- Overview
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This book is a collection of interviews with lexicographers who have lost their places as dictionary publishers closed their doors.
- Book Intro
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In the process of transferring a paper dictionary content to the web, author Jeong Cheol went to meet lexicographers. Jeong was struck by the silent disappearance of lexicographers who weren't even properly acknowledged in their heyday, and the loss of this highly intellectual skill known as lexicography. With this mindset, Jeong decided to meet with the major lexicographers and listen to their stories. He asked how the dictionaries were made and what difficulties they faced in the process. He then decided to become a loudspeaker to tell their stories to the world.
This is the first book to record the history of modern dictionary compilation in Korea through the words of lexicographers. It's a dedication to the work of those who made dictionaries from a man who himself loved dictionaries. It can also be considered communication beyond the boundaries of online and paper lexicographers. This is a fascinating book that offers a glimpse into the lives of the people who collected hundreds of thousands of words and organized their meanings and usage.
Although Jeong works at an IT company, he defines himself as a lexicographer. Jeong was troubled by the fact that lexicographers, who originally produced the content in an age of voracious information consumption, were being forgotten and even losing jobs without any recognition. He could not just stand watching the disappearance of lexicography, the field responsible for faithfully capturing language (dictionaries) nestled among contemporaries of the time and knowledge (encyclopedias) verified by experts. With this in mind, Jeong met five people who worked in the field of lexicography. The lexicographers he met were involved in almost the entire history of the modern Korean dictionary, from the Korean Language Society of the 1930s to encyclopedias, Korean dictionary, and foreign language dictionaries, working in academic institutes, university research institutes, and publishing houses. This book also includes an appendix titled "The Private Lives of Lexicographers" which reveals the various personalities of lexicographers that have gone unseen behind the veil of the lexicography industry.
- About the Author
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Jeong Cheol
Jeong Cheol is a web dictionary planner who currently is in charge of the Daum language dictionary in Kakao Knowledge Cell. In the early and mid 2000s when the paper dictionary was nearing its end and the web dictionary was just about to sprout, Jeong Cheol worked at Naver and Daum. Jeong held the crucial role of designing the basics of their web dictionaries and filling them in with content. While working at The Korean Association for Lexicography, Jeong Cheol received his MA in Lexicography from the Language Information Research Center at Yonsei University. Currently, Jeong works as the director of the Korea Wiki Media Association and as an editor for Wikipedia.
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