Lexicography and the Structure of the Dictionary

This course centers on what are the central, theoretical and practical aspects of the lexicographical work in producing a dictionary of the Spanish language. The course puts special emphasis on a contrastive dictionary of American Spanish. It also tackles theoretical-practical questions that are essential in the making of a dictionary; for example, which is the determination of the word unit, what is the relation between the grammar and the lexicon-dictionary of a language, or what is the impact of the processes of linguistic change in the structure of a dictionary, this is, the processes of lexicalization. At the end of the course the student will be able: a) to prepare a lexicographical entry, indicating the grammatical and sociolinguistic status of the term or locution in question, and to write a definition; b) to know the relation between grammar and dictionary; c) to understand the different types of lexicalization; d) to know the difference between the different types of dictionaries, especially between contrastive and non-contrastive. (1 unit)

Required texts: L.F. Lara, De la definición lexicográfica (Mexico: El Colegio de México, 2004); M.A. Medina Guerra, Lexicografía española (Barcelona: Ariel, 2003).