Abstract
This study focuses on the inclusion of canonical forms of idioms in different online dictionaries, and occasionally a parallel is drawn to canonical forms in print dictionaries used in the compilation of our database, which contains 141 idioms originating from literary works, ancient legends, fables and the Bible. In the foreground are dictionary users, especially learners of English, who may face a range of problems concerning canonical forms. However, we have to limit ourselves to a certain extent, which means that attention is paid mostly to the following: the use of the article preceding a noun that is the first constituent element in the idiom, the way of including information on possessives in idioms, the use of the infinitive marker, which is obligatory in some idioms beginning with a verb, the way of indicating variations in idioms, differences in the use of the apostrophe, the inclusion of similes with the comparison marker as , and lower- or upper-case initial letter. Analysis of the idioms from our database shows that the canonical forms may pose problems for lexicographers, who may not be sufficiently consistent, as well as to dictionary users, who may find it difficult to interpret the idiom correctly and consequently use it correctly. A possible variation should be indicated unambiguously and clearly, so as to make dictionary users aware that some idioms allow some flexibility in their form. If the comparison of the way a particular idiom is included in different dictionaries shows any differences, these are discussed and commented upon, suggestions are made and guidelines are proposed for improving the level of consistency, thus resulting in a more consistent as well as uniform and possibly more user-friendly inclusion of idioms. DOI: http://doi.org/10.17576/gema-2016-1602-01
Highlights
When including lexical items in a dictionary, the first thing a lexicographer must decide on is the most typical realization of the lexical item, which is referred to as the canonical form or the dictionary citation form
The aim of this study is to focus on the inclusion of canonical forms of idioms in different online dictionaries, and occasionally a parallel is drawn to canonical forms in print dictionaries used in the compilation of our database
All the information found in these three dictionaries was copied into the database and investigated to determine whether there are any differences between the canonical forms of idioms included in different dictionary sources, since it is the canonical form of idioms that is the focus of our research
Summary
When including lexical items in a dictionary, the first thing a lexicographer must decide on is the most typical realization of the lexical item, which is referred to as the canonical form or the dictionary citation form. In the case of multi-word lexical items, especially idioms, the determination of the canonical form is much more problematic than in single-word items, since we should be aware that quite a few idioms may appear in an altered form, since they can be subject to morphological and lexical variation, causing the user more serious problems (cf Miller, 2013; Al-Haj, Itai & Winter, 2014). This is in line with Philip This can be explained by an approach where canonical forms have their own representation as a subtype of the idiom, which can speed up processing because they can be retrieved as pre-assembled wholes
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