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Etc. The Long-Lasting Defining
Device: Unravelling the Mysteryi
Safi Eldeen Alzi'abi, English Department, Jerash University,
Jerash, Jordan (alziabi@gmail.com)
Abstract: In its abbreviated form, 'etc.' is a lexicographic device that dates back to the early 15th
century. It is used on a large scale in monolingual dictionaries for native speakers and EFL learners
to serve a wide range of linguistic patterns. Unfortunately, there seems to be little research on the
way this linguistic unit has been used, despite the fact literature abounds with details about dictionary making.
This descriptive analytical study reveals the way 'etc.' is used in EFL learner's dictionaries
and brings to light some unknown evidence regarding its frequency of occurrence. The bald statistics prepared on the use of 'etc.' in the macrostructure and microstructure of a cross-section of four
learner's dictionaries show that it has been widely used, but in many cases it seems dispensable.
Analysis of a large body of definitions shows that 'etc.' appeared in the definitions of headwords of
all word classes and sometimes more than once in many senses of polysemous lexical items in the
range of one to five lexemes preceding 'etc.'
This widespread use of 'etc.' may place additional pressure on dictionary users in their desperate attempt to comprehend the definitions. Maybe it is high time that 'etc.' is considered outworn or obsolete and is replaced with something that lends itself to this age of modern technology,
where space is no longer a major concern for dictionary makers.
Keywords: LEARNER'S DICTIONARIES, DEFINING TECHNIQUES, STYLE GUIDES,
PATTERNS OF 'ETC.', 'ETC.' IN ELECTRONIC DICTIONARIES, DEFINITIONS WITH 'ETC.',
FREQUENCY OF OCCURRENCE OF 'ETC.', ITEMS BEFORE 'ETC.'
Opsomming: 'Etc.' Die lank bestaande definiëringshulpmiddel: Die ontrafeling van die misterie. In sy afgekorte vorm is 'etc.' 'n leksikografiese hulpmiddel wat terugdateer tot vroeg in die 15de eeu. Dit word op groot skaal in eentalige woordeboeke vir moedertaalsprekers en EVT-leerders gebruik om 'n wye verskeidenheid taalpatrone te dien. Ongelukkig blyk
daar min navorsing te wees oor die manier waarop hierdie taalkundige eenheid gebruik is, ten
spyte daarvan dat daar 'n oorvloed literatuur is met besonderhede van woordeboekmaak.
Hierdie beskrywende analitiese studie dui die manier waarop 'etc.' gebruik word in EVTaanleerderwoordeboeke aan en lê onbekende bewyse bloot oor die frekwensie waarmee dit voorkom. Die onverwerkte statistiek rakende die gebruik van 'etc.' in die makro- en mikrostruktuur van
'n deursnee van vier aanleerderwoordeboeke toon dat dit wyd gebruik is, maar dat dit in baie
gevalle weggelaat kan word. Die ontleding van 'n groot groep definisies toon dat 'etc.' voorgekom
het in die definisies van trefwoorde van alle woordklasse en soms meer as een keer in baie betekenisse van polisemiese leksikale items in die bestek van een tot vyf lekseme wat 'etc.' voorafgaan het.
Hierdie algemene gebruik van 'etc.' mag bykomende druk plaas op woordeboekgebruikers
in hulle desperate poging om die definisies te verstaan. Miskien is dit hoog tyd dat 'etc.' as ver-
Lexikos 26 (AFRILEX-reeks/series 26: 2016): 36-59
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37
ouderd en uitgedien beskou word en met iets vervang word wat homself leen tot hierdie tydperk
van die moderne tegnologie, waar ruimte nie langer 'n groot oorweging is vir woordeboekmakers nie.
Sleutelwoorde:
AANLEERDERSWOORDEBOEKE, DEFINIËRINGSTEGNIEKE, STYLGIDSE, 'ETC.'-PATRONE, 'ETC.' IN ELEKTRONIESE WOORDEBOEKE, DEFINISIES MET
'ETC.', VOORKOMSFREKWENSIE VAN 'ETC.', ITEMS VOOR 'ETC.'
1.
Introduction
Dictionary definitions illustrate meanings by describing the reference relations
of lexical items (Jackson 2002: 70). The explicit accounts of the meaning of lexemes inform dictionary users about the way the lexemes are used in some
contexts within a language community. But the process of defining lexemes is
very delicate and requires consummate professional skill. Lexicographers are
therefore under considerable pressure to develop elegant ways to define word;
the definitions have to be both intelligible and easily accessible in order not to
mislead the user.
To describe and disambiguate the variant senses of headwords, lexicographers use several defining styles (see Geeraerts 2003 and Osselton 2007). The
one most commonly used is the 'analytical' or 'descriptive' style (Ayto 1983: 90
and Zgusta 1971: 258). Generally, it uses a 'genus', the superordinate concept,
the broad semantic category to which the lexeme belongs, and the 'differentia',
the characteristics and the additional distinctive features typical of the genus;
the format is often an incomplete sentence (Moerdijk 2003). The Oxford Advanced
Learner's Dictionary, 8th edition, (OALD), for example, defines a hydrangea as "a
bush with white, pink or blue flowers that grow closely together in the shape of
a large ball". Here, bush is the genus and the differentia, "with white, pink or
blue flowers", post-modifies it and distinguishes a hydrangea from a(n) 'broom',
'blackthorn' or 'azalea'. Similarly, bush is defined by another genus, plant, and it
is differentiated from other members of the plant category by such distinguishing features as "growing quickly with several hard stems".
The analytical style is appropriate for defining a great many lexemes of
most parts of speech, mainly concrete ones. However, lexicographers sometimes face problems with some lexemes such as abstract items (cf. Dziemianko
and Lew 2006), which are not readily defined analytically. They therefore resort
to defining by means of synonyms (see Van der Meer 2004). This is characterised by the inclusion of a single synonym, a set of synonyms or a synonymous
phrase. Consider the definitions of worsen in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, 6th edition, (LDOCE) and OALD, respectively.
worsen: to become worse or make something worse
worsen: to become or make sth worse than before
A third defining technique delineates the function or use of the lexeme and this
fits 'grammatical' words such as auxiliary verbs, conjunctions, determiners,
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prepositions and pronouns (see Atkins and Rundell 2008 and Jackson 2002).
