Monolingual Dictionaries Research Articles

Attitudes of Jordanian school students toward dictionaries

This study aims to explore the attitude of English as a Foreign Language Learners (EFLL) in Jordanian schools about the use of different dictionary types - including paper-based, electronic monolingual, or electronic bilingual dictionaries. It also examines the challenges students face while using their dictionaries. To this end, a questionnaire was distributed among sixty-four students studying at the middle school level. The findings indicated a preference for electronic and bilingual dictionaries over monolingual paper dictionaries among most students. Based on their responses, the students predominantly use dictionaries to search for pronunciations (34.37 %) and various meanings of a word (polysemy and homonymy) (18.75 %). Preparation for speaking activities is primarily why they search for pronunciations. However, the search for abbreviations and parts of speech and other grammatical information is less frequent. Lastly, the students showed a preference for the use of more pictures and visual aids offered in pictorial dictionaries.

The interface between body and culture in the figurative conceptualization of the “eye” in Amharic

Abstract Inspired by the notions of body-based and culturally specific embodiment, this study sheds light on the interface between body and culture in the Amharic conceptualization of ayn ‘eye.’ Applying the “lexical approach”, this paper examines the eye-related metaphors in Amharic monolingual and bilingual dictionaries. At the bodily level, the widespread conceptual metaphors knowing/thinking is seeing and eyes are light sources, and the metonymies eye for person and physiological (eye) change stands for an emotion are present in Amharic. In the cultural dimension, ayn is related to the concept of the “evil eye”, which associates the eye with mystical powers. However, contrary to the widespread superstitious belief of the “evil eye” in other cultures, the notion of the “evil eye” in Amharic is associated with the concept of buda--a class of people socially segregated due to their economic status and their supposedly accursed lineage. This study shows that the presence of similar conceptual metaphors (“vision-light”, “vision-knowledge”, and “eye-emotion/personality” metaphors) and cultural beliefs (the “evil eye”) in different languages/cultures does not necessarily entail equivalent conceptualization.

The effectiveness of ChatGPT as a lexical tool for English, compared with a bilingual dictionary and a monolingual learner’s dictionary

Traditionally, language learners have relied on dictionaries when trying to read or write in a foreign language. However, new LLM-based chatbots may offer an alternative to traditional dictionaries as lexical tools. This study assesses the effectiveness of ChatGPT versus the monolingual Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English (LDOCE, 2024) and the bilingual Diki.pl (Diki.pl, 2024) online dictionaries in supporting English language learners in receptive and productive lexical tasks. With a sample of 166 university students at B2 to C1 proficiency levels and forty uncommon English phrasal verbs, we investigate whether a leading AI-driven chatbot, a high-quality learners’ dictionary, or a popular free bilingual dictionary offers better support in accurately understanding and producing English. The results reveal ChatGPT to be more effective than either dictionary in production, and better than the monolingual dictionary, but not the bilingual dictionary, in reception.

Varför Paris men inte Prag?

The article reports on a study of the treatment of names in the latest edition of The Swedish Academy Glossary (SAOL 14). Initially, we present the principles for inclusion of names in Swedish monolingual dictionaries in general. After that, we discuss the names included in SAOL 14, on the basis of names listed in previous editions, dictionary user emails regarding the names, and the results of a web questionnaire on the topic. Finally, we address the question how the editors could handle this subset of headwords in the next edition of the glossary.

Wine tasting notes as formulaic texts

The linguistic term “formulaic language” refers to fixed expressions or sequences of words that are often used as a single unit and are typically stored in memory and retrieved as complete units during communication, rather than being constructed or analyzed anew each time by the rules of grammar. Today, however, the concept of formulaicity has expanded beyond individual word combinations to include larger units as formulaic texts. In certain text genres such as abstracts and recipes, formulaicity is visible not only at the level of wording, but also in text content, structure, and layout. But it has not been examined in other text genres where professionals could benefit from this fixed structure in order to produce acceptable texts. In the present article we aim to analyze if wine tasting notes can be considered formulaic in nature. To meet our expectations, a corpus of wine tasting notes written originally in English will be used and collocations that help build up a text examined; by using Biel’s text-organizing patterns and term-embedding collocations, and by analyzing tasting notes in terms of Gülich’s criteria for formulaic texts, the present study will try to show if wine tasting notes are indeed formulaic. Our findings enhance dictionary entries by capturing the full spectrum of sensory experiences and professional terminology in oenology, improving lexical entries in both oenology and general monolingual dictionaries through the identification and categorization of formulaic language in wine tasting notes.

