[Lexicog] spelling and dictionary types

[CAROLINE REUL]

Here's an anecdote.
   
  I am an American and moved to Germany after I did my bachelor's degree. A couple of years later, I married a German guy.  Many of our friends asked us what we would like for a wedding present, so I told one of them I would like a good German dictionary, expecting to receive something like a German version of Merriam-Webster's Collegiate Dictionary or the American Heritage Dictionary of the English languge.
   
  Much to my surprise (as practically every household owns a general purpose dictionary in the US), we got a Duden spelling dictionary and a Duden dictionary of foreign words, both of which are the size and format of a thick novel.  These are 2 of a series of 10 or 12 dictionaries put out by Duden which also includes a stylistic dictionary, a dictionary of compounds, a grammar dictionary, a pronunciation dictionary, a meaning dictionary and an etymological dictionary among others.
   
  There is an "all in one" dictionary but hardly anyone owns it because, as I was often told, they already "know what the words mean." The spelling dictionary seemed to be the one you found on people's bookshelves, and, in my experience, people consult it often.
   
  Caroline Reul
  
 
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