The following definition from Cambridge Advanced Learner's Dictionary, third
edition, (CALD) indicates the function of 'and':
and: used to join two words, phrases, parts of sentences or related statements
together …
Other defining styles are in use (see Lew 2013; Lew and Dziemianko 2006a,
2006b and 2012 and Rundell 2006) and each proves an effective defining strategy for a particular set of lexemes. Generally, all defining techniques seem to
commonly make use of some devices to sensibly describe the different meanings of lexemes including parentheses, a largely used style in earlier editions of
learner's dictionaries, and 'etc.' Hanks (1987: 116) asserts that "Over the years a
number of conventions have grown up governing the ways in which dictionaries traditionally explain meaning ... For example of, or pertaining to, any of,
various, etc., and esp. are extremely common in dictionaries …".
According to Atkins and Rundell (2008: 437), one prime function of
parentheses was "to indicate a word's 'selectional restrictions' (a verb's usual
range of subjects or objects, or an adjective's typical complements) …". Consider the examples below.
bijou: (of a building or a garden) small but attractive and fashionable OALD
break: to (cause something to) separate suddenly or violently into two or more
pieces, or to (cause something to) stop working by being damaged CALD
In the first example, the parentheses specify the normal range of nouns modified by the adjective. These suggest that bijou is used with nouns such as
'house', 'shop', 'restaurant', 'apartment', 'cafes', 'bars', which are hyponyms of
the superordinate 'building', and so on. In the second example, they indicate
that break is an ergative verb in this sense. If the words in parentheses are suppressed, break is intransitive but if the parentheses themselves were removed, it
would be a transitive verb (see also Atkins and Rundell 2008). Apparently,
there may be a wide range of subjects or objects which occur with a certain
sense of any verb to the extent that lexicographers cannot account for the full
contextual variability in the definition. They therefore tend to list some of them
and use 'etc.' to stand for the remainder, mostly under the pretext of being economical.
The linguistic unit 'etc.' is used extensively in monolingual dictionaries
both in the definitions and examples. It is the intention of this study to reveal
the way 'etc.' is used in EFL learner's dictionaries and provide some reliable
statistics on the frequency of this usageii. The focus here is on dictionaries for
learners because native speakers may find no difficulty handling definitions
with 'etc.' and are able to infer the sense from the list preceding 'etc.', while
learners may struggle to make the necessary connections. The study also outlines the different patterns 'etc.' represents in the definitions. Then light is shed
on some relevant definitions of 'etc.' to discuss some of the reasons underlying
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the inclusion of this device. The study proper then follows, and the final section
considers some pedagogical issues and recommendations.
2.
What 'etc.' means
Etymologically speaking, this is a Latin term which is made up of et, "and", and
cetera, "the rest", or more literally, "the other things". It is commonly abbreviated to 'etc.' but according to Peters (2004), the full spelling, 'et cetera', though
rarely used, would also do. Let us see what dictionaries tell us about 'etc.'
Almost all dictionaries demonstrate that 'etc.' is primarily used at the end of
a list to indicate that there are more things, objects, people, events, situations or
items which could have been mentioned but were omitted for brevity. Along
the same lines, LDOCE states that 'etc.' is used when the writer wants to tell the
reader that there are many other examples or things of the same kind or class.
This is rather misleading because the items left in the list are not always of the
same kind or semantic class. The above definition seems a common practice in all
Longman lexicographic products. The Longman Language Activator, for instance,
indicates that 'etc.' means "and others of a similar kind ..." Although this is true
on the face of it, in many cases it is still at odds with what exists in dictionaries,
where in reality the remaining items are not always of a similar kind (see
Alzi'abi 1995). One advantage of the Activator's definition is that it justifies the
reasons dictionary makers substitute 'etc.' for the remaining items on the list.
Recently, dictionaries seem to slightly modify the definition of 'etc.' but
this has been in the direction of more ambiguity. Consider the following two
definitions by Collins Cobuild dictionary products (COBUILD) (see references).
etc: … indicates that there are other items, events or situations which you could
mention if you had the time and space ... (1987)
etc: is used at the end of a list to indicate that you have mentioned only some of the
items involved and have not given a full list (2012)
Undeniably, the first definition is much clearer than the second; the use of
'event' and 'situation' shows the range of cases 'etc.' may cover rather than
leaving them open to deduction.
3.
Why use 'etc.'
It is logical to ask whether lexicographers implement any coherent policy in
their application of 'etc.' The dictionary definitions themselves provide the
answer to this question. A full examination of some entries shows that no conscious policies have been established regarding the inclusion of 'etc.' (see also
Alzi'abi 1995 and 2016). Lexicographers need to speak for themselves as to
whether they have any definite underlying mechanism for using this device.
One plausible reason, particularly in paper dictionaries, is economy of
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space. Truly, the long list of lexemes covered by 'etc.' is space-consuming but
the use of 'etc.' exacerbates users' problem in inferring the lexemes which fill
this gap. This is not the sole reason, however. Having scrutinised a large number of definitions, one can discern that many of those containing 'etc.' were not
written with the above reason in mind; rather the items covered by 'etc.' were
simply too hard to provide or possibly the list of possibilities is too exhaustive
and varied to allow for feasible inclusion (see examples in 4.3). In other words,
the editors might find it hard to think of more items. This of course has been
implicitly suggested in some definitions of 'etc.' Sometimes, it is possible that
some writers use it because they know not of any more items to add. It is really
a serious matter which could unduly affect the whole look-up process. This
being the case, dictionary users will be completely frustrated and it undoubtedly adversely affects their comprehension and production skills. Some definitions with 'etc.' require skilled semanticists to provide other items to replace
'etc.' (see for example the definition of zest in LDOCE and OALD). One writeriii
humorously remarks that 'etc.' is employed when writers run out of items and
cannot think of anything else to add to the named ones rather than limiting the
range of items provided.
One important issue deduced from the definitions of 'etc.' is that it is used
when a fuller list of items is considered to be unnecessary. This at times may be
true and many examples exist to substantiate this claim (see 4.3). The question
however is: How can editors tell whether the fuller list is (un)necessary, specifically when the items covered by 'etc.' are collocates of another item in the
definition? A really vexing matter here is that in many a case 'etc.' stands for no
more than two other words, which could be easily included. A few more pages
might be tolerable when the resulting definitions are clearer and unambiguous.
