ABSTRACT
Dictionaries assist people in language learning. They do not only reveal the meaning and nature of words, but they could also demonstrate how these words are used in varying contexts. This paper presents a comparative analysis of two different dictionaries: The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) and the Collins English Dictionary (CED). These are two distinct and influential dictionaries with dissimilar lexicographic approaches. Although both dictionaries are available online, they have a major difference in approach: AHD is known for its prescriptive nature and extensive usage notes, while CED is recognized for its corpus-based approach and real-time language updates. This paper intends to analyze these two dictionaries based on their word coverage, usability, lemmatization techniques, and modern lexicography relevance. Furthermore, this analysis highlights each dictionary’s strengths and limitations, as well as their implications for language learning, research, and digital lexicography.
INTRODUCTION
Language learning is a continuous process. One cannot completely learn the language since the language is not static; it evolves over time (Markov et al., 2023). It is shaped by the humans using it and is reflective of the environment where the language is developing (Lupyan & Dale, 2016). In the same way, dictionaries are crafted to help language learners acquire and use the language appropriately in the present context.
Dictionaries play an important role in language documentation, education, and communication. Specifically, these dictionaries assist the learners, teachers, and even researchers in understanding word meanings, pronunciation, and grammatical structures. The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language (AHD) and The Collins English Dictionary (CED) are two of the most respected lexical resources used widely to learn the English language.
The AHD was first published in 1969 by Houghton Mifflin. Its first edition was an outgrowth of the editorial effort for Houghton Mifflin’s American Heritage brand of history books and journals. Due to the controversy during the 1960s regarding the perceived permissiveness of the Webster’s Third New International Dictionary published in 1961, AHD was created (Ottenhoff, 1996). In contrast to the prescriptive nature of the AHD, the CED is descriptive and corpus-based in its approach. It was first published in 1979 by HarperCollins. CED is both printed and online, and it is frequently updating its content to reflect the contemporary language usage.
Both AHD and CED are essential in learning the English language for they present two sides of the language: how the language should be used based on the established language norms and how the language evolves based on how people use it in the present society. Knowing these would help language learners understand the English language from different lenses.
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