For a proper understanding of lexicographic methodology, it is important to distinguish sharply between the lexical database and the dictionary:

The relationship between these two files is complex. Part of it is a mapping in the sense that the dictionary file is a (partial) export from the database.1 Part of it is irregular, i.e. brought about by human discretionary intervention.

It is important to understand that the entire lexicographic research deals with the lexical database. During the entire compilation period, the dictionary does not exist. It is produced as the very last step by exporting part of the database in a suitable format. That step is discussed in another section.

Structure of the lexical database

In a first approximation, the structure of a lexicon may be implemented in a database as follows:

The sections on lexical relations and on relations between the lexicon and the rest of the language system show that much if not most of the information associated with a lexical entry is by its very nature relational. The kind of database appropriate for representing a lexicon is therefore, in principle, a relational database. However, for practical reasons concerning features of currently (2010) available software, one has to make a choice between a relational database and a free-field-structure database. These are discussed in the section on databases.


1 The opposite, i.e. the creation of a lexical database by importing a structured textfile, also occurs.