A noteworthy point here is that some definitions of 'etc.' indicate that the
items before 'etc.' belong to the same semantic field or possibly have similar
semantic features. On examining some random entries, it is obvious that some
definitions have genus words or superordinates. CALD defines articulation as
"the way in which you express your feelings and ideas, etc.", where the words
'feelings' and 'ideas', superordinates, belong to the same semantic field, under
which many hyponyms can be subsumed. Likewise, OALD definitions of cannibalise as "to take the parts of a machine, vehicle, etc. and use them to repair or
build another" and commandeer as "to take control of a building, a vehicle, etc.
for military purposes during a war, or by force for your own use", use the
genus or superordinate word 'vehicle', under which several hyponyms can be
subsumed. Assumedly, editors expect users to provide superordinate items
and co-hyponyms of these items unaided (Alzi'abi 2016). This claim has been
asserted by Michael Rundell (p.c.), editor-in-chief of Macmillan Advanced
Learner's Dictionary (MEDAL 2nd edition). Their Style Guide recommends
using 'etc.' only sparingly; that is to say, when the editors expect users to be
capable of working out from their own real-world knowledge the exact words
which would replace 'etc.' Unfortunately, not all editors strictly adhere to such
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guidelines (see below). Other Style Guides might have similar guidance but
unfortunately these were virtually inaccessible due to being commercially sensitive materials.
It may be true that dictionary makers use 'etc.' to represent some items
when the criterion of classifying these items under a genus proved impossible.
Alzi'abi (2016) argues that only a small number of definitions seem to conform
to the above image of using 'etc.'; many are composite structures of both genus
words and single items. When all the items belong to the same semantic field,
dictionary users are less likely to be confused because they think of items along
the lines of those included and vice versa (consider the definitions of the noun
access and the verb sabotage in LDOCE and segue in OALD).
4.
The study
4.1
Aim
The present study addresses the following issues:
1.
2.
3.
4.
4.2
To explore the way 'etc.' is used in EFL learner's dictionaries and identify
the various functions it serves.
To estimate the number of headwords generally defined by means of 'etc.'
in these dictionaries.
To compute the total occurrences of 'etc.' in the definitions of individual
headwords as these differ from the above, where some definitions contain
more than one 'etc.'
To check the average number of items which usually precede 'etc.' in the
definitions.
Method
To be able to look at the way 'etc.' is employed in learner's dictionaries and
identify the different patterns and structures for which 'etc.' stands, it was necessary to intensely scrutinise and carefully analyse the definitions, specifically the
lexemes supplied by dictionary makers before 'etc.' Four dictionaries on DVDROM were closely examined: CALD, LDOCE, MEDAL and OALD. The fifth
big learner's dictionary, COBUILD, was excluded as it did not apply 'etc.' in its
definitions. Earlier versions, particularly the ones in print, used it very sparingly but since 1995 COBUILD contained none. This may reflect COBUILD
editors' policy of frequently abandoning traditional techniques of lexicography
(see Barnbrook and Sinclair 1995; Hausmann and Gorbahn 1989; Moon 2007
and Sinclair 1987).
As to 'etc.'-patterns, a rigorous examination of all entries containing this
linguistic unit revealed that it had served several grammatical patterns and
structures, including verbs followed by a list of adverbs or nouns plus 'etc.', or
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possibly adverbs followed by a number of adjectives plus 'etc.' and so on.
However, only those commonly used functions in all four dictionaries were
listed along with examples. Some other structures were also identified in the
corpus but these were ignored as they prevailed only in one, two or three dictionaries. It is highly likely that some other patterns might have emerged had
the entries in the remaining letter stretches been examined. A noteworthy point
is that the examples cited below were random selections from the ones
extracted. Moreover, for brevity, only examples from LDOCE are used, unless
otherwise stated.
To give an approximate estimate of the use of 'etc.' all the headwords
which utilise it in the definitions were identified using the Advanced Search
facilities available, which at times offered some invaluable help. This task was
not so easy in LDOCE. Exact figures could not be reached because its
Advanced Search was difficult to use and the queries results were awkward to
handle. (The figures obtained were therefore prone to errors and should be
interpreted with this in mind). A calculation was made of all headwords whose
definitions contained 'etc.', which of course did not give the actual occurrences
of 'etc.'
Having come up with a basic idea about the number of headwords
defined by means of 'etc.' in the four dictionaries, it has been tedious to work
out the precise number of times — hundreds, perhaps thousands — 'etc.' has
been used in all entries. To get a rough estimate for the number of times 'etc.'
occurred in any dictionary, the entries of only two sections of the wordlist were
considered as temporarily representative samples. The headwords beginning
with the letters 'a' and 's' were randomly chosen. They however seemed to be
among the largest sections of the wordlist in any English language dictionary,
constituting approximately 20% of the dictionary's average size.
In order to collect evidence regarding the double or treble appearance of
'etc.' in definitions, a thorough examination was carried out of the definitions of
the various senses of the headword in the two letter stretches. The figures of
the exact number of definitions containing more than one sense defined by
means of 'etc.' and the exact number of 'etc.'-occurrences were all computed.
Comparing and contrasting these figures help determine which dictionary
made much use of 'etc.' in any of the above cases.
To draw a comprehensive picture of the content of the 'etc.' segment in the
definitions, i.e. the number of item(s) preceding 'etc.', the 3768 occurrences of
'etc.' in total (1007 in the 'a' section and 2761 in 's' section) were extracted, broken down and further lemmatised and manually tagged to get the total cases
where 'etc.' was preceded by one, two, three, four and even five items. This
helped establish the total number of each of these categories.
Before moving on to the next section, it is stressed the figures reported
below do not involve the cases 'etc.' was used as an extension to lists in the
examples and illustrative sentences.
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Results and discussion
Below is an account of the results of a quantitative analysis of dictionary definitions to find out more about the use of 'etc.'
4.3.1 Etc. in dictionaries
The linguistic unit 'etc.' seems to be used similarly in all dictionaries. One may
think that it is used in the definitions of the highly-specialised or technical
vocabulary, where possibly specialist users may know all the words covered by
'etc.' A cursory glance at any of the dictionaries reveals that 'etc.' is employed in
the definitions of all types of vocabulary items of all parts of speech and sometimes used more than once in the same definition. Although dictionaries vary
tremendously as to the number of lexemes whose definitions contain 'etc.', this
device seems to occur at a rather alarming frequency (see Tables 1 and 2
below). A quick browse through paper dictionaries reveals that the average use
of 'etc.' ranges between three and seven occurrences per page but it is not easy
to explain the disparity which exists between dictionaries for native and nonnative speakers as to the number of times they apply 'etc.' in the definitions.
Dictionaries for native speakers use 'etc.' on a larger scale. Randomly picked
out, Chambers Pocket Dictionary (1992) showed that page 777 (revere→revive),
randomly selected, had 20 occurrences of 'etc.', a quite large figure compared to
those in learner's dictionaries. Most likely, dictionary compilers assume that
native speakers are more able to infer the remaining possibilities covered by
'etc.' because of their own broader linguistic knowledge.
