Lexicography and Lexicology Research Unit

🌍 version in Polish (wersja w języku polskim)

In the Department of Lexicography and Lexicology we are concerned with lexis as analysed by linguistic science and as represented in dictionaries. Various research projects in lexical semantics have been completed or are currently in progress for which the preferred (though not exclusive) theoretical framework is Cognitive Linguistics. Our lexicological analysis is largely based on data from large electronic corpora of the English language, which allow for a comprehensive description of all aspects of a lexical unit in its current use. For instance, we use corpus data to investigate the semantic relations, equivalence and motivation of phraseological units.

Important work is being done in the area of metalexicography (or theoretical lexicography), especially as regards bilingual dictionaries. A separate strand of inquiry is dictionary user research, that is, empirical investigation into the needs and preferences of dictionary users and into the user-friendliness and didactic effectiveness of dictionaries.

The most practical aspect of our work is the actual compilation of dictionaries. Over the last decade or so, several English-Polish, Polish-English dictionaries have been produced at the School (now Faculty) of English, members of our Department having played a leading role in all these projects.