Recent Bilingual English-Italian Lexicography: Insights into Usage

The presentation of usage in bilingual lexicography may be conditioned—to some extent, at least—by the fairly strong pedagogical aim of bilingual dictionaries, often targeted at students of a foreign language. In recent decades this approach has been further strengthened by the methodology and contents of learner's dictionaries. Given this context, this paper surveys the recent history (1970s–2010s) of English-Italian dictionaries and their treatment of usage. The paratextual material and selected entries of four representative works are described and evaluated: Skey's 1997 dictionary, directly inspired by the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary of Current English; Picchi's and DII dictionaries, the latter basing its English-Italian section on The Oxford-Hachette English-French Dictionary; and Ragazzini's compilation, the longest- and bestseller among bilingual English-Italian dictionaries. As a result of the assessment, the description of current usage can be said to be largely implemented in present-day English-Italian dictionaries, each dictionary trying to make use of different strategies for both lexicographical and marketing reasons.