This device, i.e. 'etc.' is commonly used to represent a list of noun collocates (both in the subject and object positions), adverb collocates of verbs or
adjective collocates of nouns, e.g.iv
snowballs: if a problem, a plan, an activity, etc .snowballs, it quickly becomes much
bigger, more serious, more important, etc
Moreover, it is applied in exemplification cases following expressions like
"such as" and "for example". Consider these examples.
shopfitting: the process of preparing the inside of a shop by putting in equipment
such as lights, shelves, etc. MEDAL
short-circuit: to prevent sth such as a career, plan, process, etc. from being successful
MEDAL
slapstick: the type of humour that is based on simple actions, for example people
hitting each other, falling down, etc. OALD
string sb along: to allow sb to believe sth that is not true, for example that you love
them, intend to help them, etc. OALD
4.3.1.1 Patterns of 'etc.' use
A rigorous examination of entries containing 'etc.' revealed that 'it fulfilled
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several grammatical patterns and structures. Categorised below are the most
commonly used functions and patterns along with illustrative examples. The
bracketed plural suffix is added to the word classes for which 'etc.' stands.
It is worth reiterating that the patterns delineated below are those spotted
most frequently in the two letter stretches under consideration. It is highly
likely that other patterns would have emerged if the entries of the remaining
sections had been examined. The examples cited are random selections from
the corpus and, as indicated above, are all derived from LDOCE.
4.3.1.1.1 Verbs/verb phrases
Here 'etc.' stands for verbs which might be used with nouns or adverbs. In
addition, it stands for some verb phrases or possibly whole clauses as shown
below.
V(s)+Adv(s) or Adv(s)+V: The linguistic unit 'etc.' stands for a number of
adverbs which qualify or modify the verb, either preceding the verb or following it, or in a number of cases, for verbs which occur with a particular adverb.
admit: … freely, openly, frankly, etc. admit
V+NP(s): This pattern has 'etc.' to represent a list of nouns which are the
'objects' of the defined verb, particularly when the verb is transitive.
superimpose: combine two systems, ideas, opinions, etc.
V(s)+PP(s): In this pattern, 'etc.' stands for prepositional phrases following
particular verbs or possibly a list of verbs which are followed by prepositional
phrases.
accede: to agree to a demand, proposal, etc.
Linking Verb+Adj(s): Here 'etc.' covers a list of adjectives used predicatively,
adjectives following intensive or linking verbs.
seem: … seem important/right/strange, etc. to somebody
Verb phrases: In such structures, 'etc.' accounts for some verbs or verb phrases.
Sometimes, it covers a whole clause.
self-taught: having learned a skill or subject by reading about it, practising it, etc.
4.3.1.1.2 Nouns
Here 'etc.' stands mostly for a number of nouns which may be used with particular verbs or adjectives.
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N(s)+V: These patterns have 'etc.' to stand for a list of nouns serving as the
subject of the following verb, mostly when the verb is used intransitively.
abound: if a place, situation, etc. abounds with things …
N+Prep+N(s): The linguistic unit 'etc.' is employed to represent some nouns in
a prepositional phrase following a certain noun, mostly of the form N+of+N.
aspect: one part of a situation, idea, plan, etc. that has many parts
List of nouns/numbers: In this pattern 'etc.' covers a number of nouns on the
list usually preceded by some signal words like "such as", "for example" and
"for instance".
acute: acute senses such as hearing, taste, touch, etc. // strike if a clock strikes one,
two, six etc., its bell makes a sound once, twice, six times, etc.
4.3.1.1.3 Adjectives/adjective phrases
Here 'etc.' stands for a number of adjectives which either modify some nouns
or are modified by some adverbs. The most common pattern is adj+noun(s),
where 'etc.' represents nouns qualified by adjectives.
Adj(s)+N(s): This pattern has 'etc.' to represent some nouns modified by a particular adjective or some adjectives which modify particular nouns.
subtle: … subtle taste/flavour/smell, etc.
Adj(s)+Prep+N(s): In such a structure 'etc.' covers some nouns which are
objects of prepositions following particular adjectives or some adjectives followed by prepositional phrases.
shadow: … afraid/frightened/scared, etc. of your own shadow
Adj(s)+Prep+V(s): The linguistic unit 'etc.' here represents some adjectives
which are followed by a preposition, mostly 'to' or 'for', plus verbs or verbs
which usually follow some adjectives.
suitable: … suitable to use/be shown, etc. // safe: safe to use/drink/eat, etc.
List of adjectives: This pattern has 'etc.' to stand for a number of adjectives
used in a particular context and are used either attributively, i.e. before a noun
or predicatively.
superior: better, more powerful, more effective, etc. than a similar person
In addition, 'etc.' in some structures represents some adjectives in similes, usually preceded by 'as' but this was more prevalent in sections other than the two
under scrutiny. LDOCE, for example, has instances such as (anything 7: as
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important/clear/big, etc. as anything informal extremely important, clear etc.).
OALD presents (seraphic: as beautiful, pure, etc. as an angel and anything: as
happy, quick, etc. as anything [informal] very happy, quick, etc.). Similarly
MEDAL has (subhuman: not as intelligent, kind, etc. as you think humans
should be).
4.3.1.1.4 Adverbs/adverb phrases
In these patterns, 'etc.' stands for a number of adverbs which may modify some
adjectives, i.e. Adv(s)+Adj(s).
aware: politically/socially/environmentally, etc. aware
Analysis of the definitions has shown other patterns but these were not spotted
in all dictionaries.
4.3.1.1.5 Prepositional phrases
In some cases, 'etc.' represents a list of prepositional phrases or nouns, adjectives and gerunds as propositional objects as well as prepositions or particles.
abstract: containing the most important ideas or points from a speech, article, etc.
4.3.1.1.6 Wh-Words
Here, 'etc.' represents a list of 'wh-words' following some verbs or used in noun
phrases, occasionally in exclamatory sentences. However, these have not been
traced in the entries within the two-letter stretches under scrutiny, viz. 'a' and
's' in some dictionaries. Many examples of such cases however existed in the
remaining sections of the wordlist, i.e. other letter stretches.
ascertain: ascertain whether, what, how, etc; assess: assess what, how, etc.; say: say
who, what, how, etc.; see: … see why, what, how, etc.; suggest: suggest how,
where, what, etc.
4.3.1.1.7 Idioms
Here 'etc.' is used in the definition of idioms and serves to represent several
similar structures to the ones outlined above including verb phrases, noun
phrases, adjective phrases and so on. No examples were cited in OALD, nonetheless.
