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The presentation of illustrative material depends on the type of the dictionary and on the aim the compilers set themselves. They can illustrate the first and the last known occurrences of the entry word, the successive changes in its meaning, as well as graphic and phonetic forms, the typical patterns and collocations; they place words in a context to clarify their meanings and usage.
Illustrative examples can be drawn from different sources, e.g. literature classical or contemporary, or can be constructed by the compilers themselves. For example, in the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (1992) illustrative examples are based on analysis of the authentic language in the Longman Citation Corpus, especially the recent citations from American and British newspapers.
Some dictionaries indicate the author, the work, the page, verse, or line, and the precise date of the publication, some indicate only the author to give at least basic orientation about the time when the word occurs.
The problem of notations
Dictionaries should provide notes on the stylistic characteristics of the word (whether it is colloquial, vulgar, slangy, poetical, dialectal, professional, or rare, archaic, a historism); notes on their evaluatory character (disrespectfully, an abusive term, usually hostile, as a nickname, a contemptuous term, ironically, jocular, as a term of approval, appreciatively, as a term of appreciation) because the definition does not show these data. There is always a difference in style between the dictionary word and its definition. The word digs is a slang word but its definition ‘ lodgings ’ is not. The problem is also relevant for bilingual dictionaries and is carefully presented in the ‘New English-Russian Dictionary’ edited by I.R. Galperin.
The problem of distribution
A synchronic dictionary should also show the distribution of every word. It has been traditionally done by labelling words as belonging to a certain part of speech, and by noting some special cases of grammatically or lexically bound meanings. Thus, the word spin is labelled in ‘The Concise Oxford Dictionary’ as v.t. & i., which gives a general idea of its distribution; its various senses are shown in connection with words that may serve as subject or object, e. g.: “2. (of spider, silkworm, etc.) make (web, gossamer, cocoon, or abs.) by extrusion of fine viscous thread... 10. spun glass (spun when heated into filaments that remain pliant when cold); spun gold, silver (gold, silver thread prepared for weaving (...).”
‘ Petty ’ may be referred to ‘house,’ but not to ‘skyscraper’. ‘ Petty ’ is usually combined with feminine gender, children, and small size.
Modern trends in Lexicography: corpus (corpus-based) lexicography and
