| Abstract: |
Originally conceived as a technical English-German glossary for students' uses, LEO is nowadays a lexicographical project with six bilingual dictionaries (English-German, French-German, Spanish-German, Italian-German, Chinese-German, Russian-German), which has become one of the most popular Online-Dictionaries not only in Germany. Its popularity is based on the bright number of word entries which it offers, but also on the possibility for the users to contribute to the dictionary by proposing new entries, emending existing articles, suggesting new dictionary features and by discussing with the lexicographers and with each other in the forums. LEO dictionaries are semi-collaborative dictionaries: the users can collaborate by proposing something, but they don’t have access to the backend databases of the project, which therefore cannot be modified by them. After a short history of the development of the LEO project, I present some general data on the dictionaries, especially about their structure and features. I then illustrate some differences between the LEO Italian-German dictionary and the other LEO dictionaries. Afterwards the article focuses on the users and on the research possibilities concerning dictionary use that this project offers. After presenting in a first step some general data based on the numbers of word search (also subdivided by access country), seasonal fluctuation, most searched words and use of the filter function, I typologize eight 'user types' with regard to their postings in the forum and their e-mails to the lexicographers. I demonstrate what characteristics the users want a dictionary to include (whether it should be prescriptive or descriptive, technical, encyclopaedic or all-embracing) and how they use it: as a language textbook, a normative work or a reference book. Finally I present some concluding considerations on possibilities and limits of semi-collaborativity in online lexicography are presented. |