Dictionaries that use pragmatics (was: 'kushat'')

[Loren Billings]

To answer the question to which John Dunn was replying
below, although not specifically about Russian, the
Collins COBUILD series of dictionaries of English rely
heavily on pragmatics. Indeed, there is a volume entitled
"Usage" (or at least it prominently includes that word).
The ordinary dictionaries in the series have all sorts of
subtle distinctions (e.g., between _content_ and
_contents_ or _ambition_ and _ambitions_). Although the
market for Russian-learning materials is nowhere near
that of English, I'm certain that the tenor of the
COBUILD series should be emulated. (I'm not familiar with
Offord's book, cited below. Perhaps it is also part of
the emerging empiricist tradition in lexicography
centered around Britain and Scandinavia.)

--Loren Billings


J.Dunn at SLAVONIC.ARTS.GLA.AC.UK wrote:
>
> >Maybe, the time has come to write dictionaries which
> >are oriented more to pragmatics of language, than to
> >its semantics and grammar only? Can anyone tell me if
> >there is such a dictionary or handbook in American
> >and British tradition of Russian teaching?
>
> One book that goes some way towards meeting this
> demand is Derek Offord's 'Using Russian', published in
> the U.K. by Cambridge University Press in 1996.

--

Loren A. BILLINGS, Ph.D. <billings at kmutt.ac.th>

Department of Applied Linguistics
School of Liberal Arts [office: room 207]
King Mongkut's University of Technology Thonburi
Pracha U-Tit Road, Thungkru, Ratburana
Bangkok 10140 THAILAND

Office phone:  +66.2.470.8727 (no voice mail)
Office fax:  +66.2.428.3375 (+ "ATTN L. Billings")

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