Lexical
Compiling a dialect glossary or dictionary means exploiting as fully as possible the totality of expression in everyday use amongst the people of an area. A dialect dictionary devoting itself to the whole language is an immense project. One aspect of the lexicographical projects undertaken in Finland, for example, had as its aim 'a dialect dictionary exhaustively expounding the vocabulary of Finnish dialects, dialect forms and distribution' .14
It was calculated that for such a dictionary a specific number of 'complete' parish vocabularies would be needed. These 'complete' vocabularies would include:
The common vocabulary of the community in its everyday living which in itself will vary considerably according to the predominant occupations of its inhabitants.
The vocabulary particularly associated with those predominant occupations as well as other crafts and skills.
The vocabulary related to the whole range of aspects which form human experience: bird, plant and animal names, natural features, folk lore, hobbies and pastimes, etc.
The particular modes of expression of a community in its telling idioms and phrases which may often be peculiar to the region.
Such collecting should reflect regional differences in the vocabulary - the local forms of the 'same word' and the local words for the 'same thing' - and will include morphological variations.
- Castrenianum: The Centre 0 Research into Finnish and its Related Languages, Helsinki; 1965; p.6
