Researchers say that in everyday life, a person will need to know about a thousand words. An educated person has about ten to twenty thousand words in his vocabulary. Of course, we are talking only about those words that a person uses in his everyday speech. He can know and understand words much more. A person can learn new words for himself from communication, reading, and also from dictionaries.
What is a dictionary?
Dictionaries may be needed by a person involved in a new kind of activity. A new field of activity opens up new phenomena for a person that require understanding and, of course, a name.
A dictionary is a book (or any other source), which contains words arranged in a strict order (usually in alphabetical order), all words are interpreted or translated into another language.
Types of dictionaries
Encyclopedic dictionaries - this type presents concise information from various fields of knowledge. Such dictionaries do not explain the literal meaning of a word, but concepts and various terms.
Explanatory dictionaries define words, translations indicate the translation of a word into any of the languages. There are also terminological dictionaries in which you can find any highly specialized term. The meaning of words can be found in etymological dictionaries. To check the spelling of a particular word - spelling. In addition, there are dictionaries of synonyms, foreign words.
Dictionaries of phraseological units will help people who are engaged in literary translation of texts or writing. Here they can find an explanation of the meanings of various fixed expressions that have become entrenched in the speech of a particular people.
There are dictionaries of rhymes (where the endings of words are presented), the sorting within which occurs in reverse order. Such dictionaries are called "reverse" dictionaries. In frequency and semantic dictionaries, elements are grouped according to lexemes, which are located depending on the frequency of use (from the core to the periphery).
In orthoepic dictionaries, you can check the pronunciation and sound of words; in dialectical dictionaries, the vocabulary of various territorial groups is collected. In dictionaries of neologisms, you can find words that have recently entered the language, not yet fully mastered. In contrast, obsolete word dictionaries represent obsolete words.
Often, dictionaries are created in which words or expressions are presented that characterize the work of a particular author. Usually, such dictionaries contain comments explaining the specifics of his use of a particular word.
There are many types of dictionaries. In order to use any dictionary, you must be aware of the need to refer to the dictionary in the process of solving any cognitive and communicative task. You also need to be able to choose a dictionary, to perceive its text in the correct way.
