Abstract
Dictionaries have to be compiled in accordance with specific target users and dictionary goals. User orientation is, however, not the only criterion for measuring the success of a dictionary. Present-day lexicography requires the evaluation of the accessibility of dictionaries. The ease with which macro- and microstructural information is located and retrieved determines the quality and accessibility of the presentation. User-orientated, accessible learner's dictionaries can contribute substantially to the improvement of communication in a multilingual South Africa with different groups of language learners. Metalexicography makes provision for guide structures that facilitate access to information in the dictionary. The outer, inner and meta-access structure are functional structure elements that increase the retrievability of information and help the user to reach, as swiftly as possible, the information he/she is looking for. During the planning of a learner's dictionary, the lexicographer must draw up, among others, a dictionary plan in which a detailed explanation of the outer and inner access structure is given. Such a dictionary plan contributes to a consistent application of lexicographical decisions. Decisions regarding the access structure must also be explained and illustrated in the front text in order to enable learners to acquire dictionary skills and become effective dictionary users. Keywords: metalexicography, outer access structure, inner access structure, learner's dictionary, frame structure, unintegrated, integrated, mono- and poly-accessible, outer texts, outer rapid access, data distribution structure, micro-architecture, data-architecture, data exposure structure, meta-access
Highlights
Recent research in the field of metalexicography has focused on the structure of dictionaries
The outer access structure leads a user up to the lemma sign, introducing the article from which the needed information is to be retrieved, and the inner access structure guides the user within a dictionary article to the search zone in which the relevant data is presented
The outer access structure has to guide the user to a specific article stretch within the central list and within the article stretch to a specific lemma sign
Summary
Recent research in the field of metalexicography has focused on the structure of dictionaries. The access structure can be regarded as the search route the dictionary user follows during a dictionary consultation procedure. 2. What is the correlation between the access structure and the dictionary consultation procedure?. The access structure is the search route the user follows during a consultation procedure and it correlates directly with the actions taking place during the consultation process. According to Béjoint (1994: 155), the following actions take place when the user consults a dictionary: 1. It is evident from both examples that the consultation activities consist of two stages, which correlate directly with the two main structures of the dictionary, namely the macro- and microstructure. The first part of the dictionary consultation procedure where the user follows the outer search path to the desired lemma will be considered
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