A comparison between specialized and general dictionaries with reference to legal ones

Abstract EN

Dictionaries play a major role when it comes to different linguistic processes.

Indeed, they are quite essential for beginners as they are considered the main sources for obtaining meaning.

However, dictionaries do not only provide information related to meanings of words, but they also provide different kinds of linguistic information such as spelling, pronunciation, etymology and syntax.

Thus, not only do learners depend on dictionaries, but specialists also consult them for different purposes.

In other words, dictionaries have a variety of different functions, that is why Lexicography, which is compiling dictionaries, is quite an essential field.

Dictionary compilers try to make things easier for their users.

In fact, the way a dictionary is presented is affected by its purpose or aim.

In other words, there are different kinds of dictionaries depending on the type of users.

There are general dictionaries and specialized ones.

What is the purpose of these types? What are the differences between them? Which is more useful for users? My research is an attempt to provide answers to these questions.