ABSTRACT
Dictionaries represent language in the semiotic form of a matrix, in which the axes correspond to the macrostructure and microstructure of the dictionary. The rows of the matrix contain the alphabetically ordered entries in the wordlist and its columns contain the categories of information typically found in each entry such as pronunciation, word class, descriptive label, senses, illustrative examples and etymology. This matrix structure, characteristic of modern European reference works from the encyclopedia to the telephone directory, is the characteristic semiotic device of discourses that construct their objects of knowledge through procedures of comparison, isolation and description.