VPs- shit: … beat/kick, etc. the shit out of
NPs- shake: … shake sb's confidence/beliefs, etc.
APs- shift: be on the late/early/night, etc. shift
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4.3.2 Number of items defined by 'etc.'
CALD has some 2150 lexical items whose explanations have 'etc.' These cover
1877 definitions, 200 phrases and 73 idioms. Filtering the queries further has
shown the definitions belong to 939 nouns, 339 verbs, 236 adjectives, 16
adverbs and 8 prepositions. LDOCE comprises over 3500 nouns, 2000 adjectives, 1800 verbs, 250 adverbs, 60 prepositions and 60 pronouns whose explanations have 'etc.' Some of the occurrences of 'etc.' have been spotted in the
definitions of the synonyms of the headword under THESAURUS. MEDAL has
some 2042 items defined by means of 'etc.' including 237 phrases and idioms;
they cover 808 nouns, 274 verbs, 300 adjectives, 51 adverbs, 24 prepositions, 18
pronouns, etc. As to OALD, the search results have been hard to tackle. The
Oxford Dictionary Department (p.c.) report that OALD 9th edition has 7195
occurrences of 'etc.' in 5389 headwords. The figures suggest that multiple uses
of 'etc.' occur in some entries. Additional queries have revealed that about 30%
of these items were nouns and a slightly smaller proportion was for verbs
whereas adjectives amounted to about 12%. Interestingly, matching entries
from OALD 8th edition with those in the 9th edition has revealed additional
headwords with 'etc.' in OALD 9 are mostly derivatives of some headwords
(e.g. secretiveness, securely, simplistically, etc.). These are usually appended to
the base forms in the 8th edition without any explanation. Generally, the figures above demonstrate beyond doubt that MEDAL relies the least on 'etc.' and
LDOCE the most. Interestingly, MEDAL presents definitions with closed lists
but the use of phrases such as "for example" and "for instance" saves the definitions from being over-restricted.
One might be really surprised at the large number of senses defined by
means of 'etc.' in learner's dictionaries. The gravity of these instances can best
be realised by knowing the total number of headwords in the dictionaries
under scrutiny, which is not an easy task. The dictionaries advertise they have
included a large number of words, phrases and meanings amounting to
(230,000) in LDOCE and (185,000) in OALD compared to far fewer ones in
CALD (68.119), according to the Cambridge Dictionaries Online Team (p.c.),
and between 45,000 and 46,000 headwords in MEDAL, as reported by Michael
Rundell (p.c.).
Table 1: Headwords defined with 'etc.' and actual occurrences of 'etc.' in the
definitions
Letter 'a'
Letter 's'
headwords defined with 'etc.'
occurrences of 'etc.' in definitions
headwords defined with 'etc.'
occurrences of 'etc.' in definitions
CALD
LDOCE
MEDAL
OALDv
73
84
291
455
132
207
220
261
234
254
624
1415
196
230
723
862
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A thorough examination of entries in the two letter stretches in all dictionaries
has shown the approximate figures (table 1) for the number of headwords
whose definitions contained 'etc.' and the number of times 'etc.' arose in the
definitions of the various senses of the items identified.
LDOCE and OALD included far more definitions with 'etc.' than the other
two dictionaries, i.e. CALD and MEDAL in these particular letter stretches.
Obviously, this is due to the comparatively larger number of headwords in
these two letter stretches in both dictionaries. Knowing the approximate number of headwords in the two sections would display a clearer picture of 'etc.'
usage in the four dictionaries. One possibly needs to have an idea about the
ratio of the entries with 'etc.' to the total number of entries in the two sections.
Table 2 below displays the total headwords in these letter stretches in all dictionariesvi, which enables us to reckon the ratio of definitions with 'etc.' to the
headword list.
Table 2: No. of headwords in the two-letter stretches in all four dictionaries
Letter 'a'
Letter 's'
CALD
4300
6500
LDOCE
4000
9000
MEDAL
3000
6464
OALD
3500
7000
LDOCE has the largest number of headwords, followed by CALD and OALD
comes third. It has to be noted however that a good number of the headwords
in CALD are compounds which also appear in other sections of the wordlist.
Evidently, the data in table 1 and 2 show that MEDAL has the smallest number
of headwords and it uses 'etc.' much less frequently than the remaining dictionaries; this confirms its compilers' policy to keep the use of 'etc.' to a minimum. Generally, the rate of the use of 'etc.' ranges from about 5% to 10% of the
total number of headwords in the four dictionaries.
4.3.3 Frequency of occurrence of 'etc.' in individual entries
Mostly, 'etc.' is used once in the definitions but sometimes it occurs more than
once. Occasionally, more than one sense of the same headword is defined by
means of 'etc.'; in such cases, it appears in two, three up to twenty senses. This
illustrates how the number of headwords whose definitions contain 'etc.' is different from that of the total occurrences of 'etc.' in the definitions themselves
(see table 1). To expound, here is an example where 'etc.' is used twice in the
same definition.
abreast: walk/ride, etc. abreast to walk, ride, etc. next to each other, all facing the
same way- two/three/four, etc. abreast …
The statistics in table 3 below conclusively shows that LDOCE tends to use 'etc.'
in one definition twice as much as all the other dictionaries; OALD comes
second. Fortunately, not too many cases exist.
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Table 3: Recurrence of 'etc.' in the same definition
Letter 'a'
Letter 's'
CALD
6
17
LDOCE
45
117
MEDAL
13
7
OALD
12
46
The double use of 'etc.' in certain definitions is one of two cases. First, 'etc.' is
duplicated with same preceding items as illustrated below.
spanking: when you say that sth is spanking new, etc. you are emphasizing that it is
very new, etc. OALD
synthesis: the act of combining separate ideas, beliefs, styles, etc.; a mixture or
combination of ideas, beliefs, styles, etc. OALD
The second occurrence of 'etc.' causes no extra trouble; 'etc.' is understood to
refer to the same items in both positions. Second, 'etc.' is repeated in a different
context in the remainder of the definition as illustrated below.
sight: a device that you look through to aim a gun, etc. or to look at sth through a
telescope, etc. OALD
syndicate: to sell an article, a photograph, a television program, etc. to several different newspapers, etc. OALD
As indicated above, 'etc.' may appear more than twice in the same definition.
The following definitions each has three occurrences of 'etc.':
adrift: two points/five seconds, etc. adrift (of somebody) two points, five seconds, etc. behind someone in a competition, race, etc.
send: RADIO/COMPUTER, ETC. to make a message, electronic signal, etc. go somewhere, using radio equipment, computers, etc.
