Lexical structure and lexical signs

The methods used in the discipline of lexicography are invariably based on sign-theoretic considerations. The traditional lexicographic sign model is Saussurean, i.e. dyadic, and distinguishes between the word form on the one hand and its reading or meaning, interpreted as a concept, on the other. This simple sign model provides the basis for a fundamental distinction between types of dictionary, based on the procedural criterion of the output of a lookup strategy:

Semasiological dictionary: the conventional type of dictionary, in which the lookup key is a word form (generally orthographic), and the information required is semantic.

Onomasiological dictionary: the thesaurus type of dictionary, in which the lookup key is a concept (actually a word or word family representing a concept or field of concepts), and the information required is the word form, the `name' indicated in the technical term.

 
• Toward an integrated lexical sign model
• Lexical properties and relations
  • ISA relations
  • PARTOF relations
• Words and other lexical (and non-lexical) ranks