Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English in the context of "Tom McArthur (linguist)"

⭐ In the context of Tom McArthur's linguistic work, the *Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English* is considered groundbreaking because it was the first to employ what organizational principle?

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⭐ Core Definition: Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English

The Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE), first published by Longman in 1978, is an advanced learner's dictionary, providing definitions using a restricted vocabulary, helping non-native English speakers understand meanings easily. It is available in four configurations:

  • Printed book
  • Premium online access
  • Printed book plus premium online access
  • Reduced online version with no access charge (called "free" but technically "gratis": the license is still proprietary)

The dictionary is currently in its sixth edition. The premium website was revised in 2014 and 2015. It now offers over a million corpus examples (exceeding the paper version's), and includes sound files for every word, 88,000 example sentences, and various tools for study, teaching, examinations and grammar. The 9000 Most Important English Words to Learn have been highlighted via the Longman Communication 9000.

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👉 Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English in the context of Tom McArthur (linguist)

Thomas Burns McArthur (23 August 1938 – 30 March 2020) was a Scottish linguist, lexicographer, and the founding editor of English Today. Among the many books he wrote and edited, he is best known for the Longman Lexicon of Contemporary English (the first thematic monolingual learner's dictionary, which complemented the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English by bringing together sets of words with related meanings); Worlds of Reference; and the Oxford Guide to World English (2002, paperback 2003).

McArthur's most notable work was The Oxford Companion to the English Language (1992), a 1200-page work with 95 contributors and 70 consultants. It was hailed by The Guardian as a "leviathan of accessible scholarship" and was listed on the Sunday Times bestseller list. He published an abridged edition in 1996 and a concise edition in 1998. A second edition was published in 2018, co-edited with Jacqueline Lam McArthur and Lise Fontaine.

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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English in the context of Defining vocabulary

A defining vocabulary is a list of words used by lexicographers to write dictionary definitions. The underlying principle goes back to Samuel Johnson's notion that words should be defined using 'terms less abstruse than that which is to be explained', and a defining vocabulary provides the lexicographer with a restricted list of high-frequency words which can be used for producing simple definitions of any word in the dictionary.

Defining vocabularies are especially common in English monolingual learner's dictionaries. The first such dictionary to use a defining vocabulary was the New Method English Dictionary by Michael West and James Endicott (published in 1935), a small dictionary written using a defining vocabulary of just 1,490 words. When the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English was first published in 1978, its most striking feature was its use of a 2,000-word defining vocabulary based on Michael West's General Service List, and since then defining vocabularies have become a standard component of monolingual learner's dictionaries for English and for other languages.

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Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English in the context of Longman

Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in 1724 in London, England, that is owned by Pearson PLC.

Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also used for the Longman Schools in China and the Longman Dictionary.

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