Likewise, 'etc.' appears once or twice in the definitions of more than one sense
of particular headwords. Examples:
adopt ... 2 adopt an approach/policy/attitude, etc. to start to deal with or think about
something in a particular way 4 to formally approve a proposal, AMENDMENT,
etc. … 5 to choose a new name, country, custom, etc., …
There are more and more instances of 'etc.' occurring in the explanations of
more than one sense of the headword. LDOCE for example has many cases
where three, four, five, six and more senses of the same headword are defined
by means of 'etc.' To illustrate, three senses of each of abstract (n), adopt, adrift,
apart, appear, seed, self, sequence, seal, seek, sexism, sheer, shift (v), superficial
amongst others are defined by means of 'etc.' The words art, another, ask, scramble,
scrape, sail, seam, supply and others have four senses each defined with 'etc.' Five
senses of each of at, association, sell, success and sum are defined with 'etc.' The
words sad, scope and section have some six senses each defined with 'etc.' whereas seven senses of each of set, second and scope are defined with 'etc.' The verbs
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see and shake have some ten senses defined by means of 'etc.' whereas 12 senses
of each of say and season and 13 senses of send have been defined by means of
'etc.'
Table 4 lists the number of headwords whose two or more of their senses
contained 'etc.' The figure is not very high in any of the four dictionaries. It
should be clarified once again the figures below represent the number of
headwords in which two or more of their senses have 'etc.' rather than the
actual occurrences of 'etc.'; in some headwords, 'etc.' might have occurred in
twenty senses and might sometimes have appeared twice in one sense. Clearly,
LDOCE includes the largest number of cases; OALD comes second and CALD
last, at least in the two letter stretches under examination.
Table 4: No. of headwords whose 2+ of their senses contain 'etc.'
CALD
0
4
Letter 'a'
Letter 's'
LDOCE
61
203
MEDAL
19
18
OALD
24
104
However, the four dictionaries seldom coincide in their use of 'etc.' in the same
lexical item. There are cases where one lexeme appears with 'etc.' in one dictionary, e.g. arriviste in OALD; two dictionaries, e.g. assault in LDOCE and
OALD; three dictionaries, e.g. aspect in CALD, LDOCE and OALD and ask and
sanction (n) in LDOCE, MEDAL and OALD and in all four dictionaries, e.g.
armhole and author (v). Sometimes these dictionaries use 'etc.' with the same
headword but each with a different sense or part of speech as in the case of
scene in LDOCE, MEDAL and OALD.
Table 5 below helps us establish an accurate picture of the degree to which
the four dictionaries tally in their use of 'etc.' in the same headwords, by having
all the headwords cross-tabulated.
Table 5: No. of 'etc.' concurrences which tally in all four dictionaries*
CALD
LDOCE
MEDAL
CALD
X
LDOCE
16
Letter 'a'
MEDAL
8
OALD
22
CALD
X
Letter 's'
LDOCE MEDAL
52
22
OALD
96
X
X
74
X
X
291
30
X
132
90
47
220
X
X
234
X
X
624
248
86
723
59
X
196
*Figures in the last row are the number of headwords containing 'etc.' (see table 1)
The figures above reveal an obvious glaring disparity within lexicographers'
policies on using 'etc.' The dictionaries are so utterly disparate that they concur
only in very few cases. The two dictionaries which coincide most often are
LDOCE and OALD, which is possibly attributable to the fact they contain more
definitions with 'etc.' than the other two. The dictionaries which coincide the
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least are CALD and MEDAL. They agree only in cases common to all four dictionaries. The 22 headwords whose definitions contain 'etc.' in all dictionaries
are: absorb, adherence, ambition, armhole, at, audience and audition under 'a' and
scope, score, send, set, show, side, sideboard, sign, smoke, something, send, spoiler, star,
support and sweep under 's'. Not surprisingly, many of these exist in the New
General Service List of the most frequent 2000 wordsvii (see Browne 2014). It goes
without saying, the senses of the above lexemes which are defined with 'etc.'
may vary from one dictionary to another and this holds true for their word
classes. This again supports the contention that most lexical items can be succinctly defined without 'etc.'
Some may believe that the above is a slightly spurious argument since the
comparison involved here is of headwords which had been defined using different styles and defining techniques. A more valid comparison is possibly to
be drawn between dictionaries using the same defining style with the same
headwords, an issue which is impossible to settle at least for the time being.
One cannot actually get all dictionaries to use the same defining techniques for
the same headwords as it is one of the ways that they define their competitive
advantage.
4.3.4 Number of items before 'etc.'
Analysis has shown that the items preceding 'etc.' range from one to four. But
in very limited cases, there existed five or even six items, mainly in LDOCE and
MEDAL. Table 6 below lists the frequency occurrence of the items before 'etc.'
Table 6: No. of cases for each item-type before 'etc.'
Letter 'a'
Letter 's'
CALD
LDOCE
MEDAL
OALD
CALD
LDOCE
MEDAL
OALD
1 item
5
20
1
50
24
70
1
196
2 items
38
253
107
149
149
801
112
496
3 items
35
172
91
59
72
506
111
157
4 items
6
8
8
3
9
38
5
13
5 items
0
2
0
0
0
0
1
0
6 items
0
0
1
0
0
0
0
0
The figures vary in all four dictionaries. The largest figure is for the two-item
type, 56% of cases, i.e. 2105 in all four dictionaries, followed by the three-item
type which constituted about 32% of cases, i.e. 1203 occurrences. OALD seems
to use one item before 'etc.' more often than all other dictionaries. The examples
below show instances of one, two, three and four items before 'etc.'
(a) One item
angry: [literary] an angry wound, etc. is painful and red and looks infected
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(b) Two items
abrogate: to officially end a legal agreement, practice, etc.
(c)
Three items
above: be above suspicion/reproach/criticism, etc.
(d) Four items
accompaniment: piano, orchestra, organ, guitar, etc. accompaniment
Quite a number of the one-item cases before 'etc.' in LDOCE arise when it
duplicates in the remainder of the definition (alternate: if something happens
on alternate days, weeks, etc., it happens on one day, etc. and …). As indicated
above, some instances with five items before 'etc.' occurred in LDOCE as follows.
art: the arts [plural] art, music, theatre, film, literature, etc. all considered together
Similarly MEDAL, though not very often, provided some definitions with five
items before 'etc.':
set: to put someone or something in a position :set someone/something
in/into/on/down/back, etc.
Besides, it contained definitions with six items preceding 'etc.' as in the following definition of the noun 'act':
act: [countable] a single thing that someone does: act of violence/vandalism/terrorism/kindness/bravery/desperation, etc.
