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A language-for-specific-purposes dictionary (LSP dictionary) is a reference work which defines the specialised vocabulary used by experts within a particular field, for example, architecture. The discipline that deals with these dictionaries is
specialised lexicography Specialized lexicography is an academic discipline that is concerned with development of theories and principles for the design, compilation, use and evaluation of specialized dictionaries. A specialized dictionary is a dictionary that covers a rel ...
. Medical dictionaries are well-known examples of the type.


Users

As described in Bergenholtz/Tarp 1995, LSP dictionaries are often made for users who are already specialists with a subject field (experts), but may also be made for semi-experts and laypeople. In contrast to LSP dictionaries, LGP (language for general purposes) dictionaries are made to be used by an average user. LSP dictionaries may have one or more functions. LSP dictionaries may have communicative functions, such as helping users to understand, translate and produce texts. Dictionaries may also have cognitive functions such as helping users to develop knowledge in general or about a specific topic, such as the birthday of a famous person and the inflectional paradigm of a specific verb.


Different types

According to Sandro Nielsen,Nielsen (1994). LSP dictionaries may cover one language (monolingual) or two languages (bilingual), and occasionally more (multilingual). An LSP dictionary that attempts to cover as much of the vocabulary in a subject field as possible is classified by Nielsen as a maximizing dictionary, and one that attempts to cover a limited number of terms within a subject field is a minimizing dictionary. Also, Nielsen 1994 distinguishes between the following types of dictionaries: An LSP dictionary that covers more than one subject field is called a multi-field dictionary, an LSP dictionary that covers one subject field (e.g. a dictionary of law) is called a single-field dictionary, and an LSP dictionary that covers part of a subject field (e.g. a dictionary of contract law) is called a sub-field dictionary.


Usage dictionaries

A common form of LSP dictionary is a usage dictionary for a particular field or
genre Genre () is any form or type of communication in any mode (written, spoken, digital, artistic, etc.) with socially-agreed-upon conventions developed over time. In popular usage, it normally describes a category of literature, music, or other f ...
, such as journalism, providing advice on words and phrases to prefer, and distinctions between easily confused usages. Probably the best known of these for
news style News style, journalistic style, or news-writing style is the prose style used for news reporting in media such as newspapers, radio and television. News writing attempts to answer all the basic questions about any particular event—who, what, w ...
writing is the '' AP Stylebook''. Many such works also have elements of a
style guide A style guide or manual of style is a set of standards for the writing, formatting, and design of documents. It is often called a style sheet, although that term also has multiple other meanings. The standards can be applied either for gene ...
, though most of the latter are not in dictionary format, but arranged as a series of rules in sections, and more concerned with grammar and punctuation. Some usage dictionaries are intended for a general rather than specialized audience, and are therefore more comprehensive; two major ones are '' Fowler's Dictionary of Modern English Usage'' and '' Garner's Modern English Usage''.


See also

*
Language for specific purposes Language for specific purposes (LSP) has been primarily used to refer to two areas within applied linguistics: # One focusing on the needs in education and training # One with a focus on research on language variation across a particular subject ...


References


Citations


Sources

* Sandro Nielsen (1994): ''The Bilingual LSP Dictionary'', Gunter Narr Verlag. *
Henning Bergenholtz Henning John Bergenholtz (born 26 August 1944) is a Danish linguist, who is head of Center for Lexicography at Aarhus School of Business in Denmark. Professor Bergenholtz has contributed to lexicography as a science with publications on theoretica ...
/Sven Tarp (eds.) (1995): ''Manual of Specialised Lexicography'', Benjamins. * Sandro Nielsen (2010): Specialised Translation Dictionaries for Learners. In: P. A. Fuertes-Olivera (ed.): ''Specialised Dictionaries for Learners'', de Gruyter (Lexicographica. Series Maior 136), 69-82.


External links


Short annotated list of publicationsBrief explanation for using Wikipedia to translate subject-specific vocabulary
{{Lexicography Lexicography Dictionaries by type