[Lexicog] Spelling variants vs. synonyms

[goodtracks at PEOPLEPC.COM]

If it were an entry for the dictionary I was making, I would select one 
entry of preference for the full entry, and then have the others listed with 
followed by a "See:  "MAIN ENTRY".
jimm

----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Andrew Dunbar" <hippytrail at gmail.com>
To: <lexicographylist at yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, June 21, 2006 11:10 AM
Subject: [Lexicog] Spelling variants vs. synonyms


> Most dictionaries treat spelling variants differently to synonyms.
> Spelling variants
> are often included in the headword, the OED has a special Spellings 
> section.
> Synonyms may have a cross-reference to a more common word rather than a 
> full
> definition.
>
> Sometimes it turns out to be difficult to know where to draw the line. I 
> am a
> contributor to the English Wiktionary and I'm currently travelling through
> Central America, collecting unusual Spanish words as I go. I'm 
> particularly
> interested in foods and regionalisms.
>
> One word I've come across is a fruit called "pejibaye" which I saw in 
> Costa
> Rica. I also saw it often in Panama but without a sign. When I bought a
> dictionary of Panamanianisms I found not this word but another entry, 
> "pifa",
> says it is also known as "pisbao", "pixbae", "pejibayo", and "corolo". The 
> RAE
> contains only "pejibaye" and "pijibay".
> http://www.hort.purdue.edu/newcrop/morton/pejibaye.html lists a lot more.
>
> It seems clear that these should be considered spelling variants:
> pejibaye, pijibay, pejibayo
>
> And equally clear that these should be considered synonyms:
> pifa, corolo
>
> But these could go either way:
> pisbao, pixbae
>
> My question is this: what do you guys, the real lexicographers, do when 
> you
> come across a situation like this?
>
> Andrew Dunbar (hippietrail)
>
>
> -- 
> http://linguaphile.sf.net
>
>
>
>
> Yahoo! Groups Links
>
>
>
>
>
> 



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