lexicographythe

Lexicographythe is a coined term used in linguistic and lexicographic discussions to denote the theoretical dimension of dictionary making. It is sometimes described as a portmanteau of "lexicography" and "theory" and is employed to emphasize conceptual questions that underlie practical lexicography, such as how meanings are encoded, how senses are delineated, and how entries are structured for end users. The term began to appear in academic blogs and conference abstracts in the 2010s and 2020s, but it remains not widely standardized, with its precise scope varying among writers.

Core concerns of lexicographythe include the epistemology of dictionary data, lemma selection, sense inventory, sense disambiguation, etymology, pronunciation, usage notes, and the treatment of historical versus contemporary forms. It also addresses methodological questions about data sources, corpus design, validation, and the ethics of representation and bias in dictionaries.

Methodologically, lexicographythe overlaps with corpus linguistics, semantics, information science, and user-centered design. Researchers may develop theoretical models for sense frequency, polysemy, and semantic change, and test these models against empirical dictionary data, or prototype digital dictionaries that adapt to user queries in real time. The digital era has expanded the scope of lexicographythe to include crowd-sourcing, continuous updates, and machine-assisted lexicography.

Relation to established fields: It intersects with lexicography, lexicology, computational linguistics, and data science. Among proponents, it is seen as a clarifying framework for discussing dictionary theory; among skeptics, it risks duplicating existing lexicographic theory under a new name. As with many neologisms, its meaning may cohere in specific subfields or projects rather than across the discipline.