Monolingual Dictionaries Research Articles

Temporal Labels and Specifications in Monolingual English Dictionaries

Abstract The article examines the temporal labels and other specifications of time affixed to twenty-five words in monolingual dictionaries of English. The selection of works studied includes learners’, collegiate, and general-purpose dictionaries, both British and American. In addition, the treatment of the lexemes in the Oxford English Dictionary is noted. The analysis reveals some clear differences between the different types of dictionaries in the overall propensity to furnish temporal labels and other specifications of time. The terminology employed to convey such information varies from one group of dictionaries to another. There is also plenty of variation between the individual volumes inside each group. The target audience of the works examined varies, which explains some of the differences in the treatment of particular lexemes. In general, Osselton’s calls for more consistent terminology in the labelling of old words, presented several decades ago, are still valid. The differences between the labels are not always clear, and the explanations in the front matter of the dictionary may be lacking or unhelpful.

Gramatika u rječniku na primjeru valentnosti

Grammar in a dictionary on the example of word valency. This paper analyses complements in general monolingual dictionaries of the Croatian language. The inclusion of complements in a dictionary definition or dictionary articles is discussed, as well as the means of emphasizing the complement. After the part about word valency in linguistics (which finds the complement as one of the most important concepts) and the part about specialized dictionaries that directly or indirectly deal with valency, the work also analyses the lexicographic compilation of verbs of different valency in four general monolingual dictionaries of the Croatian language: Rječnik hrvatskoga jezika (RHJ), Hrvatski jezični portal (HJP), Veliki rječnik hrvatskoga standardnog jezika (VRH) and Mrežnik. The paper also brings a proposal for the lexicographic description of chosen verbs.

Сравнительный анализ фразеологических единиц с компонентом-зоонимом «домашнее животное» в мордовских и финском языках

The purpose of the study is to identify common and distinctive features of Mordovian and Finnish phraseological units with the zoonym component «domestic animal» based on a comparative study of the characteristics of the studied phraseological units. The relevance of this study is due to the need for a comprehensive study of phraseological units with a zoonym component in the Mordovian (Erzya, Moksha) and Finnish languages in order to identify common and specific features inherent in these linguistic cultures. The obvious insufficiency of studies of phraseological units of the considered thematic group also explains the study of phraseological units, which have zoonymic components in their composition. The object of the study was the phraseological units of the Mordovian and Finnish languages, in which the zoonym component «domestic animal» was identified. Based on the methods of descriptive, comparative, component analysis, as well as the method of continuous sampling, this article highlights the components of the semantic aspect of phraseological units with zoonym components; the dominant images in phraseological units with the seme-zoonym are revealed, the frequency of their use in two languages is analyzed, and the universal and specific phenomena in the Mordovian and Finnish languages are determined. The main material of the study is presented by phraseological units with a zoocomponent in the Mordovian (Erzya and Moksha) and Finnish languages, identified by continuous sampling from explanatory monolingual, bilingual and phraseological dictionaries, as well as texts of fiction and journalistic literature.

Translating and adapting the lexicographic definitions in the Slavonic–Romanian Lexicon from the Ms no 3473

The late 17th century Slavonic–Romanian Lexicon preserved in the Ms no 3473 from the Romanian Academy Library belongs to a group of six Slavonic–Romanian lexicons translated following Pamvo Berynda’s Slavonic–Ruthenian Lexicon (Kyiv, 1627). These dictionaries most likely originate from a common unpreserved translation, having been studied mainly from the perspective of their filiation. The present study surveys aspects of the lexicographic approach in Ms no 3473, discussing the strategies adopted by the Romanian compiler(s) and their cultural determinant, the criteria applied in establishing the Romanian definitions and the semantic evolution of a few Romanian words. The examined examples reveal that the source was modified by simplification or, less often, amplification. Although the supplementary explanations mainly concern culture-specific terms and neologisms whose definitions often imply challenges, the definition techniques vary. Bilingual lexicons’ type definitions alternate with those of monolingual dictionaries type, which may be due both to the model and to the intervention of the translator and/ or the copyist.

