Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary Explained

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native audience. Users with a more linguistic interest, requiring etymologies or copious references, usually prefer the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, or indeed the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary, or other dictionaries aimed at speakers of English with native-level competence.

History

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, previously entitled the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, started life as the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, edited by Albert Sydney Hornby. It was first published in Japan in 1942. It then made a perilous wartime journey to Britain where it came under the wing of OUP, which decided it would be the perfect counterpart for the prestigious OED.

A. S. Hornby was a teacher of English studies at a small college in Japan; he had gone there in 1923 to teach literature, but his experiences in the classroom drew his attention to the need for sound principles of language teaching. At that time Harold E. Palmer headed the Institute for Research into English Teaching in Tokyo, and in 1931 he invited Hornby to work on vocabulary development at the Institute. The result of this was the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, published by Kaitakusha in 1942. A year before publication, Hornby had managed to send an advance copy in sheets of the book to B. Ifor Evans at the British Council, a tough feat during the war. Ifor Evans offered him a job, and in 1942 Hornby came back to Britain and joined the Council, which posted him to Iran.

The sheets reached Humphrey S. Milford, then publisher to the University of Oxford and effectively OUP's managing director. Milford saw immediately that the dictionary could fill a troublesome gap in the Press's lists, since it was compiled for non-English speakers and rested on Hornby's solid experience in teaching the language overseas. Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage much more extensively than would a dictionary for native English speakers. With the cachet of the Press to promote it, it could take the "Oxford dictionary" brand to readerships that might be intimidated or puzzled by the more magisterial OED.

But the command economy of World War II under which all British publishers were then operating posed a problem: everything was in short supply, and Milford appealed to the British Council for help in getting the paper and cloth.[1] He referred the matter to E.C. Parnwell, who was looking after the Press's overseas projects, Milford being by then too unwell to manage the Press without substantial assistance, as he had been doing since 1904.[1]

Hornby had brought with him the world rights to the book excluding Japan and China; Kenneth Sisam, then Secretary to the Delegates of the Press, gave a favourable report to the Delegates on the book. Milford also used hostility to Japan to push for a subsidy from the British Council, saying that "the Japanese are very cheap producers" and were likely to capture the market.

The book had more than 1,500 pages and for an edition of 10,000 copies would need ten tons of paper. Milford applied for a special release to acquire this paper "in the direct interest of British culture and overseas trade, particularly in the non-sterling areas". He had adequate paper stock to begin the edition but this was all earmarked for "essential reprints" and he could only use it if replacements were guaranteed.[2] Milford's niece, Eleanor M. Booker, was now working at the India Office, and he lobbied for paper through her.

Finally the book came out between 1943 and 1948 and became an instant success. Today it is one of the most used resources by learners of the English language worldwide.

The book is useful for all competitive exams.

Publications

English dictionaries

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English was first published in 1948; the current edition is the tenth. The following editions exist:

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The book's cover title was changed beginning with 4th edition. However, the old name was still being referenced by foreign language versions of the dictionary up to 6th edition.

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

It is a demo version of Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, which includes 100 sample entries from the OALD.

Oxford Learner's Dictionary of Academic English

Oxford Learner's Wordfinder Dictionary

Oxford Learner's Thesaurus: A Dictionary of Synonyms

The thesaurus was originated in the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary 7th edition, where over 200 sets of synonyms were located at specific lexical entries.[5]

Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary

Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary of Business English

Oxford Learner's Pocket Grammar

Oxford Learner's Pocket Phrasal Verbs and Idioms

Oxford Learner's Pocket Thesaurus

Oxford Learner's Pocket Verbs and Tenses

Oxford Learner's Pocket Word Skills

Oxford Learner's Quick Reference Grammar

New Oxford Intermediate Learner's Dictionary

Oxford Advanced American Dictionary for learners of English

Oxford Basic American Dictionary for learners of English

Oxford American Dictionary for learners of English

Oxford ESL Dictionary

Oxford ESL Dictionary for learners of English

English-Chinese dictionaries

The Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English with Chinese Translation

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English with Chinese Translation

Oxford English-Chinese Reader's Dictionary

Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary

Simplified Chinese versions of Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (牛津高阶英汉双解词典/牛津高階英漢雙解詞典) has been published by The Commercial Press since 1988. Traditional Chinese version has been published by Oxford University Press (China) Ltd. since 4th edition.

Oxford Elementary Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary

Oxford Elementary Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (牛津初階英漢雙解詞典) is targeted for primary school readers. It was first published in 1998.[10]

Oxford Intermediate Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary

Oxford Intermediate Learner's English-Chinese Dictionary (牛津進階英漢雙解詞典/牛津中階英漢雙解詞典) is targeted for secondary school readers. It was first published in 2001.[10]

1st? impression (2001-12-??)

