This volume is a compilation of nine articles, translated from German. They deal with those lexicographic texts or text excerpts which have been formulated in order to convey the meaning of a lexical unit to a potential dictionary user who is not familiar with that meaning. The articles not only critically analyze lexicographic practice, in particular the so-called lexicographic definitions and the items giving the synonyms in correlation with the examples, in the light of different semantic approaches. They also present ways towards a common understanding in the context of lexicographically imparting knowledge of meaning, i.e. on the basis of an actional-semantics approach which takes into account results obtained from analyses of everyday dialogs about word meanings. Moreover, they discuss how meaning-conveying texts can serve their purposes in dictionary look-up situations, and they lay out all those aspects which are particularly to be taken into consideration in the formulation of lexicographic texts aimed at conveying meaning, in dictionaries belonging to different types.

Die 33 Beitrage zeigen neue Perspektiven fur das Verhaltnis von Sprache im Alltag und Sprachwissenschaft in unterschiedlichster und oft ungewohnter Weise auf. Dabei werden theoretische und methodologische Aspekte der Hinwendung zum Umgang mit Sprache in der Alltagswelt ebenso eroertert wie konzeptionelle oder empirische Zugange zu diesem Forschungsbereich und Aufgabenstellungen einer praxisorientierten Sprachwissenschaft.