A Contrastive Analysis of the Connotations, Idiomaticity and Metaphoricity of Face in English and its Arabic Equivalent wədʒh

Objectives: This contrastive study aims to investigate the similarities and differences between the English term 'Face' and its Arabic equivalent, ‘‘wədʒh’, in terms of denotative meanings, connotative meanings, metaphorical meanings, and idiomatic uses. Methods: The data for this study were collected from a range of monolingual and bilingual dictionaries, as well as electronic databases. Results: The analysis has revealed that the term "wədʒh" encompasses a broader spectrum of meanings in Arabic compared to the word "face" in English. This divergence likely stems from the distinct cultures and historical backgrounds of the two languages. It is also found that both terms can carry connotations related to identity, expression, and communication. 'Face' and ‘‘wədʒh’ both imply the surface representation of an individual through metonymy and are frequently associated with emotions, reactions, and social interactions. Moreover, both terms can be used metaphorically to convey a wide array of concepts. Conversely, the two terms have their distinct set of idiomatic expressions, cultural nuances, and colloquial usages specific to their respective languages. Conclusions: Collectively, the current study is of significant value because it contributes to a more comprehensive understanding of how body parts function as sources of linguistic creativity and cultural symbolism in social communication.

THE VERBALIZATION OF EMOTIONS IN ENGLISH PHRASEOLOGICAL UNITS

The article is devoted to the study of emotive phraseological units of the modern English language, which reveal universal properties of human language ability, culturally determined differences in its organization and functioning, reflection in language of correlations between emotions and the psychophysiological state of the human body. The article analyzes the peculiarities of the semantics of emotive phraseological units, defines the somatic component in the composition of phraseological units that denote human emotions. Various models of negative and positive emotional actions, which are objectified in phraseological units, are identified, verbal and non-verbal means of expressing emotions in phraseological units are considered. The results of the semantic analysis are given, which testify to the universality and reveal the specific features of the verbalization of emotions in the English-speaking culture. The research material contains English idioms denoting negative and positive human emotions, selected by the method of continuous sampling from monolingual English dictionaries.

A need analysis of the high-frequency words (HFW) dictionary for the Indonesian language for foreigners (ILF)-1 learning

This is a preliminary study of research development for creating a dictionary of high-frequency words (HFW). Thus, this study tries to analyze the need of the ILF learners as the users of a dictionary of HFW for their ILF learning. A list of high-frequency words should be used in ILF learning so that the learning objectives can be achieved effectively. Unfortunately, the word list is not yet available. The ILF learners, especially those at the beginner level, still have difficulty using the Great Dictionary of the Indonesian Language (KBBI). They prefer using translation apps to obtain the meaning of a word, even though these apps do not always help. Employing a descriptive survey, this study involved a total of 183 ILF teachers and learners. The data were gathered through Google-form questionnaires. In addition, interviews were administered with selected ILF teachers who had a teaching experience of more than 15 years. The findings revealed that the teachers and learners had different beliefs on the vocabulary forms needed for making a dictionary of HFW. The learners still did not understand the concepts of high-frequency words. According to the teachers, HFW was more needed for ILF learning. Meanwhile, for the learners, general words were more needed. Besides, digital dictionaries were more in demand than printed dictionaries. Bilingual dictionaries were more needed than monolingual dictionaries. Both the teachers and learners believed that the dictionary of HFW should comprise sentence examples. They both agreed that the dictionary of HFW should provide information about the use of words in sentence examples, affixes, synonymous phrases, antonyms, word classes, and phonetics. Therefore, the results of this research analysis can be used as a basis for developing a dictionary that fits the needs of ILF-1 learners.

