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Dictionary TrainingI mentioned in an earlier lesson that I carry a dictionary with me wherever I go. Actually, I carry numerous dictionaries. I presently work for the united states government and work alongside numerous allied countries. I cannot express enough the utility gained from those dictionaries. You will never find me without at least one “Berlitz Phrasebook.” One phrasebook that I carry now is the “Berlitz Mandarin.” The reason I mention it is because one of the most utilitarian aspects of a dictionary is its phonetic instructions or its phonemics. Of course, I am fascinated by Mandarin because in order for an english speaker to learn it, we must be willing to learn something called Pinyin first. Pinyin is essentially a chinese phonemic system enabling pronunciation to be more easily ascertained. Pronunciation is not inherently evident to a logographic alphabet like chinese or japanese.
The importance of establishing a standard phoneme is important. This course endorsed the International Phonetic Association (IPA) standard phoneme. When I was in elementary school, my school district apparently chose the American Heritage Dictionary (AHD) as their standard. I am still trying to unlearn it. However, having learned those symbols of the AHD has enabled me to be a walking dictionary. Whenever anyone needs a word spelled, they always come to me. I think having learned that phoneme actually helped my spelling. Of course, I would be remiss if I failed to mention the study of Latin prefixes, suffixes and root words also contributed immensely.
This is where dictionaries derive much of their utility. A dictionary is a reference material that is an archive. I know how I learned english and I also know how I study foreign languages. Having that experience will contribute how I use dictionaries in my classroom. No one can retain all the information in an abridged, much less an unabridged, dictionary. However, the wealth of data stored in a dictionary is essential to learning a language.
Of course, knowing the alphabet means understanding the alphabetical order. In english we recognize ‘A’ being first and ‘Z’ being last. We recognize that symbols and abbreviations precede actual letters. This makes locating the entry we seek easier to find. Once found, the first data of any entry is the word itself – revealing its proper spellings. Some words have multiple spellings and all that are acceptable will be referenced.
The next data for each entry is usually the phonemic which is broken down into syllables which makes it easier to consume. This is where it is important to be familiar with the phoneme. As long as the phoneme is recognized it can be read like any other alphabet. The reading of the phoneme makes proper pronunciation possible. The beauty of a dictionary is that all acceptable pronunciations will be included with the entry.
The third piece of data with every entry within a dictionary is its part of speech. The majority of the time when we look up a word in a dictionary it is to find its definition. In order to find the appropriate definition we have to know how the word is being used – as a noun, verb, adjective, adverb, pronoun, preposition, conjunction or interjection. The word “run” has a significant range of uses. This word can be a noun, a verb or even an adjective. These definitions can be very confusing if the wrong word is referenced.
Regardless of which english dictionary you speak of, one piece of data is the list of definitions. The list is based upon usage. The first definition will be the most common usage for the word.
Depending on the dictionary, after the definition is sometimes an example sentence showing the word as it is used within a sentence. In addition, still other dictionaries may list the word’s origin and the date of its first recorded use.
In essence, a dictionary is a reference material that dispenses the most essential data of the english language. It is the standard by which even native speakers must abide for spelling, pronunciation, grammar (part of speech) and application (definition).
