Harrap's Shorter English and French Dictionary (review)

Abstract

Reviews173 Harrap's Shorter English and French Dictionary. London and Paris: Harrap Books Ltd, 1991. New Edition, xxii + 2,050 pp. $28.15 U.S. Harrap's Shorter English and French Dictionary (1991) is a descendant of Harrap's Standard French and English Dictionary, originally compiled and edited by J. E. Mansion, and published in two successive parts: French-English in 1934 and English-French in 1939. After Mansion's death in 1942, the editing was taken over by R. P. L. Ledésert, who began by issuing a Supplement in 1950, consisting primarily of new words. The Shorter was first issued in the same year, revised in 1967, again in 1982, and completely redone for this (fourth) "New Edition." The 1991 Shorter is a big book, almost too big to fit between two covers, with a page size 101ZT by 634" and a thickness of nearly three inches.1 It consists of 22 pages of front matter, a 1,032-page EnglishFrench section, 76 pages of "Grammaire Anglaise," 32 pages of "Conversation Anglaise," the French-English part of 8 12 pages, and sections on French Grammar, a French conversation guide, and Weights and Measures of 64, 32, and 2 pages respectively, totalling a hefty 2,072 pages.2 Although the original versions reflected Mansion's firm plan to provide a dictionary of French for British users, the publishers have gradually come to realize that sales in North America (both American and Canadian) ought to be taken into account. The 1991 Shorter is also intended to appeal to Francophone users, as everything (front matter, endpapers, instructions, tables) is in both languages, without preference. In its editorial practice, Harrap's has abandoned the tradition of entrusting the work to a single or main editor (Mansion, Ledésert) in favor of using an editorial team. The page displaying the names of the members of the editorial staff in the 199 1 Shorter shows no preeminent editor but a set of six followed by a set of eight, three copy editors, three keyboarders, a French consultant, and LEXUS (project management). Lower on the page is the staff for the 1982 edition: four names including two members of the Led ésert family and twelve names under the heading "Editorial team and consultants ." Since none of the names of the 1982 team survived in the 1991 edition, it is clear that a new management supervened and that the names of the 1991 team are members of the LEXUS organization. Before proceeding to examine the content of this book, it may be appropriate to consider what type ofuser bilingual dictionaries are intended for and what kind of use they are put to. Most likely, the basic user (and use) of such a work as this is an Anglophone looking up a French word encountered in reading and trying to find its English equivalent. Almost equally likely is the same user trying to discover the French equivalent for an English word, given the supposed widespread infestation of "faux amis" in these two languages.3 Despite these basic and most probable uses the Shorter supplies a good deal of material other than the two central vocabularies. It is reasonable to suppose, however, that these (the grammar, the conversation 174Reviews guide . . . ) are mainly marketing devices rather than responses to felt needs. It is the content of the entries that primarily serves the user. The standard full entry shows the headword in bold type, followed by the pronunciation (in IPA symbols) in square brackets, the numbered list of senses, each specified according to part of speech, inflected forms, usage labels, translations, and examples. It is in the extensive set of the examples and their specification according to usage level that the Shorter is most impressive. chalk1 [Lfa:k] ? (for writing etc) & Geol craie/; Art (crayon m) pastel m; Billiards blanc m; they are as different as c. and cheese, c'est lejour et la nuit; F not by a long c, pas du tout; by a long c, de beaucoup; c. hills/cliffs, collines /falaises crayeuses; a set of coloured chalks, un assortiment de craies de couleur; French c, craie de tailleur; Art c. drawing, pastel; c. line or mark, (drawn...