English Onomatopoeic Verbs of Motion in Literary Works by Lora Owen and Their Translation into the Russian Language

Introduction. The study is focused on English onomatopoeic verbs of motion in the literary texts for children. A comparative analysis of sentences containing this particular semantic group of verbs in the original text and in the corresponding sentences of the translated text is carried out, the main goal being to ascertain whether the translator managed to avoid the loss of iconicity and preserve iconic features of the original verb in the target language translation and to what extent. Methodology and source. The study was conducted on the original texts of 16 short stories for young children by Laura Owen and the texts of their translations into Russian by T. Slavnikova and E. Ukhova. The selection of verbs of motion was carried out in accordance with the dictionary definitions of competent monolingual English dictionaries, which resulted in clasifying all verbs the meaning “movement in space” as verbs of motion. The corpus of studied verbs obtained by continuous sampling from the analysed texts amounted to 201 lexemes, 160 of which being of iconic origin. At the second stage of the reseach, a comparative analysis of original sentences containing onomatopoeic verbs of motion and their contextual translations was perfomed in order to assess the quality of the translation. Results and discussion. A high degree of saturation (79.6 %) of the analyzed original tests with onomatopeic verbs of motion was revealed. The analysis of the translated texts of L. Owen’s stories for kids by T. Slavnikova strongly indicates a realistic possibility of rendering anomatopeic verbs of motion into a target language preserving their iconic essence. Conclusion. It seems apparent that to ensure adequate translation of iconic lexis, translators should be aware of iconicity theory and phonosemantics, as well as acquire skills to effectively apply them in practical translation. Further research of this kind translation might contribute to developing some strategies for translating iconic lexis.

Christian Ludwig (1660–1728) and the beginnings of German/English lexicography

Christian Ludwig’s 1706 A dictionary English, German, and French and his 1716 Teutsch–Englisches Lexicon were the first bilingual dictionaries published in response to an emerging German interest in learning English. Setting the dictionaries in the wider context of European bilingual lexicography, I argue that such dictionaries are valuable sources for linguistic and cultural history, in parallel to the more widely studied monolingual dictionaries. Taking advantage of the digitisation of Ludwig’s dictionaries, I show that in his 1706 English–German dictionary, adapted from the English/French dictionaries of Abel Boyer to fill a gap he identified as a practising teacher, Ludwig did not merely translate, but made systematic changes. In his larger German–English dictionary of 1716, Ludwig took his word-list largely from Kramer’s German–Italian dictionary (1700–1702), but used his own judgement in structuring entries and choosing — as well as expanding the range of — examples, reflecting his experience as a teacher and translator. I suggest that the different approach taken in dictionaries by teachers of non-native learners to explaining word meaning, pronunciation, and usage has yielded sources which — newly accessible thanks to digitisation - will enrich our understanding of language change and language standardisation, and of cultural change and exchange, where I argue for the value of taking a cross-linguistic, comparative perspective.

The Importance of the Development of Compilation of Monolingual Dictionaries (by the Example of the Explanatory Dictionary of the Kazakh Language)

There are many types of dictionaries depending on the purpose and scope of use. Among them, a special place is occupied by monolingual explanatory dictionaries, which reflect the vocabulary of the cultural life of the people as a whole. Explanatory dictionaries are a real resource that collects the vocabulary of a language in one place. The creation and improvement of monolingual dictionaries has its own unique features. Therefore, it is important to continue the tradition of employing the basics of lexicography in explanatory dictionaries, expand them, republish them, and constantly update them. The article emphasizes the importance of constantly updating the explanatory dictionary and improving its vocabulary articles. In particular, the 15-volume “Dictionary of the Kazakh Literary Language”, prepared by the Akhmet Baitursynuly Institute of Linguistics in the Republic of Kazakhstan in 2011, was selected. This dictionary is an example of creating an explanatory dictionary, reflecting existing traditions and practices of scientific creation of dictionaries. In addition, the article also discusses such issues as ways to enrich the content of dictionary entries by selecting the examples from works of art, examples of spelling complex words, conventional abbreviations; it also provides various explanations of individual concepts for dictionary entries. Particular attention is paid to explaining political terms such as “sovet” (Soviet) and “tarikh” (history) associated with the Soviet era.

