Lexicography

In the long perspective of human evolutionary development dictionaries have
been known through only a slight fraction of language history. People at first
simply talked without having authoritative packing from reference books.
As far as practical lexicography is concerned it has nearly one and the same
history that is divided into 3 periods:
1. pre-dictionary period;
2. period of early dictionaries;
3. period of developed lexicography.
Now let’s dwell upon it in detail.
The main function of predictionary periods is to explain words which are
difficult to understand.
In the long perspective of human evolutionary development dictionaries have
been known through only a slight fraction of language history. People at first
simply talked without having authoritative backing from reference books.
The first glosses appeared in Sumerain in the 25 th c. B.C. The term “gloss” is of
Greek origin and first it means “tongue”, “language”. Glosses mean series of
verbal interpretations of a text. Then glosses appeared in Western Europe in the
8 th c. A.D., and in Russia they occurred in the 11 th c. A.D.
Glossaries, collections of glosses pertained to one book or author, e.g. Veda
dated to the 1 st millennium B.C. in India, Homer, his glossaries dated to the 5 th c.
B.C. in Greece .
Collections of words for educational purposes are called vocabularias, e.g.
Hettite-Akkadian-Sumerian plates, tablets dated to 14-13 c.c. B.C.
Thematic group of words pertained to the 2 nd millennium B.C. They were found
precisely in 1750 B.C. in Egypt.
The 2 nd period is the period of early dictionaries, its function is to study literary
languages which differ even now with many peoples from spoken speech:
Sanskrit lexicons pertained to the 8-6 th c.c. B.C., ancient Greek lexicons dates to
10 c. B.C.
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