490 words. When the ''
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The ''Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English'' (''LDOCE''), first published by Longman in 1978, is an advanced learner's dictionary, providing definitions using a restricted vocabulary, helping non-native English speakers understand meani ...
'' was first published in 1978, its most striking feature was its use of a 2,000-word defining vocabulary based on Michael West's
General Service List
The General Service List (GSL) is a list of roughly 2,000 words published by Michael West in 1953. The words were selected to represent the most frequent words of English and were taken from a corpus of written English. The target audience was E ...
, and since then defining vocabularies have become a standard component of monolingual learner's dictionaries for English and for other languages.
Differing opinions
Using a defining vocabulary is not without its problems, and some scholars have argued that it can lead to definitions which are insufficiently precise or accurate, or that words in the list are sometimes used in non-central meanings. The more common view, however, is that the disadvantages are outweighed by the advantages, and there is some empirical research which supports this position. Almost all English learner's dictionaries have a defining vocabulary, and these range in size between 2000 and 3000 words, for example:
*''
Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English
The ''Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English'' (''LDOCE''), first published by Longman in 1978, is an advanced learner's dictionary, providing definitions using a restricted vocabulary, helping non-native English speakers understand meani ...
'': approximately 2,000 words
*''
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners
''Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners'', also known as ''MEDAL'', was first published in 2002 by Macmillan Education. ''MEDAL'' is an advanced learner’s dictionary and shares most of the features of this type of dictionary: it pro ...
'': approximately 2,500 words
*''
Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary
The ''Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary'' (''OALD'') was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native au ...
'': approximately 3,000 words
It is possible that, in
electronic dictionaries
An electronic dictionary is a dictionary whose data exists in digital form and can be accessed through a number of different media. Electronic dictionaries can be found in several forms, including software installed on tablet or desktop computers ...
at least, the need for a controlled defining vocabulary will disappear. In some online dictionaries, such as the ''
Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners
''Macmillan English Dictionary for Advanced Learners'', also known as ''MEDAL'', was first published in 2002 by Macmillan Education. ''MEDAL'' is an advanced learner’s dictionary and shares most of the features of this type of dictionary: it pro ...
'', every word in every definition is hyperlinked to its own entry, so that a user who is unsure of the meaning of a word in a definition can immediately see the definition for the word that is causing problems. However, this strategy works only if all the definitions are written in reasonably accessible language, which argues for some sort of defining vocabulary to be maintained in dictionaries aimed at language learners.
Intermediate-level language learners are likely to have receptive familiarity with most words in a typical 2,000-word defining vocabulary. To accommodate beginning-level learners, the defining vocabulary can be divided into two or more layers, where words in one layer are explained using only the simpler words from the previous layers. This strategy is used in the ''Learn These Words First'' multi-layer dictionary, where a 360-word beginning-level defining vocabulary is used to explain a 2,000-word intermediate-level defining vocabulary, which in turn is used to define the remaining words in the dictionary.
See also
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Dictionary
A dictionary is a listing of lexemes from the lexicon of one or more specific languages, often arranged alphabetically (or by radical and stroke for ideographic languages), which may include information on definitions, usage, etymologies ...
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Core glossary
A glossary (from grc, γλῶσσα, ''glossa''; language, speech, wording) also known as a vocabulary or clavis, is an alphabetical list of terms in a particular domain of knowledge with the definitions for those terms. Traditionally, a glo ...
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Controlled Vocabulary
Control may refer to:
Basic meanings Economics and business
* Control (management), an element of management
* Control, an element of management accounting
* Comptroller (or controller), a senior financial officer in an organization
* Controlling ...
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Advanced learner's dictionary
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Basic English
Basic English (British American Scientific International and Commercial English) is an English-based controlled language created by the linguist and philosopher Charles Kay Ogden as an international auxiliary language, and as an aid for teach ...
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Appendix:Basic English word list
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E-Prime
E-Prime (short for English-Prime or English Prime, sometimes denoted É or E′) denotes a restricted form of English in which authors avoid all forms of the verb ''to be''.
E-Prime excludes forms such as ''be'', ''being'', ''been'', present ...
Notes
External links
The Longman Defining Vocabulary (1988)The Oxford 3000 Defining VocabularyLearn These Words First: Multi-Layer Dictionary
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