Abstract
It is now widely acknowledged that terms enter into a variety of structures and that classic taxonomies and meronymies represent only a small part of the relationships terms share. This can be seen in recent specialized dictionaries that account for derivational relationships, co-occurrents, synonyms, antonyms, etc. It also has been underlined in several articles written by terminologists as well as linguists or computational scientists working with specialized corpora. This article will discuss the advanta ges and shortcomings of trying to account for semantic relations between terms using a specific framework, i.e. lexical functions (Mel’cuk et al. 1984-1999, 1995). It is based on a long-term project aimed at converting an existing paper dictionary (Dancette & Réthoré 2000) into a relational database. We will show that even if lexical functions have several advantages, a number of decisions must be made to accommodate the description of specialized terms.
Highlights
In this article, we would like to summarize the different insights brought by a research project aimed at representing a wide variety of semantic relationships between terms using a formal lexico-semantic framework called Explanatory and Combinatorial Lexicology (ECL) (Mel’cuk et al 1984-1999, 1995)
As we will see the assignment of some of the original lexical functions (LFs) was modified
Other functions were created to capture relationships not accounted for in the original model
Summary
We would like to summarize the different insights brought by a research project aimed at representing a wide variety of semantic relationships between terms using a formal lexico-semantic framework called Explanatory and Combinatorial Lexicology (ECL) (Mel’cuk et al 1984-1999, 1995). The original specialized dictionary is bilingual (English-French) and deals with terms pertaining to the field of retailing The Dictionnaire analytique de la distribution / Analytical Dictionary of Retailing (Dancette & Réthoré 2000) is intended for translators as well as professors, students and professionals in business and distribution trades It targets two main objectives: to list the largest possible number of terms and to present them in a manner that facilitates the comprehension of concepts to the maximum. The dictionary is structured around 350 key concepts related to shopping centres, marketing, shop layout, etc These key concepts are described with a keen effort to highlight the semantic relationships linking the terms and to explain the nuances in meanings and regional differences in usage.
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