18 REFERENCE SOURCES
- Period or scholarly specialized titles that focus on a given time
period or place, such as a dictionary of Old English. - Etymological dictionaries that are like historical dictionaries,
but tend to put more emphasis on analysis of components and
cognates in other languages. - Foreign language titles, which are bilingual in that they give the
meanings of the words in one language in another language. - Subject works which concentrate on the definition of words in a
given area, such as science and technology. - “Other” dictionaries, which include everything from abbreviations
to slang and proper usage.^1
In this chapter, I’d like to focus on a few of Katz’s categories, specifically, gen-
eral English language dictionaries, historical dictionaries, subject works, and
“other” dictionaries, and take a brief look at some examples of each.general dictionaries
When most people think of dictionaries, what comes to mind are either mas-
sive, unabridged dictionaries or their less cumbersome counterparts, desk
dictionaries. These general dictionaries provide a plethora of information:
pronunciations, definitions, synonyms and antonyms, derivations, and so
on. The additional features often found in general dictionaries, especially the
large ones, such as lists of signs and symbols, guides to proofreaders’ marks,
charts of language families, tables of weights and measures, and even maps of
constellations, are also useful.
Webster’s Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged sets the standard
for a one-volume, unabridged dictionary. Comprehensive, authoritative, and
reliable, it supplies etymologies and representative quotations. It does not
include geographical or biographical names among its entries. The online
version (http://unabridged.merriamwebster.com) contains a number of special
features (audio pronunciation, a daily crossword puzzle, and word of the day)
as well as material from other dictionaries produced by Merriam-Webster.
Random House Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary (2nd edition) is another reliable
unabridged dictionary that includes geographical and biographical names
and emphasizes contemporary usage. The American Heritage Dictionary of the
English Language (4th edition) is one of the handiest reference tools around;http://www.ebook3000.com