Liepājas Centrālās zinātniskās bibliotēkas Vecbibliotēkas fonda 17.–19. gadsimta franču valodas vārdnīcas

From the 17th century onwards, the French language dominated international communication and the exchange of current information within educated Europe, strengthening its position in the 18th century with the spread of Enlightenment ideas. The importance of French literature of this period can also be seen by observing the shelves of libraries. In the range of resources offered by the reading library of the city of Liepāja, founded in 1777, books in French occupy second place (second only to books in German, which was the dominant language of the educated part of society at the time studied) according to their number, including those intended for language learning: grammars, reading books, phrasebooks, and other dictionaries. The article studies and analyses the range of 17th–19th centuries monolingual French dictionaries, bilingual and multilingual dictionaries with a French section from the collection of the Liepāja library, a total of 20 units. The research area chronologically covers the period from the oldest dictionary, published in 1674, to the last dictionary, published in 1847. In the context of the study, the status and place of the French language in international circulation and on the local scale of Courland are discussed to study what the mentioned dictionaries say about the social and cultural space of Liepāja. The research does not belong to the field of lexicography, as it does not offer an analysis of dictionary creation methods; it focuses on social and cultural practices possibly linked to the use of dictionaries and uses research methods of intellectual history and cultural transfer. The research results reflect the development trends of language use in Liepāja and provide insight into the interaction of the French language with other languages. Monolingual dictionaries, French sections of bilingual and multilingual dictionaries integrate specific elite cultural knowledge and emphasise accuracy of expression. Travellers’ dictionaries show the importance of mobility and communication with European French-speaking elites, but the dynamic rhythm of Liepāja, a port city, is illustrated by dictionaries for businessmen and sailors, in which the French language is not predominant, but is only one of the possible means of communication.

Making Nouns with Prefixes <i>ka- and na-</i> in Chichewa: An Alternative View

The paper discusses the noun prefixes ka- and na-, specifically those used to derive nouns that trigger the agreement marker traditionally associated with noun class 1 in Chichewa. The motivation for conducting this study comes from the current partial understanding of these prefixes in Chichewa and many other Bantu languages. In the existing analyses, the noun prefixes ka- and na- are taken either to be marginal or ceased to be noun prefixes in the synchronic grammars of some Bantu languages. In the present paper, I show that these two prefixes are productive in the synchronic grammar of Chichewa. I provide three types of evidence to support this view, namely (i) Chichewa neologisms, (ii) Chichewa names of places and persons, and (iii) nominal lexicon evidence from the Chichewa Monolingual Dictionary. I conclude that ka- and na- are not marginal prefixes in noun class 1 but productive prefixes of present-day Chichewa grammar.

The Translatability of Near-Synonyms into English: Analytical Study of the Translation of Al-Qarni’s Book ‘La Tahzan’ Expository Details On Summary Skills in English Language for Beginners

This study aims at discovering the obstacles that might encounter translators while translating near-synonyms into English in the social field and discourse. It concludes that if translators follow a specific arrangement of equivalences as suggested and explained by Werner Koller (1979), the process of translating near-synonyms from Arabic into English will be facilitated. The methodology adopted in this research is based on the analysis and comparison of a professional translator’s and MA students’ renditions of ten texts containing near-synonyms in 'La Tahzan' book. The importance and significance of this study is to discover difficulties that might face translators in the social filed and discourse, since some previous pieces of research proved that translators face difficulties in other kinds of discourses, such as the literary and Islamic field. The research chooses a professional translator rendition, Faisal Mohammad Shafeeq, and forty MA students to have a fair comparison. The choice of the 10 near-synonyms is based on searching in the old monolingual dictionaries for famous Arab linguists, and some of the interpretation books for the Holy Qur’an. The analysis aims at examining the extent to which the translators are able to find English equivalents for Arabic near-synonyms. Moreover, the research provides model translation for these near-synonyms, based on following the equivalence relations theory.

