Language-for-specific-purposes dictionary
A language-for-specific-purposes dictionary is a reference work which defines the specialised vocabulary used by experts within a particular field, for example, architecture. The discipline that deals with these dictionaries is specialised lexicography. Medical dictionaries are well-known examples of the type.
Users
As described in Bergenholtz/Tarp 1995, LSP dictionaries are often made for users who are already specialists with a subject field, but may also be made for semi-experts and laypeople. In contrast to LSP dictionaries, LGP dictionaries are made to be used by an average user. LSP dictionaries may have one or more functions. LSP dictionaries may have communicative functions, such as helping users to understand, translate and produce texts. Dictionaries may also have cognitive functions such as helping users to develop knowledge in general or about a specific topic, such as the birthday of a famous person and the inflectional paradigm of a specific verb.Different types
According to Sandro Nielsen, LSP dictionaries may cover one language or two languages, and occasionally more. An LSP dictionary that attempts to cover as much of the vocabulary in a subject field as possible is classified by Nielsen as a maximizing dictionary, and one that attempts to cover a limited number of terms within a subject field is a minimizing dictionary.Also, Nielsen 1994 distinguishes between the following types of dictionaries: An LSP dictionary that covers more than one subject field is called a multi-field dictionary, an LSP dictionary that covers one subject field is called a single-field dictionary, and an LSP dictionary that covers part of a subject field is called a sub-field dictionary.