Thinking out of the box – perspectives on the use of lexicographic text boxes

By November 17, 2016,
Page 501-511
Author Rufus H. Gouws, Danie J. Prinsloo
Title Thinking out of the box – perspectives on the use of lexicographic text boxes
Abstract Although text boxes have become a common phenomenon in dictionaries relatively little attention has been paid to their presentation and to the motivation for their use and the type of data to be included in a dictionary in this specific way. Text boxes are salient dictionary entries and as such they are used to place more than the default focus on a specific data item. Dictionaries offer a variety of data types in text boxes such as guidance in terms of sense, contrasting related words, restrictions on the range of application, register, pronunciation, et cetera. The default presentation seems to be as article-internal microstructural entries within a typical relation of lemmatic addressing. Whereas some text boxes present data relevant to only the specific article, other text boxes, i.e. those with a synoptic assignment, also have relevance for other articles, namely a hybrid addressing relation, presenting both immediate and distant addressing. As devices employed in an extended compulsory microstructure care should be taken that text boxes do not become part of the compulsory microstructure and in so doing lose their significance and decrease the emphasis on the data included in the text boxes. The added value of text boxes may never be undermined by an over exposure of this device. Using both micro- and macrostructural text boxes offers exciting possibilities. Where dictionaries have a text production function data could be included in a text box to emphasise the use or non-use of certain combinations and collocations as well as proscriptive guidance. Of real importance is that lexicographers should realise that text boxes are lexicographic devices that can really enhance the data transfer in dictionaries. Lexicographers should think out of the box and they should get out of the box of tradition and employ text boxes in bold, innovative and functional ways.
Session The Dictionary-Making Process
Keywords
BibTex 
@InProceedings{ELX10-040,
	   author = {Rufus H. Gouws, Danie J. Prinsloo},
	   title = {Thinking out of the box – perspectives on the use of lexicographic text boxes },
	   pages = {501-511},
	   booktitle = {Proceedings of the 14th EURALEX International Congress},
	   year = {2010},
	   month = {jul},
	   date = {6-10},
	   address = {Leeuwarden/Ljouwert, The Netherlands},
	   editor = {Anne Dykstra and Tanneke Schoonheim},
	   publisher = {Fryske Akademy},
	   isbn = {978-90-6273-850-3},
	}
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