Importance
of Dictionary
OR
What
is Dictionary?
“To
acquire knowledge, one must study; but to acquire wisdom, one must observe.” (Marilyn
vos Savant)
A dictionary in a book
that lists words in order and gives their meanings as well. In dictionaries,
the words are given in alphabetical order. Besides defining words, a dictionary
may provide information about their pronunciation, grammatical forms and
functions. Mostly, dictionaries explain words of the same language. But there
are some dictionaries that explain words from one language into another
language.
“The man of knowledge must be able not
only to love his enemies but also to hate his friends.” (Friedrich
Nietzsche)
A dictionary plays a
vital role in the process of learning a language. It helps particularly those
students who want to learn a foreign language. Generally, a dictionary explains
the meanings of a word. Usually, a word has various meanings. Good dictionaries
give examples of how a specific word is used in a range of contexts. This helps
the students to understand the various meanings of a word in different
contexts. Dictionaries also help the students to improve their pronunciation.
“I cannot teach anybody anything. I can
only make them think” (Socrates)
To pronounce a word correctly
is really an uphill task. It demands concentration and practice. Dictionaries
tell the correct pronunciation of words. Some good dictionaries also give the
collocation of words. This improves the writing skill of the students. They
learn to combine words with other nouns, adjectives, verbs, adverbs and
prepositions. Dictionaries may include synonyms and antonyms of words. This
should be considered an extra quality of a dictionary. This helps the students
to improve their vocabulary.
“Your assumptions are your windows on
the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.” (Isaac
Asimov)
Some good dictionaries
give notes about the grammatical use of various words. They make the readers
understand how a certain grammatical word is used correctly and how it is used
incorrectly in different contexts. In this regard a dictionary gives examples.
Some dictionaries give footnotes about the common errors. This helps the
readers a lot to avoid common errors. Some dictionaries give pictures of
things to illustrate them. In short dictionaries aid a lot to make the learning
process easy.