Synonyme in Lexikon und Text. Eine metalexikografische und korpuslinguistische Analyse am Beispiel der Derivate Stimulation und Stimulierung

This article deals with the derivatives Stimulation and Stimulierung from the perspective of synonymy. On the one hand, the lexicographic representation of their meaning in selected monolingual dictionaries is compared, and on the other hand, the derivatives are analysed and quantified from the point of view of their occurrence and co-occurrence in various language corpora, focusing on their use as competitive forms and their contextual features. This is done using metalexicographic and corpus linguistic methods. The question is examined to what extent both derivatives can substitute for each other in different contexts and whether the information given in the dictionaries examined corresponds to the actual usage.

Is a Hybrid Bilingual Dictionary a Tenable Proposition?

Over the past three decades, great strides have been made in the field of pedagogical monolingual dictionaries in English. By comparison, the content, methodology and the primary functions of the bilingual dictionary (BD) have remained largely unaltered. Research and experience in the fields of translation and AFL/EFL within the Arabic context, however, indicate that the status quo of the Arabic-English dictionary is untenable as present dictionaries are evidently not only inadequate but are likely to lead to errors of usage. Therefore, it is felt that extensive modifications need to be made to the Arabic-English dictionary in order to make it more pedagogically oriented for foreign learners and more responsive to the actual needs of Arab translation professionals and language learners. The proposal will result in the production of a hybrid dictionary intended for decoding and encoding purposes. The methodology, content and functions, served by this hybrid dictionary as well as the vast potential offered by electronic lexicography mean that traditional dichotomies in dictionary typology thought to be mutually exclusive need to be reconsidered. Equally, more scholarly attention should be paid to this new kind of hybrid dictionary.

On the Translation Topology of Confucian Words in C-E dictionary: Structural Comparison and Feature Analysis

Confucian words in C-E dictionaries are significant for language learning and cross-cultural communication, and comparative lexicographical study is beneficial for the analysis of different bilingual dictionaries and especially helpful for the improvement of C-E dictionary compilation. The Feature of Topology in Bilingual dictionary (including topological equivalence, point-set topological hierarchical structure) provides theoretical framework for the present study. After stratified sampling and statistical analysis, the paper conducts comparative research on the translation structure and transformation pattern between Confucian words and Biblical words from translation topology. The research includes descriptive analysis, independent t-test and feature analysis. The findings indicate that the translation topology of Confucian words in C-E dictionaries is featured with simplification and discreetness, compared with Biblical words. Confucian words and Biblical words are heterogenic in distribution, assemblage, relevance and transformation strategy, concerning topological point, set and field, which in turn affects the appearance and reordering of initial event. The reasons are as follows: the difference of compilation principle and the over-dependence on the monolingual dictionary differentiate the language variables, leading to the structural difference in Confucian words of topological transformation. The paucity of parallel corpus changes the structure density of cultural topology set, and forms different transformation pattern and representation validity of culture-bound words.

EXPLORING THE SEMANTIC ASPECTS OF PERSIAN COMPOUNDS MADE BY ᴂfkᴂn (CAST): A CONSTRUCTION MORPHOLOGY APPROACH

Persian compound words, which are classified into two categories as primary and secondary compounds (Shaghaghi, 2008), are typically examined in the Construction Morphology proposed by Booij (2010; 2016; 2018). Within the framework of the theory, this study has attempted to explore the constructional schemas of the Persian compound words made of the present stem æfkæn (cast). To this end, 60 compound words have been collected from numerous sources such as Persian linguistic corpora, Persian grammar books, Persian monolingual dictionaries as well as some Persian reliable websites. Comparing the structure of the compounds made by it, taking the meaning of each compound into account and drawing the constructional schemas, we indicate that these compounds are given eight different semantic categories. Additionally, the constructional schema revealed that the semantic interpretation of these compounds may be allocated a continuum with the most semantically transparent compounds and the metaphorical or idiomatic meaning. Indeed, through the theory of Construction Morphology, the semantic distinctions of the compounds made of æfkæn (cast) could be well specified.

Les articles prépositionnels spoza mis à l’épreuve

The article is devoted to the question of the translation into French of the Polish preposition spoza (from behind) in the Polish-French bilingual dictionaries published in the last sixty years. The article first reports on the different meanings of the term appearing in monolingual Polish dictionaries. It then proposes an analysis, based on semantic criteria, of the French equivalents appearing in the Polish-French bilingual dictionaries. This analysis consists in particular in verifying whether the different meanings given to spoza in monolingual dictionaries also appear in bilingual dictionaries. Despite the relative frequency of use of this preposition in Polish, nearly half of the bilingual dictionaries consulted do not mention the term spoza. In addition, in the dictionary articles containing the term, the authors find a wide variety of French equivalents and point out numerous gaps and errors. One of the explanations advanced to understand the inaccuracy of certain French equivalents is the difficulty of French to express ablative relation, indicating direction from.

