A STUDY OF THE DEVELOPMENTS IN MONOLINGUAL URDU LEXICOGRAPHY

Abstract

The present study focuses on the developments in monolingual Urdu Lexicography. The main focus is on the developments in the megastructure and microstructure of the four major types of Urdu dictionaries categorized as: general purpose, pedagogical, LSP, and historical dictionaries. The research aims at finding out the developments in the inclusion of structural features in these dictionaries. The study examines and analyzes four types of dictionaries of Urdu based on four different check lists. The approach of documentary analysis is employed to carry out this descriptive type of research. To draw a checklist about the information in a dictionary, the studies of Bergenholtz & Tarp (1995), Hausmann and Wiegand (1989), Hartmann (1983, 2001), Bowker (2003), Jackson (2002), Landau (2001), Bejoint (2000) and Ahmad (2009) were taken into consideration. Different features of megastructure including contents, preface/introduction, user’s guide, list of abbreviations, pronunciation symbols, encyclopedic note, list of headwords (macrostructure), index, appendices, information label; and the features of microstructure including head word, spellings, pronunciation, inflections, word class, senses, definition/s, example/s, usage, cross reference, illustrations, run-ons, and etymology are used for analysis. The analysis reveals that general purpose, pedagogical and LSP dictionaries demonstrate no or least developments. They use limited outside matter, as they are deficient in providing the user’s guide, encyclopedic information and notes on language. In the back matter of pedagogical dictionaries, the list of defining vocabulary is not included. The information provided in microstructure of these dictionaries is also very vilimited. The technique of defining the headwords has not developed properly. Other related sections like the list of abbreviations, illustrations, and usage labels, are also missing in these types of dictionaries. However, the research reveals that the historical dictionaries have developed over the years. The compilers of the latest dictionary of this type have considered all the modern lexicographic needs of the users and have successfully brought the developments in the structure of the monolingual historical Urdu dictionaries.