1st? impression (2006-02-02)

1st? impression (2001-06-01)

1st? impression (2016-09-01)

1st? impression (2016-09-01)

1st? impression (2016-09-01)

1st? impression (2016-07-01)

Oxford Learner's Wordfinder English-Chinese Dictionary

Oxford Learner's Thesaurus A dictionary of synonyms

1st impression (2014-04-??)

Oxford American Dictionary for learners of English (English-Chinese)

English-French dictionaries

Dictionnaire Oxford Poche pour apprendre l'anglais (français-anglais / anglais-français)

English-Greek dictionaries

Oxford English-Greek Learner's Dictionary

Oxford Greek-English Learner's Dictionary

Oxford Learner's Pocket Dictionary (English-Greek / Greek-English)

English-Korean dictionaries

English-English-Persian dictionaries

Oxford Elementary Learner's Dictionary

English-Portuguese Dictionaries

Dicionário Oxford Escolar para estudantes brasileiros de inglês (Português-Inglês / Inglês-Português)

Dicionário Oxford Pocket para estudantes de Inglês (Português-Inglês / Inglês-Português)

English-Spanish Dictionaries

Diccionario Oxford Escolar para estudiantes mexicanos de inglés (español-inglés / inglés-español)

Diccionario Oxford Escolar para estudiantes de inglés (español-inglés / inglés-español)

Diccionario Oxford Pocket para estudiantes de inglés

Diccionario Oxford Pocket para estudiantes latinoamericanos de inglés

English-English-Vietnamese Dictionaries

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary with Vietnamese Translation

Student's Dictionary

In contrast to the Oxford's learner dictionaries, which are designed for learning foreign languages (English in the case of OALD), Oxford Student's Dictionary is designed for learners using English to study other subjects.[14] Oxford Student's Dictionary has smaller vocabulary than the OALD counterpart.

Literary references

External links

English dictionaries

English-Catalan dictionaries

English-Chinese dictionaries

English-French dictionaries

English-Greek dictionaries

English-Korean dictionaries

English-Portuguese Dictionaries

English-Spanish Dictionaries

Notes and References

  1. OUP Archives held at the OUP headquarters, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, UK, Milford's Letterbooks Vol. 165 fol. 493, Milford to Ifor Evans, 4 July 1941.
  2. OUP Archives, Milford's Letterbooks, Vol. 165 fol. 632B, Milford to Ifor Evans, 8 August; fol. 757, 19 September 1941
  3. https://oupeltglobalblog.com/2010/03/10/introducing-the-new-8th-edition-of-the-oxford-advanced-learners-dictionary/ Introducing the new 8th edition of the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary
  4. http://oupeltglobalblog.com/2012/01/03/introducing-the-oxford-advanced-learners-dictionary-app/ Introducing the Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary App
  5. http://academic.oup.com/eltj/article/63/3/288/411029/Oxford-Learner-s-Thesaurus-A-Dictionary-of Oxford Learner's Thesaurus: A Dictionary of Synonyms
  6. http://monthly.hkej.com/monthly/article/id/1444618/%E8%8F%AF%E4%BA%BA%E5%AD%B8%E7%BF%92%E8%8B%B1%E8%AA%9E%E7%94%A8%E6%9B%B8%E5%92%8C%E9%A6%96%E9%83%A8%E3%80%8C%E8%8B%B1%E6%BC%A2%E9%9B%99%E8%AA%9E%E8%A9%9E%E5%85%B8%E3%80%8D 華人學習英語用書和首部「英漢雙語詞典」
  7. https://itunes.apple.com/hk/app/oalecd-7e-out-of-date/id539148812?mt=8 OALECD 7e (out of date)
  8. http://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1249918/oxford-university-press-launch-expanded-chinese-english-dictionary Oxford University Press launch expanded English-Chinese dictionary
  9. http://www.cnpubg.com/news/2014/0901/21927.shtml 《牛津高阶英汉双解词典》（第8版）隆重面世
  10. https://read01.com/BGgmnm.html 《牛津高階英漢雙解詞典》全新改版 35年傾情巨獻
  11. http://www.zhihu.com/question/49792726 有购买了商务印书馆的《牛津美式英语词典》的同学没？
  12. http://blog.donga.com/fllkorea/archives/50 옥스포드 영한사전(Oxford Advanced Learner's English-Korean Dictionary)
  13. http://english.thesaigontimes.vn/39904/New-Oxford-dictionary-launched-in-Vietnam.html New Oxford dictionary launched in Vietnam
  14. https://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/dictionaries/oxford_students_dictionary_english_to_study_other_subjects/?cc=ca&selLanguage=en Oxford Student's Dictionary for learners using English to study other subjects.

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