Towards a specialised digital monolingual Igbo dictionary on crop cultivation

The monolingual dictionary as an essential language compendium preserved culture specific ideas. In a technologically driven society where visual platform enhanced comprehension, monolingual dictionary presents careful and detailed information on the usage patterns of a given language. This promotes longevity of historic peculiarities for generational connect. Yet, there is a dearth of such dictionaries in the Igbo language. Therefore, this study sets to explore an e- monolingual dictionary model for the Igbo language on crop cultivation. Data were primarily sourced from field work whereas published literature and internet materials comprised the secondary sources of information. While the Function Theory of Lexicography was adopted for the pre-data compilation and presentation, the lexiquepro was used for the post compilation stage of the dictionary. This model avails researchers and learners the opportunity to globally access appropriate lexemes within the Igbo crop cultivation domain. Furthermore, Igbo children (at home and in diaspora) would have been provided with a visual platform to acquaint with specialised traditional Igbo farming practices, values and systems. Consequently, the longevity of the use of Igbo terms associated with traditional farming practices is revitalised among the younger ones. This study suggested that such platforms be provided for other areas of Igbo cultural practices such as pottery, health, blacksmithing, and performances to aid Translators, Terminologists and text writers appropriately convey their messages as well.

АN OVERVIEW OF MONOLINGUAL ONLINE DICTIONARIES OF THE SERBIAN LANGUAGE

By utilising the descriptive method, in this paper we have presented the current state of Serbian lexicography. Specifically, we emphasised the quantity and quality of free digital dictionaries. We based our research on the fact that dictionaries are an essential learning tool in a language classroom and that there is a wide choice of online dictionaries for many foreign languages. By viewing the data synchronically and analysing monolingual online Serbian dictionaries, we can conclude the following: 1) the supply, number and quality of available digital Serbian dictionaries is not satisfactory, especially ones that are free of charge; 2) Serbian lexicography lacks one solid, reliable online dictionary that is founded on scientific and lexicological methods; 3) in the existing dictionaries all the elements of a dictionary entry are not present (part of speech, case, grammatical gender, grammatical number, audio recording of pronunciation, synonyms, idioms, and even full-fledged definitions and contexts of use). By using dictionaries in the classroom we can improve not only a student’s knowledge of lexicography, but we can also enrich their vocabulary, develop their wording and ways to express themselves, and improve their functional literacy. Thus, the role, importance and need for online dictionaries is vital.

Lexicographic Treatment of Loanwords from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish in the Bosnian-German Dictionary

This paper aims to describe lexicographic strategies for treating loanwords from Arabic, Persian, and Turkish in a productive bilingual Bosnian-German dictionary. In terms of number, stylistic and cultural features, those words significantly characterize the Bosnian language. In lexicography, they have the status of cultural-bound words with a high degree of anisomorphism. We will look into their description in existing monolingual and bilingual dictionaries as well as into their equivalents in literary translations to propose more suitable equivalents. In this paper, we focus in particular on lexicographic treatment strategies of partial and zero equivalence, taking into account the deep cultural embeddedness of Arabic, Turkish and Persian loanwords in the Bosnian language. It will be shown that specific concepts such as “tekija”, for which the German language has no word, and the existing bilingual dictionary provides an equivalent „Muslim monastery“ (Jakić & Hurm 1992: 1053), can be treated by combined strategies to obtain more suitable equivalents, such as the incorporation of the source item into the target language with an additional explanation as well as an explanatory equivalent.

