Specialised lexicography: 20 years in slow motion
Sven Tarp2012
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Abstract
This article discusses the development of specialised lexicography during the past twenty years. It first looks at the practical products published in this period and indicates that although the number of specialised dictionaries, encyclopaedias and other lexicographical works have never been bigger, there is no noteworthy development in terms of quality; to this should be added that this branch of lexicography has only to a limited degree exploited the possibilities created by the new electronic media, especially the Internet. The article then comments on the theoretical development of specialised lexicography in the period in question. Although some positive steps have been taken, it points to an astonishing lack of interest in this type of theoretical work, a fact expressed in the relatively reduced number of publications that does not correspond to the growing flow of practical works published in the same period. Finally, the article mentions some of the possible reasons for this lack of interest in theory as well as the challenges in head of specialised lexicography in this respect.
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