Longman Dictionary of contemporary english [antikvár]

Preface In the early stages of learning a foreign language, one of our essential tools is a good bilingual dictionary, linking words of the language we know well to the corresponding words in the language we are learning. But as our competence and confidence increase, we reach a point at which the bilingual dictionary is inadequate to our needs. It ties us down to a perpetual exercise of translation, inhibits us from free creative expression in the foreign language we are now mastering, and simply does not give us enough information on the meanings and grammatical constraints of the words we want to use. Learners all over the world need to reach that stage with English more than with any other language, and the new edition of the Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English has been expertly and skilfully prepared to match their requirements. The rich and wide selection of headwords is drawn from both spoken and written sources, ordinary discourse and technical communication, British and American usage, as recorded in the many millions of running words in the Longman files of citations. Words are individually coded in a clear notation to indicate the grammatical relations into which they can enter, and their meanings are stated in terms of a uniquely devised small and clear defining vocabulary, separately listed for ease of reference. The definitions and the wealth of insightful and highly natural examples that accompany them bear witness to the expert professionalism of the Longman lexicographers, working in close collaboration both with linguistic experts, British and American, and also with numerous teachers possessing long experience of classroom work in many countries of the world. Special attention can thus be given to the known needs of advanced students, needs which include the most up-to-date meanings and such pragmatic aspects of usage as courtesy, intention, and speaker-addressee relations. This Dictionary recognizes, not least, the international role of English as an essential instrument of communication. Through every aspect of its design, it securely speeds the learner's efficient and sensitive control of the language. Professor Sir Randolph Quirk