Investigation into the Effective Use of Dictionaries in Foreign Language Vocabulary Acquisition

Words lay in the core position in language acquisition, however, acquiring a word is far more than its meaning acquisition. Aiming at helping foreign language learners who want to become good language learners or native-like learners through the word (or vocabulary) acquisition, the goal of becoming high intake generators at vocabulary acquisition is targeted and the learning method concerning the effective use of a carefully selected dictionary is explored. How to select a desirable dictionary and how to effectively use the carefully selected dictionary are the two main aspects to be investigated. The essence of the two investigation aspects is to guarantee the optimal input and strategically maximized intake developed from the input. Based on the analyses of the required functions and components of dictionary, it is investigated thoroughly that an optimal monolingual foreign dictionary is selected out, with the optimal input including a desirable type of meaning definitions, corresponding pictures to vocabulary items and “complete knowledge”. Next, effective learning strategies when using the selected dictionary are explored to realize learners’ strategically maximization of language intake from the input, which includes the adaption to the monolingual model, the applications of transfer, note-taking, effective mnemonic strategies and the psychological preparations.

THE CONCEPT SOUL IN THE ENGLISH WORLDVIEW (BASED ON THE MONOLINGUAL LEXICOGRAPHIC SOURCES)

The article focuses on the analysis of the concept soul in the English language based on the monolingual lexicographic sources. The research deals with the English monolingual dictionaries in order to shed some light on the issue of the concept soul from the point of view of the language. The aim of the investigation is to study certain English monolingual dictionaries to reveal the fixed definitions of the concept soul in various lexicographic sources and find out the cognitive features of the concept that is under research.
 It should be stressed that the research is based on the seven monolingual lexicographic sources of the English language. Thus, the investigation deals with the following dictionaries, chosen for the research: Cambridge Dictionary, Collins English Dictionary, Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English, Macmillan Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Dictionary, Merriam-Webster Learner’s Dictionary and Oxford English Dictionary. 
 The conducted investigation of the definitions of the concept soul, based on the monolingual lexicographic sources mentioned above, shows that the concept soul possesses ten different meanings that represent its cognitive features. Thus, these cognitive features form the structure of the concept soul, described in the field theory of the structure of concepts. It was discovered that the structure of the concept soul includes the core, the close periphery and the far periphery. The core consists of five cognitive features: 1) somebody’s spirit; 2) a person; 3) a person of a stated type; 4) embodiment of special quality; 5) genre of music, whereas the close periphery includes four cognitive features: 1) sense of beauty; 2) a person's moral or emotional nature; 3) the culture of African-Americans 4) the central or most important part of something and the far periphery counts only one cognitive feature – a leading figure of something. It should be emphasized that the detailed analysis of the soul issue from the point of view of the English monolingual lexicographic sources proves the diversity of the cognitive features the concept soul represents.

Adjectival Phraseological Units with the Parametric Component

The article is devoted to the comparative study of the Tatar and English adjectival phraseological units with the parametric component. Structural and semantic peculiarities are taken into consideration. The main methods of research are those of general linguistic methods and special linguistic methods. The purpose of the article is to find out common and specific features of the adjectival phraseological units with the parametric components in the English and Tatar languages. The investigation is based on the material from English and Tatar monolingual and polylingual dictionaries. The adjectival phraseological units of the Tatar language have not been studied enough. The Tatar and the English languages are structurally different and the study of the adjectival phraseological units with the parametric component is of great interest. Comparative and non-comparative adjectival phraseological units with parametric components have been analyzed in the article, the frequency of the structures in both of the languages was found out and the explanation of the phenomenon was searched for. Semantically the adjectival phraseological units with the parametric component may express negative or positive attitude to reality, spheres of life, communicative process, or to a person, and that depends on the usage of this or that parametric adjective of the antonymic pair. General and specific features have been found out as well as exceptions. Based on the data got from the research the conclusions on the structure and semantics of the adjectival phraseological units with the parametric component are presented in the article.

Построение и оформление статьи в «Русско-английском словаре фразеологизмов-эвфемизмов»

The paper aims to identify reliable and generally recognised ways of structuring and formatting an entry in bilingual phraseological dictionaries and monolingual dictionaries of euphemisms, on the basis of which entries are organised in the “Russian-English Dictionary of Euphemistic Phraseological Units”. The work is the first to describe the principles of structuring a dictionary entry in a bilingual dictionary of euphemistic phraseological units, which constitutes scientific novelty of the study. As a result of the study, it has been found that the necessary components of an entry are the accounting for and presentation of all types of variants of Russian euphemistic phraseological units, their paradigmatic relations, functional-stylistic, temporal and territorial attributes.

