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The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary (OALD) was the first advanced learner's dictionary of English. It was first published in 1948. It is the largest English-language dictionary from Oxford University Press aimed at a non-native audience. Users with a more linguistic interest, requiring etymologies or copious references, usually prefer the Concise Oxford English Dictionary, or indeed the comprehensive Oxford English Dictionary, or other dictionaries aimed at speakers of English with native-level competence.

History

The Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary, previously entitled the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English, started life as the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, edited by Albert Sydney Hornby. It was first published in Japan in 1942. It then made a perilous wartime journey to Britain where it came under the wing of OUP, which decided it would be the perfect counterpart for the prestigious OED.

A. S. Hornby was a teacher of English studies at a small college in Japan; he had gone there in 1923 to teach literature, but his experiences in the classroom drew his attention to the need for sound principles of language teaching. At that time Harold E. Palmer headed the Institute for Research into English Teaching in Tokyo, and in 1931 he invited Hornby to work on vocabulary development at the Institute. The result of this was the Idiomatic and Syntactic Dictionary, published by Kaitakusha in 1942. A year before publication, Hornby had managed to send an advance copy in sheets of the book to B. Ifor Evans at the British Council, a tough feat during the war. Ifor Evans offered him a job, and in 1942 Hornby came back to Britain and joined the Council, which posted him to Iran.

The sheets reached Humphrey S. Milford, then publisher to the University of Oxford and effectively OUP's managing director. Milford saw immediately that the dictionary could fill a troublesome gap in the Press's lists, since it was compiled for non-English speakers and rested on Hornby's solid experience in teaching the language overseas. Thus it explained spelling, grammar, phonetics, and usage much more extensively than would a dictionary for native English speakers. With the cachet of the Press to promote it, it could take the "Oxford dictionary" brand to readerships that might be intimidated or puzzled by the more magisterial OED.

But the command economy of World War II under which all British publishers were then operating posed a problem: everything was in short supply, and Milford appealed to the British Council for help in getting the paper and cloth.^[1] He referred the matter to E.C. Parnwell, who was looking after the Press's overseas projects, Milford being by then too unwell to manage the Press without substantial assistance, as he had been doing since 1904.^[1]

Hornby had brought with him the world rights to the book excluding Japan and China; Kenneth Sisam, then Secretary to the Delegates of the Press, gave a favourable report to the Delegates on the book. Milford also used hostility to Japan to push for a subsidy from the British Council, saying that "the Japanese are very cheap producers" and were likely to capture the market.

The book had more than 1,500 pages and for an edition of 10,000 copies would need ten tons of paper. Milford applied for a special release to acquire this paper "in the direct interest of British culture and overseas trade, particularly in the non-sterling areas". He had adequate paper stock to begin the edition but this was all earmarked for "essential reprints" and he could only use it if replacements were guaranteed.^[2] Milford's niece, Eleanor M. Booker, was now working at the India Office, and he lobbied for paper through her.

Finally the book came out between 1943 and 1948 and became an instant success. Today it is one of the most used resources by learners of the English language worldwide.

The book is useful for all competitive exams.

Publications

English dictionaries

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English was first published in 1948; the current edition is the tenth. The following editions exist:

• First edition first published in 1948 (12 impressions)
• Second edition first published in 1963 (19 impressions)
• Third edition first published in 1974 (28 impressions)

• ISBN 0194311015, 9780194311014

Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

The book's cover title was changed beginning with 4th edition. However, the old name was still being referenced by foreign language versions of the dictionary up to 6th edition.

• Fourth edition first published in 1989 (50 impressions)

• ISBN 0194311104, 9780194311106

• Fifth edition first published in 1995 (65 impressions)

• CD-ROM edition (1997-05-01, ISBN 0-19-431469-3, 978-0-194-31469-5): includes 63,000 references, 90,000 examples, 65,000 definitions, 11,600 idioms and phrasal verbs, 1700 words illustrated, and 2000 new words and meanings.

• Sixth edition first published in 2000 (117 impressions):

• Oxford University Press edition

• paperback ISBN 0-19-431424-3
• hardback ISBN 0-19-431510-X
• international student's edition, paperback ISBN 0-19-431550-9
• paperback with Genie CD-ROM ISBN 0-19-431585-1, 978-0-194-31585-2 (2002-03-21)

• The Commercial Press (China) edition (牛津高阶英语词典 第六版•英语版) (ISBN 7-100-03919-3): Includes 4500 new words and definitions over the original English publication. Reduced number of letters used in definition from 3500 to 3000.

• ?th impression (2004-01-14)

• Seventh edition first published in 2005 (105 impressions): Includes 183,500 words, short phrases explanations; 85,000 examples, 2,000 new words and definitions, 5,000 encyclopaedic vocabulary, Oxford 3000 commonly used word list, 7000 synonyms and antonyms, 2000 illustrations, 32-page colour illustrations, 96 pages of special topic pages

• Oxford University Press edition

• paperback with Compass CD-ROM ISBN 0-19-431649-1, 978-0-194-31649-1 (2005-02-24)

• The Commercial Press (China) edition (牛津高阶英语词典 第7版) (ISBN 978-7-100-05498-0): 1 revision, 1 impression.

• 1st impression (2007-08-?)
• Revision 1, 1st impression (2013-03-?)

• Eighth edition first published in 2010 (69 impressions): The production had taken 5 years and over 30,000 hours of editing.^[3]

• Oxford University Press edition

• with Oxford iWriter ISBN 0-19-479904-2, 978-0-194-79904-1
• English Mac OS X edition: Published by Oxford University Press ELT.

• Version 8.6.946 (): Includes in-app purchase where sample entries from the dictionary are included, News feature (News from Oxford University about product discounts, language learning and teaching blogs, and other relevant matters).
• Version 8.7.21 (OS X 10.9, 2017-01-25)

• Japan Android edition (オックスフォード現代英英辞典 公式アプリ 日本版): Supports Android 2.2. Published by BIGLOBE Inc.
• Japan iOS edition (オックスフォード現代英英辞典 公式アプリ 日本版): Supports iOS 4.3 and above. Published by BIGLOBE Inc.

• Version 1.4 (iOS 8.0, 2016-12-09)

• The Commercial Press (China) edition (牛津高阶英语词典 第8版) (ISBN 978-7-100-08744-5): 3 revisions, 8 impressions.

• 1st impression (2012-06-?)
• Revision 3, 8th impression (2012-12-?)

• Ninth edition first published in 2015 (39 impressions): Includes over 185,000 words, phrases and meanings (with 700+ new words and meanings). Added Express yourself notes, Wordfinder notes. DVD software support Windows 7, Mac OS X 10.6. DVD includes dictionary, British and American English audio, Oxford iSpeaker, Oxford iWriter, topic wordlists, teacher resources (downloadable videos, lesson plans and activities for use in class). Basic online contents includes dictionary, British and American English audio, pictures, word origins, usage notes, Oxford 3000 and Academic Word lists, Oxford Text Checker. Premium Online service includes My Wordlists.

• Oxford University Press edition (Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary NEW 9th Edition/Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary Ninth Edition)

Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Oxford_Learner's_Dictionary
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