In Praise of Lexicography, and Lexicographers

By November 23, 2016,
Page 77-88
Author Geoffrey Williams
Title In Praise of Lexicography, and Lexicographers
Abstract The title of this paper draws deliberately on that of John Sinclair’s keynote in Lorient in 2004, In praise of the dictionary. Whereas John Sinclair concentrated on the product, the dictionary, I shall concentrate on the field, and the harmless drudges who undertake the activity, and more particularly in the area of lexicographical research. The starting point will be Georgian lexicography and its importance to the national language and culture. This leads naturally to what I consider two major challenges facing lexicographical research today and the science policy issues it faces: funding policy and notably our place in EC Framework Programmes and the effects of research evaluation. In a second part, I want to give praise to two particular “harmless drudges” – Antoine Furetière and Henri Basnage de Beauval – who illustrate the profile of lexicography in their time. This will allow me to discuss the importance of historical lexicography within the context of digital humanities.
Session Plenary Lectures
Keywords lexicography; research funding; research evaluation; Digital Humanities
BibTex
@InProceedings{ELX2016-005,
author={Geoffrey Williams},
title={In Praise of Lexicography, and Lexicographers},
pages={77-88},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 17th EURALEX International Congress},
year={2016},
month={sep},
date={6-10},
address={Tbilisi, Georgia},
editor={Tinatin Margalitadze, George Meladze},
publisher={Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi University Press},
isbn={978-9941-13-542-2},
}
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