5.
Pedagogical implications
From the above findings, one can claim that the use of 'etc.' is categorised into
two types. The first type conforms to what has been suggested in the MEDAL
Style Guide. That is to say, 'etc.' can be used when the items which substitute
for it are easily deduced by users. For example, at accommodate (if a room,
building, etc. accommodates a particular number of people …), the remaining
items seem to be easy to supply as they belong to the semantic field 'building',
regardless of whether these are residential, educational, industrial, military or
parking structures. Likewise, the definition of dishwasher in CALD, MEDAL
and OALD as (a machine for washing plates, cups, etc) represents an acceptable use of 'etc.', since a user may easily tell what other equipment can be put in
the dishwasher, e.g. 'dishes', 'glasses', 'forks', 'knives', 'pans' and possibly
'spatulas' and 'whisks'. Most dictionary users know the different types of
structures which provide some room for people or the utensils which can be
loaded into a dishwasher. So listing two things of the same class of items
would enable dictionary users to infer the remaining names of spaces which
accommodate. This seems to be a possible "pass" on the use of 'etc.' and the con-
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clusion drawn here is that 'etc.' is necessary and therefore acceptable when it
represents obvious items.
Along the same lines, it can be argued that some definitions with 'etc.' can
at times be reworded to dispense with 'etc.' Evidence backing up this claim
emerges from definitions of the counterpart items without 'etc.' in some dictionaries. Taking some more care of the definitions which include 'etc.' can help
clarify the meaning and either account for all collocates and items or make
them easier to infer from context. Compare for example the different definitions of artistry:
great skill in creating or performing something, such as in writing, music, sport, etc.
CALD
the creative skill of an artist, writer, actor, or musician COBUILD
skill in a particular artistic activity LDOCE
the skill and imagination typical of an artist, writer, musician, or actor MEDAL
the skill of an artist OALD
Only CALD defines artistry with 'etc.'; the other three do not but this is only
slightly different from the rest. MEDAL and COBUILD offer the same information save the point relating to sports. The other two definitions remain reasonably clear. Apparently, 'artistic activity' in LDOCE, superordinate, covers
'writing', 'acting', 'sporting', 'playing music' and others. A similar example is
the word amulet which is defined with 'etc.' in all dictionaries except CALD. In
the CALD definition (an object worn because it is believed to protect against
evil, disease or unhappiness) the word 'unhappiness' is used in the same way
as 'building' above and covers concepts such as bitterness, cheerlessness, devastation, disaffection, discontent, dismay, distress, gloom, grief, guilt and others. The
COBUILD definition (a small object that you wear or carry because you think it
will bring you good luck and protect you from evil or injury) may be well
ahead of all others in being concise and clear.
In the second type, the gap left by 'etc.' is almost impossible to fill because
the definition has an elusive quality and the user is in doubt as to the range of
items which could fill the gap. Sometimes although the items before 'etc.' are in
the same class, the user may find it difficult to provide the unnamed items,
either because the ones before 'etc.' may be unfamiliar or there are no obvious
clues as to how to fill the gap. Many of the instances examined showed that the
items preceding 'etc.' had nothing in common at all. Consider the following
examples:
adherence: when someone acts strictly according to rules, beliefs, etc. LDOCE
succeed: to be successful in your job, earning money, power, respect, etc. OALD
The two items before 'etc.' in the first example do not belong to the same
semantic field. This would perplex the user; nothing exists to enable them tell
whether 'imagination', 'wish' or 'thinking' can be used instead of 'etc.' Likewise,
they cannot tell whether someone acts in accordance with a parent's 'advice',
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boss's 'instructions' or friend's 'recommendation' because these are neither rules
nor beliefs. The same holds true for the second example, despite containing
four items before 'etc.' To demonstrate further, here are more problematic
examples.
sitting: a period spent by a model who is being painted, photographed, etc. CALD
slash-and-burn: getting rid of a lot of people, systems, etc. in an organization CALD
spawn: the eggs of fish, frogs, etc. CALD
What else can be used instead of 'etc.' in the first example: 'polished', 'cleaned',
'beautified', etc.? Can words such as 'documents', 'furniture', 'cars' be added to
replace 'etc.' in the second example? What useful clues exist to help dictionary
users decide? As for the last example, the task of dictionary users may be easier
if the items which can be used instead of 'etc.' all belonged to the same semantic class. Dictionary users may need to know whether 'snakes', 'toads', 'salamanders', 'newts', 'ducks', 'birds', 'lizards', etc., which all lay eggs, could be
included here. Essentially, they are confronted with one of two problems. First,
the items which fill the gap do not belong to the same semantic field or share
any semantic features, apart from being living creatures. In this case it would
be highly likely that users fail to correctly provide the rest of the items to
replace 'etc.' Second, no information exists as to restriction on the range of reference of the defined word. They may therefore give up the whole process of
guessing the unnamed items.
As items before 'etc.' vary in reference and semantic fields, they may be
quite confusing; it is essential that the relationship between the items commonly preceding 'etc.' is intently studied in order not to baffle the users. OALD
definition of segue (to move smoothly from one song, idea, activity, condition,
etc. to another) uses the superordinates 'song', 'idea', 'activity' and 'condition'
which diverge considerably; this may confuse users and possibly inhibit their
ability to offer any items to replace 'etc.' The same can be said about sabotage
(to secretly damage or destroy equipment, vehicles, etc. that belong to an
enemy or opponent, so that they cannot be used) where 'equipment' and 'vehicles' are unrelated. It is true that users can give some hyponyms of these
superordinates, e.g. 'machines', 'railway lines', 'pipelines' or 'bridges' but how
could they tell whether this meaning covers public or private 'property' or
both? How is this different from 'vandalism'? Is it just the time at which it takes
place that contributes to the distinction between the two? The list of similar
examples is in fact too long and one cam keep talking about them for ages. All
in all, such cases of 'etc.'-use need to be entirely abandoned so that definitions
are more productive and user-friendly than ever.
