The etymological approach in treating dictionary entries and their impact on the structure of the dictionary text

Abstract

The derivational approach is -with the diachronic and synchronic approaches- one of the approaches used in modern lexicography in the making of dictionaries and in the treatment of lexical entries. However, it has ancient origins in the Arabic lexicographical tradition as it was -and still is- followed in Arabic dictionaries adopting the system of the root or simple basis (simple lexical unit without affixes) in the classification of dictionary entries. Indeed, there are two systems in one main entry (a root or a single basis) followed by a serics of secondary entries that are mostly nominal, deverbative, or adjectival derived. In modern lexicography -especially European-, the derived themselves are the main entries, and the definition of each entry is composed of several clements (nine to thirteen) which together form the structure of the dictionary entry. But, when we apply the derivational approach, as is the case in Larousse de la langue française Lexis (1979), the structure of the dictionary entry becomes complex because we are in presence of multiple inputs: onc primary and à series of secondary entries that are its derived and each of these entries is accompanied by the clements that constitute the specific definition of the principle entry as well as a section for its derived. But this richness found in Western lexicography is absent from the classical and modern Arabic lexicography. In fact, there is only one element that is repeated in each definition and cach entry: the explanation of meaning, which, however, could be accompanied -but in limited cascs- with details of grammatical information and quotations or examples. Isues related to the application of this approach in Arabic lexicography and Western lexicography are the subject of our study.