coursemapLoading course
School of Literature, Languages and Linguistics · ANU College of Arts and Social Sciences
Dictionaries are the most widely-used source of information about languages. This course introduces the craft of dictionary-making, and looks at questions about the nature of languages and their descriptions that arise when making a dictionary. The course will focus both on existing lexicographic materials (e.g. various kinds of dictionaries of major world languages) and on the task of making dictionaries of undescribed languages from scratch (particularly for languages of indigenous Australia and the Western Pacific).
Resource Review, 1000 words
Learning outcomes 1
Project/Essay outline and proposal, 800-1000 words
Learning outcomes 1, 2
Lexicographical project, 1800 words
Learning outcomes 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Short essay, 1500 words
Learning outcomes 1, 4, 5
130 hours of total student learning time made up from: a) 36 hours of contact over 12 weeks: 24 hours of lectures and 12 hours of tutorials, and b) 94 hours of independent student research, reading and writing. Other Information Usually offered in alternate years
Atkins, Sue & Michael Rundell. 2008. The Oxford Guide to Practical Lexicography. Oxford: OUP. Other relevant readings will be posted online during the course Preliminary Reading Frawley, Hill & Munro. 2002. Making dictionaries. Preserving indigenous languages of the Americas. U Chicago Press. Austin, Peter. Australian Aboriginal Lexicography. Evans, Nicholas. Main peculiarities of the vocabularies of Australian languages. Haimam, John, Dictionaries and Encyclopaedias; Hale, Ken, The Warlpiri Dictionary Project, Pawley, Andrew, Grammarian's lexicon; Lexicographer's lexicon; Wierzbicka, Anna Back to definitions; Landau, S. What is a dictionary