The variables for drawing up the profile of dictionary users

Abstract

Dictionary users should be the main considerations in creating dictionaries. A mistake in identifying the users can make a dictionary to be simply a display without much benefit. Nevertheless, only a small handful of references have discussed the variables to be considered in determining the dictionary user profiles. Consequently, a more concise and updated reference is needed to draw up a more thorough profile of dictionary users. This article starts with reviews of the references on how to determine the profiles of dictionary users, proposed by Bergenholtz and Tarp (Manual of specialised dictionaries, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1995), Atkins and Varantola (in: Atkins (ed) Lexicographica Series Maior 88: using dictionaries, Max Niemeyer Verlag, Tubingen, 1998), Denisov (in: Hartmann (ed) Lexicography: critical concepts, Routledge, London, 2003), Tarp (Lexikos 14:222–252, 2004), Bergenholtz and Nielsen (Terminology 12(2):281–303, 2006) and, Tarp (Lexicography in the borderland between knowledge and non-knowledge: general lexicographical theory with particular focus on learner’s lexicography, John Benjamins Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 2008). A theory on market segmentation process from Kotler and Keller (Marketing management, Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, 2006) is also discussed to widen the perspective on determining the variables for dictionary user profiles. This study has found fourteen variables which are relevant for drawing up the profile of dictionary users.