Book contents
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Types of Dictionaries
- Part II Dictionaries as Books
- Part III Dictionaries and Ideology
- Part IV Dictionaries and Domains of Use
- Part V The Business of Dictionaries
- Part VI The Future of Dictionaries
- Chapter 31 The Future of Dictionaries
- References: Dictionaries
- References: Secondary Works
- Index
Chapter 31 - The Future of Dictionaries
from Part VI - The Future of Dictionaries
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 19 October 2024
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary
- Cambridge Handbooks in Language and Linguistics
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary
- Copyright page
- Contents
- Figures
- Tables
- Contributors
- Acknowledgments
- Introduction
- Part I Types of Dictionaries
- Part II Dictionaries as Books
- Part III Dictionaries and Ideology
- Part IV Dictionaries and Domains of Use
- Part V The Business of Dictionaries
- Part VI The Future of Dictionaries
- Chapter 31 The Future of Dictionaries
- References: Dictionaries
- References: Secondary Works
- Index
Summary
This chapter is dedicated to the memory of Sue Atkins, the Grande Dame of lexicography, who passed away in 2021. In a prologue we argue that she must be seen on a par with other visionaries and their visions, such as Paul Dirac in mathematics or Beethoven in music. We review the last half century through the eyes of Sue Atkins. In the process, insights of other luminaries come into the picture, including those of Patrick Hanks, Michael Rundell, Adam Kilgarriff, John Sinclair, and Charles Fillmore. This material serves as background to start thinking out of the box about the future of dictionaries. About fifty oppositions are presented, in which the past is contrasted with the future, divided into five subsections: the dictionary-making process, supporting tools and concepts, the appearance of the dictionary, facts about the dictionary, and the image of the dictionary. Moving from the future of dictionaries to the future of lexicographers, the argument is made that dictionary makers need to join forces with the Big Data companies, a move that, by its nature, brings us to the US and thus Americans, including Gregory Grefenstette, Erin McKean, Laurence Urdang, and Sidney I. Landau. In an epilogue, the presentation’s methodology is defined as being “a fact-based extrapolation of the future” and includes good advice from Steve Jobs.
- Type
- Chapter
- Information
- The Cambridge Handbook of the Dictionary , pp. 651 - 667Publisher: Cambridge University PressPrint publication year: 2024