DIACHRONIC AND SYNCHRONIC ANALYSIS OF LEXICOGRAPHIC PROCESSES OF MINORITY LANGUAGES IN SCOTLAND: A CONTRASTIVE APPROACH

The paper offers a diachronic and synchronic analysis of the lexicographic processes of the minority languages in Scotland – Scottish Gaelic and Scots. For the first time, three periods (period of glossaries, historical period, modern “educational” period) of the Scottish Gaelic lexicography, and four periods (period of glossaries, pre-scientific period and dialectological period, historical period and scientific period) of еру Scots lexicography were outlined. The author discusses the diachronic and synchronic analysis of lexicographic sources, singles out common and divergent features of both lexicographic processes development, as well as the basic principles and approaches to compiling dictionaries. For the Scottish-Gaelic lexicography, it is absolutely untypical to compile dictionaries of dialectal words; to interpret the Gaelic language as a dialect of Irish, in contrast to the Scots, which for a long period of its development was perceived as a dialect of English, which prompted the lexicographers to compile dictionaries of dialectal vocabulary. A significant advantage of Scottish Gaelic dictionaries lies in the fact that English-Gaelic dictionaries appeared decades earlier in comparison with similar editions in the Scots language. Despite the fact that Scottish Gaelic is the official language of Scotland, Scottish Gaelic lexicography, compared to the Scots one, is significantly inferior both in the number of published dictionaries and in the quality of their content (macro- and microstructure). Both lexicographic processes are characterized by the lack of monolingual dictionaries. All publications are bilingual (translated into English, or from English, rarely in other languages).

Bilingual dictionaries in teaching Russian to Persian-Speaking students: relevancy and problems

Dictionaries are not only a complex source, but also a scientific work in the field of theoretical linguistics. Today bilingual dictionaries are used not only as a reference source, but also as a textbook for the quantitative and qualitative development of the four skills of speech activity and communicative competence. This goal can be achieved only if complete complex dictionaries are available and students are trained in their use. This article discusses the importance of bilingual Russian-Persian and Persian-Russian dictionaries in teaching the Russian language to Iranian students and the problems that exist in this area. Among specialists in the field of teaching foreign languages there are different approaches to ensuring the effectiveness of the use of bilingual and monolingual dictionaries. The authors try to highlight some of the difficulties students have in learning the Russian language, the problem of insufficient provision of educational environment of Iranian universities with high-quality bilingual dictionaries, and also suggest ways to improve the situation and improve the quality of teaching the Russian language.

Aspekte van vernuwing in die Afrikaanse leksikografie: Standaard- en pedagogiese woordeboeke as barometer

Innovative Aspects of Afrikaans Lexicography: Standard and Pedagogical Dictionaries as Barometer. The aim of this contribution is to offer an overview of the areas of most significant innovation in the Afrikaans lexicography over the past two decades, with specific reference to standard and pedagogical dictionaries, since they represent the typological categories in which most development is visible. However, reference will also be made to other dictionary types and contexts where relevant. Firstly, the current state of affairs with regard to the Afrikaans lexicography will be outlined in terms of existing lexicographic products. Secondly, some comments will be offered on the professionalisation of Afrikaans lexicography — a topic which has not really been dealt with in metalexicographical research. The roles of the Bureau of the Woordeboek van die Afrikaanse Taal and commercial dictionary publishers will also be highlighted. Thereafter, secondary and specific lexicographic processes will be discussed, with reference to corpus lexicography and lemma selection, macrostructural innovation, and microstructural innovation. The discussion of the latter will include integrated microstructures in bilingual dictionaries, lexicographic definitions in monolingual dictionaries, cotext entries, and aspects of grammatical data. The state of affairs and future of the Afrikaans e-lexicography will also be addressed. Finally, some comments on special dictionaries will be offered. Keywords: commercial lexicography, corpus lexicography, e-lexicography, explanatory dictionary, lexicographic definition, macrostructure, microstructure, pedagogical lexicography, school dictionary, translation dictionary

Popma's Monolingual Dictionary of Latin Synonyms

This report presents the results of our project of digitizing a dictionary of Latin synonyms which was popular for three centuries from XVII to XIX; describes its history and the contributions of authors and editors, explains its pedagogical value for modern students of classical languages; and discusses technical questions of coding the transcript and preparing it for end-users. Keywords: Latin, synonyms, lexicon, medieval Latin, monolingual dictionary, De differentiis verborum