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The lexicographical legacy of John Sinclair

Hanks, Patrick

Authors

Patrick Hanks



Abstract

John Sinclair opened up possibilities for new kinds of dictionaries. He assigned a central role to collocations and phraseology, insisting on close attention to textual evidence coupled with a broad theoretical perspective and ruthless jettisoning of hypotheses that do not fit the facts. He aimed to create dictionaries that would help students to write and speak idiomatically. In the tradition of Dr Johnson and OED, these would be based on evidence rather than speculation, but evidence of contemporary usage, not literary citations. In this paper, I look at some possibilities inspired by this approach. I suggest that a synthesis between Sinclairian corpus linguistics and construction grammar is overdue. © 2008 Oxford University Press. All rights reserved.

Citation

Hanks, P. (2008). The lexicographical legacy of John Sinclair. International Journal of Lexicography, 21(3), 219-229. https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecn031

Journal Article Type Article
Publication Date Sep 1, 2008
Journal International Journal of Lexicography
Print ISSN 0950-3846
Electronic ISSN 1477-4577
Publisher Oxford University Press (OUP)
Peer Reviewed Not Peer Reviewed
Volume 21
Issue 3
Pages 219-229
DOI https://doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecn031
Keywords John Sinclair
Public URL https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/1018869
Publisher URL http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/ijl/ecn031