Chinese EFL learners’ use of mobile dictionaries in reading comprehension tasks

Although mobile dictionaries are widely used in English as a foreign language (EFL) education, few studies have examined the different types of mobile dictionaries that Chinese students use. This study looks at monolingual, bilingualised and bilingual mobile dictionaries used by Chinese university EFL learners when completing a reading activity. Mixed methods were used to investigate the engagement of 125 learners with three different dictionary apps. A self-report questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to understand learners’ uses and motivations when using mobile dictionaries. Results of the questionnaire show that most learners look up almost exclusively the first entry definition, the Chinese translation of the target word and, to a lesser degree, part of speech information. Spelling, example sentences and other aspects of vocabulary knowledge were largely ignored by the participants in the study. The interview data allowed us to hypothesise that three strategies are shared by the participants across the three study conditions: (1) the “so-called relevance” strategy, (2) the “choose the first definition” strategy, and (3) the “availability principle” strategy. This study addresses gaps in mobile-assisted language learning (MALL) research, providing language teachers, researchers and policymakers with ways to understand how mobile dictionaries are used in English language learning.

Encoding Near-Synonym Relations in Monolingual English Learner's Dictionaries: The Case of Germanic and Latinate "Equivalents"

ABSTRACT: This article examines the semantic relations between pairs of Germanic and Latinate near-synonyms in contemporary English, such as hug/embrace, isle/island , and brave/courageous , which dictionaries traditionally treat as equivalent in meaning, regardless of context-independent differences between them. These word pairs are challenging for learners of English as a Foreign Language, especially when their L1 is a Romance language. Monolingual English learner's dictionaries (MELDs) do not, in general, clearly or systematically disambiguate near-synonyms of different origin. An improvement in dictionary treatment of near-synonyms is thus called for. After outlining the main types and subtypes of meaning relations identified through the analysis of a sample of Germanic and Latinate word pairs, synonymy in the "Big Five" MELDs is examined. Proposals are then made to better encode synonym similarities and differences with cross-reference information in the form of tags, labels, and usage notes.

English School Science Dictionaries: A Comparative Analysis

ABSTRACT: Science is transferred and represented through its terminology. The acquisition of specialized knowledge is progressive and begins in elementary school. Even though science dictionaries for primary school students greatly facilitate this type of knowledge acquisition, such dictionaries are difficult to find, especially in languages such as Spanish. In contrast, English has a wide variety of pedagogical lexicographical resources. However, bilingual school science dictionaries are practically non-existent. This paper describes and compares a set of eight monolingual English school science dictionaries with a view to discussing what should be considered for the future design of a bilingual English–Spanish school science dictionary.

Իրանական լեզուների հայերեն անունները. ժամանակագրությունը, գործածությունը, բառարանային մշակումը և կանոնարկման խնդիրները / Armenian Names of Iranian Languages: Chronology, Usage, Lexicographical Processing, and Normative Issues

