Word etymology in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries: lexicographers’ versus EFL learners’ perspectives

Authors

  • Zahra Awad Department of Linguistics and Phonetics, University of Jordan, Jordan Author

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2006/01/0013/000013

Abstract

This paper deals with the treatment of word etymology in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. It also investigates EFL learners' attitudes towards the importance of etymology for understanding the meaning of the words they look up in dictionaries. The data were collected through tasks of looking up Arabic loan words in English in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. The results indicate that most monolingual and bilingual dictionaries do not provide information on word etymology. They also show that most Arab EFL learners find etymology helpful in understanding the meaning of English words of Arabic origin.

References

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Shipley, J. T. 1975. Dictionary of Words Origin. London: Philosophical library. URL http: // www.questia.com /

Stevens, Mark A. 1997. Merriam Webster’s Collegiate Dictionary. Springfield : Merriam Webster, Incorporated.

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Published

01-01-2006

Issue

Vol. 1 (2006): Proceedings of the 1st Tutorial and Research Workshop on Experimental Linguistics

Section

Proceedings Papers

License

Copyright (c) 2006 Zahra Awad (Author)

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Articles are published under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY 4.0), which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are properly credited.

How to Cite

Word etymology in monolingual and bilingual dictionaries: lexicographers’ versus EFL learners’ perspectives. (2006). Linguistic Proceedings Series, 1(1), 77-80. https://doi.org/10.36505/ExLing-2006/01/0013/000013