When 'Thing' Is Not a Thing: How a Single Abbreviation (vb./etc.) Exposes the Lexicographer's Mind
LEXIKOS, cilt.36, ss.365-395, 2026 (AHCI, SSCI, Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 36
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.5788/36-1-2226
- Dergi Adı: LEXIKOS
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: EBSCO Communication Source, Social Science Premium Collection (ProQuest), Communication Source (EBSCO), Scopus, Linguistics Collection (ProQuest), Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Linguistic Bibliography, MLA - Modern Language Association Database, Directory of Open Access Journals, MLA International Bibliography
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.365-395
- Anadolu Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
The abbreviation etc. (Turkish vb.) is widely used in dictionary definitions to signal open-ended categories, yet empirical research on its lexicographic function remains remarkably limited. This study investigates vb. in the two largest monolingual general-purpose dictionaries of Turkish (the Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association and the Comprehensive Turkish Dictionary with Examples). A complete manual page-by-page search of both printed dictionaries (over 6,000 pages) yielded 3,768 instances of vb. for analysis. The findings reveal a striking frequency divergence: the Comprehensive Turkish Dictionary with Examples contains 3,379 instances of vb., whereas the Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association contains only 773 — a 4.4-fold difference reflecting contrasting editorial priorities (exemplificatory richness vs. definitional conciseness). The study introduces the Concreteness Hypothesis, demonstrating that vb. is significantly more frequent in concrete categories (e.g., Household Items, Construction, Food) than in abstract categories. Hypernym analysis shows that the Comprehensive Turkish Dictionary with Examples relies heavily on semantically vague placeholders — şey ('thing') and yer ('place') — which together account for 53.6% of all hypernym usage, severely weakening definitional clarity. In contrast, the Turkish Dictionary of the Turkish Language Association exhibits a more diverse and item specific hypernym profile, with these same terms comprising only 17.2% of its hypernyms. It is concluded that lexicographers should avoid overusing vague placeholders like 'thing' and instead employ the narrowest valid immediate hypernym when using vb. The Concreteness Hypothesis offers a testable cognitive principle for dictionary design across languages. Theoretical and practical implications for lexicography are discussed.