In the fifth century, the Armenian language used the names of two Iranian languages: պարսկերէն (Persian) and պարթեւարէն (Parthian). In the seventh century, the linguonym պարսիկ լեզու (Persian) was recorded, while in Middle Armenian it was ֆարսի (Farsi). The formation of the remaining linguonyms refers to modern times. In the Armenian language, linguonyms of living and dead Iranian languages are in some cases names of dialects. They are usually formed using the suffix –երեն (-eren). The exceptions are the ancient Armenian պարթեւարէն (Parthian language) and the variable սոգդիարեն (Sogdian language), formed in the twentieth century, using the suffix -արէն (–aren). The Armenian names of Iranian languages have the following options: a) phonetic-orthographic, b) word-formative, c) lexical, d) structural (word and phrase). In the Armenian scientific literature, in particular in the linguistic works on Iranian studies, the variability of Armenian and borrowed linguonyms is noted. It is necessary to minimize the variability of Armenian names of Iranian languages and unify linguonyms, which will contribute to the correctness and accuracy of scientific speech. In monolingual and bilingual dictionaries of the Old Armenian and New Armenian languages, the names of two dozen Iranian languages with their various variants became headwords. The same number of linguonyms, including the names of dialects, have not yet been recorded in dictionaries. Among the Armenian names of Iranian languages, the most commonly used linguonyms are պարսկերեն (Persian language), տաջիկերեն (Tajik language) and քրդերեն (Kurdish language). A number of linguonyms are found only in scientific texts, some are used in isolated cases.

НІМЕЦЬКИЙ ЕТНОКУЛЬТУРНИЙ ФОН СЛОВ’ЯНСЬКОЇ ФРАЗЕОЛОГІЇ: ЕТИМОЛОГІЧНИЙ КОМЕНТАР

Background. The article substantiates the etymology of some phrases of Slavic languages associated with German ethnoculture. Compared to lexical etymology, which has reached the Indo-European level of reconstruction, the phraseology of Slavic languages is at the stage of etymologizing individual figurative units. There is a lack of monolingual etymological dictionaries of Slavic phraseology, which could in the future become the basis for multilingual dictionaries. Hence the relevance of our study, which aims to deepen the etymologies of phraseological Germanisms that have been assimilated by Slavic languages to varying degrees. Methods. Descriptive, etymological, and ethnolinguistic methods of analysis are used. Results. On the basis of explanatory and etymological lexicographical sources of the German language, the phraseological germanisms jemandem einen Korb geben, der blaue Montag in the East Slavic, West Slavic and South Slavic groups of Slavic languages, namely Ukrainian, Russian, Belarusian, Czech, Croatian and Slovenian, are studied. Phraseological receptions in Slavic languages are confirmed by ethnocultural data. The German phrase ein Korb geben / ein Korb bekommen has been identified as a genetic source of phraseological calquing in the Slavic languages of the West Slavic and South Slavic groups. For the East Slavic language group, the semantics of the analyzed phrases дати/ дістати гарбуза "give/get the pumpkins" reveals typological rather than genetic kinship. At the same time, we qualify the borrowing of the Ukrainian phrase daty vidkosha to denote any refusal as a Germanic calque through the mediation of Czech and Polish. It is noted that the interpretation of the Czech phrase modré pondělí proposed in the new Academic Dictionary of Modern Czech, in our opinion, cannot have two different meanings, since the expression is originally associated with a specific chronological date. Сonclusions. The study of the genesis of phraseological units of Slavic languages is an urgent and promising task for linguists. The creation of etymological phraseological dictionaries of national languages will help to emphasize the national and universal features of the Slavic worldview in the projection on their history and culture.

Do we learn from mistakes? The usefulness of examples of errors in online dictionaries

AbstractThe aim of this paper is to investigate the usefulness of examples that show typical learner errors in online pedagogical dictionaries of English for the accuracy of error correction as well as immediate and delayed retention of usage. The optimal positioning of examples of errors in entries is also researched. In an online experiment, participants did a sentence correction exercise with the help of purpose-built monolingual dictionary entries, where the provision and positioning of examples showing errors were controlled. Two test versions were created, which differed only in the presence of examples of errors in the entries. Usage retention was observed immediately after the test and two weeks later. The results indicate that it is worthwhile to include examples of errors in online learners’ dictionaries because they contribute greatly to the retention of usage in the long run. They also help to rectify errors, though the effect is not statistically significant. The positioning of examples showing errors in entries has no influence on error correction accuracy or usage retention. The study reveals examples of errors to be a valuable induction-oriented stand-alone dictionary component placed outside warning boxes, which typically include explicit grammar rules and promote deduction.