In some cases where 'etc.' appears twice in the definitions, the items before
'etc.' may differ and 'etc.' itself does not refer to the same items meant in the
first mention (see definitions of sight and syndicate in 4.3.3), which of course
may 'add fuel to the fire' and obfuscates matters still further; the process of
guessing the items which substitute for 'etc.' is thus more demanding. In most
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cases where 'etc.' is used more than once, the items before 'etc.' are repeated
either in the same way or just some of them recur. However, in very few cases,
more items are given in the second occurrence of 'etc.' as follows:
star: MAIN PERSON IN A FILM/PLAY, ETC. the person who has the main part, or one of
them, in a film, play, show, etc. LDOCE
However, in some definitions 'etc.' seems to stand for vital information,
whereas in many cases it does not; it is just redundant and seldom adds to the
proper use of the defined word as appears in this definition.
abject: when someone is extremely unhappy, poor, frightened, etc. CALD
Basically, knowing more human qualities does not add to the correct use of the
word 'abject'. Similarly one wonders whether adding other adjectives may
contribute to the clarity of the meaning of abject. To indicate that the person is
'without hope' may be more useful than 'etc.' This and the like definitions suggest that lexicographers can sometimes dispense with 'etc.'
Dictionary writers can capitalise on those items before 'etc.' to help dictionary users as the number of items before 'etc.' may play a role in illustrating
the ones to be inferred. Apparently, the more items given before 'etc.' the easier
would be the task of the users; these items are expected to provide more clues
to help users guess the words which stand for 'etc.' (Alzi'abi 2016). This however is not always true as there are cases where providing new items to substitute for 'etc.' remains really hard (see Nielsen 2008 for reasons why dictionary consultation may be unproductive). When only one item is listed before
'etc.', it may be an uphill task to provide correct lexemes to replace 'etc.',
because no obvious clues exist to help users infer the remaining items from
analogy (see also Nielsen 2008). Consider the following examples.
armoured car: a car that has special protection from bullets, etc., used especially by
important people LDOCE
abstract: (technical) to make a written summary of a book, etc. OALD
spill sth out: to tell sb all about a problem, etc. very quickly; to come out quickly
OALD
safeguard: a law, rule, plan, etc. that protects someone or sth from harm or problems
MEDAL
One wonders whether a foreign learner with a limited world knowledge can,
for example, tell what else other than 'bullets' from which an armoured car may
provide special protection. Are 'missiles', 'RPG rockets' 'mortar bombs'
included? Again, how can this learner tell whether a 'speech', 'short story',
'poem', 'report', 'communique', 'dictionary' or even 'film' might be abstracted?
Interestingly, the last example from MEDAL does not conform to the policy of
the editors which aimed at using 'etc.' in cases where the words which could
follow were clear enough to be provided by the users themselves. Maybe users
might be able to add words such as 'report', 'story', 'version' of something but it
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is doubtful whether they can tell what could not be used. Similar instances are
far too many to cover here.
One further point to add at this juncture is the fact that dictionary users
tend to stop at 'etc.' and focus on the information preceding; they ignore the
part of the definition which follows (Alzi'abi 2016); the definition may contain
vital information regarding the correct use of the defined item. For instance,
when users stop at 'etc.' in OALD definition of appearance (an act of appearing
in public, especially as a performer, politician, etc., or in court) and disregard
the remainder (or in court), they miss valuable information about word usage.
Dictionary editors who rely much on the use of 'etc.' have to take care of the
information which appears before 'etc.' in the definition. They need to place
'etc.' at the end of the definition and make sure that more successful definitions
are offered to avoid any ambiguities.
On the whole, most editors of dictionaries still insist on the use of 'etc.'
Peters (2004: 190), for example, believes that using this device is much more
efficient than the "wordy translations" which would replace it. It cannot be
suggested, therefore, that this deeply entrenched device should be abandoned
altogether at one stroke. But more care is required on their part in the use of
this device where necessary.
This study was not limitation-free. One limitation was failure to access the
full electronic raw data of the dictionaries, their Advanced Search facilities as
well as their Style Guides to handle all definitions more easily and present a
clearer and more comprehensive picture of the use of 'etc.' Had this data been
accessible, more accurate figures, reliable results and hard evidence regarding
the use of 'etc.' could have been obtained, let alone more valid conclusions.
Although the two letter stretches scrutinised were randomly selected, some
may still think that this could be an important limitation of this study as this
sampling might not be optimal. Selecting the two-letter stretches, particularly
the untypical 'a' letter, may be considered a bad decision for some researchers.
According to some (e.g. Bukowska 2010; Cormier 2008 and Miyoshi 2007), the
two-letter stretches may not be representative of the dictionary wordlist and a
more systematic sampling technique should have been used.
6.
Conclusion and recommendations
This research has thoroughly examined the use of 'etc.' in two letter stretches in
four learner's dictionaries. Analysis has shown that it is used extensively in the
definitions of all types of lexical items. It appears in the definitions of almost all
word classes representing several linguistic patterns. Many definitions contain
one occurrence of 'etc.' but there are some which have two or three occurrences.
It was occasionally used many times in the definitions of headwords with multiple senses. In most cases lexicographers tend to use 'etc.' after two or three
items, but sometimes either one or four items precede it.
The examination of a large number of definitions in the four dictionaries
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has shown that lexicographers are not of one mind as to the general use of 'etc.'
LDOCE and OALD have been overusing this device, unlike CALD and
MEDAL. This disparity in the use of 'etc.' reveals a state of considerable confusion encompassing the way 'etc.' is used. One still cannot tell why one definition has one occurrence of 'etc.' and another two or more, and why one definition has one or two items before 'etc.' and another three or four. The same holds
true for the individual lexemes which are defined by means of 'etc.' in all dictionaries.
Strunk and White (1972) and Walston (2001) recommend that 'etc.' is not to
be used even when the items preceding it belong to the same semantic field
especially in cases where the would-be readers might be unfamiliar with items
which stand for 'etc.' in a particular context. However, in the light of the above
findings, lexicographers — particularly those compiling learner's dictionaries
— should be encouraged to dispense with 'etc.' most of the time. They can
enumerate the items which replace 'etc.', particularly when these items are not
many. In case this proves impossible, they may alternatively reserve the use of
'etc.' to cases when the information is hard to cover, but they have to provide
stronger pointers as to what 'etc.' stands for.
Based on the above preliminary findings, it is strongly recommended that
some research be conducted to ascertain whether learners fare better when the
items before 'etc.' belong to the same semantic field and whether increasing the
number of items before 'etc.' correlates to the user being able to infer more lexemes to fill the 'etc.-gap' in definitions.
Endnotes
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
The theme of this article emerged from a small section about 'etc.' in dictionaries in Alzi'abi
(2016).
It is not the intention of this research to study the history of this linguistic unit.
See www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=ETC.
It should be reiterated that all examples were drawn from LDOCE unless otherwise indicated.
Although the statistics here concern OALD 8 but a quick scan of the two letter stretches in
OALD 9 showed that the latter had only a few more items defined with 'etc.'
These figures can never be precise unless provided by the publishers of the dictionaries.
See http://www.newgeneralservicelist.org/.
References
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